A Monday Reminder
On getting beyond negativity bias
The reminder series is back with a quick reminder for your Monday morning: notice what’s right in addition to what’s wrong.
As I was walking around during a workshop I led recently, I noticed a message written on the paper of one of the participants:
“What’s going right?”
I imagine they’d written it down as I spoke on how our mood and stress levels are related to what we pay attention to.
If we look for the negative, we’ll find it.
It’s not hard to do given the state of the world right now.
And, since our brains are wired to look out for negative experiences more than positive ones (the negativity bias), many of us are more likely to recognize and focus on the negative things.
This directly contributes to our moods and stress.
So, today’s reminder is to find ways to remember what isn’t wrong.
Start small:
Think of your morning today.
What happened that was right?
What was good?
What are you looking forward to?
If this is too hard, simply notice what was neutral.
For me this morning:
My coffee was hot
I ate breakfast with my son before he went to daycare
I got to write this post (for myself and for you!)
I don’t have back-to-back meetings
I’m going to take a walk this afternoon
And so on…
When you start focusing on what’s good, your brain starts noticing the good things more.
This doesn’t mean that you don’t notice or experience the hard things. It means that you don’t live your life only noticing the hard things.
For me, this has meant more joy and less stress overall.
It can mean that for you, too.
You can try it in an informal way or start to practice more formally through ‘3 Good Things’.
Wishing you many good things today and in your week ahead.
like a gratitude practice! I love this!
This is awesome! I try to look at the positive - that’s why I’m trying to do a glimmer a day: basically just one thing today that made me happy or brought joy into my neck of the woods. It’s not much but it’s something!