You See What You Look For: 3 Strategies to See the Positive at Work in a Negative Economy

You are interested in buying a new vehicle. You go to the dealer’s lot and look at a white Honda Accord. You test-drive it. You really like it, but the salesperson won’t get the price right.

As you turn out of the dealer’s lot and drive down the street, guess what you see? A white Honda Accord.

You pull out onto the expressway and merge into traffic right behind . . . a white Honda Accord.

You look across the median at the traffic and a white Honda Accord passes you.

You think, “There are white Honda Accords everywhere!”

Now are there really?

Of course not. Your mind was focused on the white Honda Accord you just drove.

You saw what you chose to see.

You focus your mind every minute of every day and night on something.

Where is your business focus—on the positive or the negative?

Here are three strategies that help you see the positive at work in a negative economy:

Start Each Day Grateful

First, start every morning focusing your mind on at least one positive aspect of your business. Some mornings may present a challenge, yet you can discover something positive. It may be that payroll cleared the bank last week. Or, you paid the lease this month.

Focus your mind on that positive dimension of your business and be grateful. Shawn Achor in The Happiness Advantage provides research that indicates gratitude is a prime factor in your happiness. Your happiness level determines the extent to which you succeed in your business.

You see what you’re looking for when you start each day grateful. You discover more reasons to be grateful.

Read Your Financials Completely

Second, it’s really easy to pick up October’s P&L, scan to the bottom line, and look for the “magic number” to find a negative. How do you react if it does?

Most of us go to the expense side and focus on what to cut and quickly.

Instead, go to the income side, and look for what Chip and Dan Heath in Switch call “bright spots.” Where did income go up? And why?

I read my financials recently. The bottom line number was disappointing, but when I focused on the income side, searching for a bright spot, I discovered that one revenue stream was in 9 months twice the previous year’s.

I looked at my expenses positively. One-time costs were paying very quickly.

You can see a “bright spot,” also.

End the Day Well

Third, your to-do list is dynamic. Fires erupt. Everything takes longer. This sense of incompleteness casts a negative shadow.

Before you walk out each evening, complete one easy task. Send three emails to prospective clients or hand-write three thank-you notes to customers.

The sense of well-being you create in your outlook by completing one task as you exit will positively welcome you the next morning.

Since you see what you look for, use these three strategies to see the positive at work daily.