Have you ever considered the real power of Positivity?

Yuck. That sounds pretty glib doesn’t it? ‘Positivity’ and ‘power’ in one sentence, I almost couldn’t bring myself to write it… and yet, it’s actually very considered. Because I don’t simply mean ‘smile and the world smiles with you’ or ‘if you can believe, you can achieve’ or any similar such platitude that might spring to mind.

I mean there really is tremendous power in the positive, specifically in postive action.

How? I hear you cry (okay, you’re probably not crying, but I’ll tell you anyway.)

Let me offer you a scenario. You spot an incredible job offer. This is what you were born to do. The money is great. It seems ideal. But the job description? Well, it’s a bit of a stretch. You don’t exactly have the relevant experience they’re after; even if your biggest strengths are aligned. And it’s being advertised from here to Timbuktu, hundreds of people are bound to apply.

You’ve got two clear choices:

Option One: Don’t apply.
Result: You won’t get it.

Option Two: Apply.
Result: Get it. Wow! Miracle! Can’t believe it!

That’s optimism and pessimism in a nutshell, right?

No, of course not. We all know that wild optimism doesn’t always pay off. Maybe your strengths really aren’t aligned, or one of the other fab applicants who also deserve it gets the role.

But Option Two is still better, and do you know why? One word: ripples.

Consequences.
Aftermath.
Outcomes.
(Yeah, I know that’s four words.)

Look again at Option One. What are the potential consequences of this? Maintain your pristine CV of never failing at anything? Sure. But that’s about it. After that, it’s a highly premature Game Over in ‘The Chronicles of Getting Your Dream Job.’

But look again at Option Two. What are the potential ripples here, even if you don’t get the job? Maybe you’ll:

• Learn that you need to polish up your relevant experience if you want to get into this industry
• Meet someone in the waiting room who tells you about another job worth applying for
• Get offered vital work experience instead of the role itself
• Realise you’d rather claw your own eyes out than get rejected by another mediocre company and decide you’d really better get serious about self-employment…

I could go on, but I wouldn’t want to labour the point, which is:

Positive action has ripples. [Tweet it!]

Sure, some of those ripples might be bad. You might trip getting off the bus and have to be rushed to hospital with a concussion. But, hey, maybe your doctor will be a stud?

The real power of positivity is that it has push, oomph, dynamism, and – yes – action in it. The power of momentum. You are a force of nature. Act like it.