The Power of Positive Part I

December 13th, 2008

by John R. Sedivy

Background
calvincoolidge Recently I had stumbled upon articles written about Calvin Coolidge and his non-confrontational campaign style. During the 1924 Presidential election Coolidge never once maligned his opponents, or even mentioned them by name, but continued on to win the election nonetheless. Given the recent elections this truly appeared to me as an amazing concept and demonstration of character, which prompted me to think of its application to business, specifically branding. I will discuss this concept in a three part series titled The Power of Positive.

The Power of Positive
There has been much written on the power of positive thinking and the affects it may have on one’s life. It may appear obvious to most that positive people attract other positive people and that positive people attain positive results, however try enacting this in real life – it is easier said than done. Each time you have a negative thought, attempt to reframe the situation into a positive thought and translate this to a positive statement or action. You will soon realize how difficult this exercise is – especially if you are yourself the direct target of a negative statement or action from another. But with repeated practice you will soon find this exercise becomes natural and very much worthwhile.

transformtree My business partner Amy has been on board with this concept for most of her life, but I required a bit of selling. Not that I consider myself overly negative, but historically one of my most valuable traits is the ability to find the negative or problem point in a given situation or business and recommend a corrective action. Furthermore, this skill had been honed for years in my previous life as an engineer and assisted in my climbing the corporate ladder. Finally, factor in the idea that I am human, and therefore flawed to a certain extent, and needless to say I required some training.

To Be Continued…
In Part II I will discuss a practical example of the power of positive approach and what it means for your brand.

As an individual or business, try taking a negative thought or situation and transforming it into a positive statement or action and witness the results!

-John Sedivy