Having sat, awkwardly, around a table last New Year’s Eve being questioned about what the new year will bring and what fraught resolution I would come up, I vowed this year to be prepared.

This year the decision was made to attempt to introduce a more positive state of mind going forwards.

Sure it’s a platitude that is trotted out regularly, but it’s also one that has provided a great deal of thought for me recently to consider what the benefits could be. See, having always been a pessimist, and not ashamed to admit it, it had become a label that had become synonymous with my name. A big decision was mooted at work and I indicated that I was receptive to whatever choice would be made by the collective. “Of course, nothing bothers you does it?” It was a statement that resonated with me. Often it’s tough to allow others to gauge a reaction from me, either positive or negative, because of the facade that I mentioned in previous posts. An unwillingness to show emotion, means an inability to allow others to see they’re harming you. That too needs some working.

Though it’s also something that has cost me in encounters. People perceive a lack of happiness because of an inability to express emotions and this, to an extent, comes from the pessimist thought that ‘at some point, things will go wrong.’ So 2019 will be the year of change with a mindset.

It begins when we wake up in the morning, clinging onto the covers to bemoan the start of a new day; but that day is filled with purpose. We have responsibilities, tasks, interactions to make across that day and all of these come from ideas of trust that others place within us. These are things we should feel positively about, rather than complaining about the alarm clock raising us from our slumber.

We look in the mirror, taking ample time to attempt to find the things that are wrong with us. We don’t look for the positives, we’re trying to identify the negative changes in our appearances – forgetting that we are blessed with the power of sight to be able to see these images. We may become more wrinkled, but that too should be appreciated for the experiences that we have undergone. Not all changes as we age should be seen as the negative process of aging.

Having coached youth sport, a key idea I have attempted to impart upon those working with me is that ‘you learn more from failure, than you do from success’, but at a certain point we lose this idea in life. We no longer seek to identify learning opportunities in life and at work, instead identifying them as weaknesses and things that could lead to further problems. Working through these concerns give us greater experience going forwards, meaning that we become a knowledgeable member of the team for others to come to for assistance when they too first encounter a similar problem.

So that awkward resolution point, a forced opportunity to attempt to make a change, has led to positivity. Rather than presuming or identifying the worst in all that I do, instead opportunities are taken to appreciate the positives. After all, life is what you make it and it can become as positive or negative as your mindset allows it to be.