Guest post by Dr. Delvina Miremadi-Baldino
Positivity is something we could all use more of these days. With the daily exposure to stress, disease, violence, conflict, and divide we often find ourselves battling against negativity trying to prevent it from taking hold of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
Countless times over the last few months I have found myself in inner turmoil over what I have seen in the media and on social media, reminding myself to shut if off, disconnect and regroup. But here’s the thing, limiting the negative is only half the battle. Yes, it is important to know our own boundaries and know when the negativity is too much. But beyond that, we must also go one step further and intentionally insert more positivity to help balance out our experience.
According to Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, experiencing positive emotions (i.e. awe, interest, gratitude, amusement, etc.) broadens our minds and builds our resourcefulness enabling us to become more resilient in the face of adversity. Based on years of research, Dr. Fredrikson has found that if we want more positivity in our lives we must understand and act on our 3:1 positivity ratio. In fact, to maximize our potential and truly flourish in this life we don’t need to eliminate negative emotions. Instead, we need to experience positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio to negative emotions to help balance out our experiences. Pretty cool, right?
Check out your positivity ratio.
Do you need to boost your positive emotion ratio? Try this:
1.Keep track of your current positive ratio and record it for a week. Each day, reflect on the events of that day and how it might have affected your ratio.
2.Make a list of positive emotions that are meaningful to you (i.e. inspiration, pride, interest, joy…).
3. Now, for each positive emotion, write down ways in which you have experienced this emotion. Be as detailed as possible.
4. It’s time for action! Pick one positive emotion and intentionally incorporate ways to elicit that emotion for a week. What have you done in the past to create this emotion? What are some other things you can do to make you feel this way? Each week, pick a new emotion and do the same.
Resources
Website: Positivity Ratio.Discover the power of the 3-to-1 Ratio with Dr. Barbara Fredrickson
Website: Action for Happiness. Boost Your Positivity Ratio
Book: Positivity. Discover the Groundbreaking Science to Release Your Inner Optimist and Thrive
Please visit my website Realize Your Resilience, or connect with me here to set up a free call to discuss your needs and how I might best support you and your family.
