I had occasion to interact with someone this week who was one of the most negative people I met in recent years. Unfortunately, they reminded me very much of me back in the dark days.

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the concept of negativity. I wrote this “Bin your negativity” blog post on the topic which includes some useful tips.

Along the way, I produced three extra ideas which you might find of interest:

The two-second rule

I have a long-ingrained positive habit of pausing for at least two seconds before saying anything aloud. It isn’t noticeable, and people just think it’s a part of my character (which it is after all this time).

The two second pause allows me to do a lot of processing. Just because I could say something doesn’t mean I should say it. It has saved me and others a lot of grief in recent years.

Control what you tolerate

There are situations in our lives and work that we don’t fully enjoy and would be better off without. For assorted reasons we simply tolerate them.

They add up and steal time, energy & resources.

These things we tolerate can run all the way from a dripping tap to a toxic relationship. Fix the dripping tap and ditch the toxic relationship and your life is instantly better.

For me right now it’s “stuff overload” in the garage and the loft. I will triumph eventually.

Identifying and then removing these annoying and/or detrimental elements from your life can have a big positive impact on your emotional state.

Do something different

It’s all too easy to get into a rut in terms of our behaviour and thinking.

One effective method for getting out of a rut is to do something which completely disrupts the current patterns.

A few weeks ago for example, my wife booked us quite randomly into a History of Halloween lecture with Prof Donald Hutton at Castell Coch, near Cardiff.

Wonderful place to visit at any time btw.

It was something I never would have booked myself and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Give these a try and see how you get on.



All the best to you and yours

Andrew D Pope