Choosing to be Positive!
by Gerry Rose, Business Consultant

 Have you ever wondered what constitutes a “negative person”?  I heard that all my life, but never really understood.  Then the other day, I finally got it!
 I was sitting in a room with a friend, his family, and their newborn.  The grandmother was holding the baby – less than 24 hours old – who was lifting its head.  She commented that “Babies this age should not be able to lift their heads”.  I thought that odd.  She could have said, “This baby is very strong at such an early age.  She is already lifting her head”.  As I continued observing this woman, much of what she said was negative; however, her intent was positive.
 Recently, I have become more conscious of the negative words that we all use. I am working toward eliminating them from my language; words such as “if, no, try, and not”.  When I catch myself using a negative or less than positive word, I stop, sometimes in mid sentence, back up to the beginning of the thought, and restructure my sentence.  For example, I just spoke with a client and started to say, "If you are successful with your networking, you will earn $100,000 in the next 12 months".  I changed “if” to “when”.  It now becomes a much stronger, positive message.
 Today when I choose to avoid dessert, I say, “I might have some later”.  Later could be in the next few minutes or next year.  I currently choose to eat dessert once per week, on Saturday, date night.  When asked to participate in an activity when I would rather do something else, I say, “Thank you.  I already have time set aside for something else”.  I have nearly eliminated “no” from my vocabulary.
 What is the value of removing negative words from your vocabulary?  First, you will only be positive.  When you choose to be contrary, it will still be positive. 
 Instead of saying “I can’t do that,” you will say, “I choose to do something else”.   Rather than say, “I will try to be on time,” you could say, “I will be on time”.
 When removing the negative from your language, you begin surrounding yourself with more positive people.  Your intention with clients, potential clients and your team support will be more proactive.  Besides being positive, you will be more effective.  Your attitude will shine.  You will sparkle.  Your energy will rise through the roof.   Relationships will blossom and mature.  Health interactions will occur more frequently.
 Identify those negative speakers in your life.  Make a decision to support change, choose to change your interaction, or ignore the negative.  For those you wish to be in front of, you might send them excerpts from this article.  Encourage those that are positive speakers by telling them they are, and how much more effective it makes them.
 Share this concept with family and friends.  Send this to those who are both positive and negative speakers.  Open a thoughtful debate.  Solicit a response.  Ask them to self evaluate where they are.  Are they positive communicators or negative communicators?  We choose to be either positive or negative. Which are you?