Written by: Dimitris Papadimitriou
Original LinkedIn Post

Positive Thinking Reimagined: A Radical Shift in Perspective

You often hear the phrase "think positive" from successful personalities, especially in the coaching and training industry. It has become a popular mantra for personal growth and development.

However, the message has been misunderstood, and the true essence of positive thinking has been dismissed as an attempt to ignore difficult emotions. In this article, we will explore the importance of acknowledging negative emotions and the true meaning of positive thinking that will hopefully add a silver lining to your “difficult” thoughts and everyday emotions.

Reimagine the Role of "Negative" Emotions

In our society, we tend to label certain emotions as "negative" and try to avoid them as much as possible. However, these emotions play an important role in our lives. Otherwise why have we labeled four out of the five core emotions as “negative”?

Fear, sadness, anger, aversion, and joy are the five basic categories of emotions. Of these, only joy can be considered "positive." The other four, fear, sadness, anger, and aversion, are often labeled as "negative" emotions, but in reality, they serve as messages that create a negative mood with the sole scope of motivating us.

Negative emotions protect us and are part of our primal survival mechanism. Fear makes us run away from danger or at least perceive it, sadness helps us understand that something in our life is not satisfying us, aversion protects us from consuming something that we are allergic to, and anger awakens the sense of justice necessary to survive in society.

Our emotions are the voice of our subconscious to ourselves. They communicate with us in an unpleasant way, but they want to be heard. The mechanism is primordial, and our emotions have been programmed to be strong and get our attention.

Interpreting "Negative" Emotions: Discover a step by step guide

When you experience a negative emotion, try following the below steps:

1. Recognize and name the emotion. It can be one of the five basic emotions or one of their dozens of derivatives.
2. Now that you have named them, you know them. They are no strangers to you anymore.
3. Try to interpret them. You should bring the emotion to life and let it speak.
4. Lastly, you should embrace what you have learned while experiencing that feeling.

Grasp the Essence of Positive Thinking

Positive thinking is not about ignoring negative emotions or pretending that everything is okay. It is about acknowledging and interpreting them and then choosing to focus on the positive aspects of the situation.

Positive thinking is about seeing the silver lining in every cloud, finding the opportunity in every challenge, and focusing on solutions rather than problems. It is about having a growth mindset and believing that you can learn from every experience!

Practice makes…better decisions

Embracing the full spectrum of our emotions is crucial to our personal development and success. Positive thinking does not mean ignoring or suppressing negative emotions, but rather understanding and utilizing them as a means of growth.

As we participate in training and development programs, we can enhance our ability to recognize, interpret, and leverage our emotions for positive outcomes. So let's commit to harnessing the power of positive thinking, not as a way to avoid negativity, but as a tool for personal growth and transformation!