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If you want your people to be more optimistic, you might need to teach them how. In a previous post Switch on your optimistic brain today, I explained four evidence-based techniques for promoting optimistic thinking. These were:

• Keeping a gratitude journal
• Taking on a curiosity mindset
• Being mindful of the language you use
• Leaving the past in the past

For HR and L&D professionals, these tips might seem easy to apply. However, many employees lack the basic foundation skills for being able to action these techniques, which are based on sophisticated research. So you can make a huge difference to the emotional lives of your employees by actively promoting the fact that optimism can be learned, just like any other cognitive skill. Here are some ways you can help people learn to be optimistic at work.

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Do you treat yourself with compassion and nurturing care? Or are you too hard on yourself? Your answer links back to your self-esteem

Self-esteem is your confidence in your own worth, and the value you place on yourself. In the 1950s, Carl Rogers developed a model of self-esteem that is useful to this day. He said that self-esteem measures how much the person you want to be (your ideal self) aligns with who you believe you are (self-image).

So, how well does your ideal self-align with your self-image? Let’s find out. Here are four behaviours that indicate you have appropriate levels of self-esteem.

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Employees who come into work feeling negative find it hard to be creative, their interactions with colleagues are strained and productivity is low. But when they come into work with positivity, they see possibilities and opportunities everywhere. This is why Human Resources teams need to take feelings seriously.

In Four surprising benefits of positive emotions, I explained that positive emotions play a huge role in human survival. This is because:

• Unpleasant emotions help people survive, but they also limit their thought-action repertoires
• Positive emotions broaden the ability to think and act in new ways
• Positive emotions help individuals build resources for dealing with tough times
• Feeling good might contribute to longevity

In organisations, there are many additional benefits of drawing on high-energy, positive feelings. Learning and development and specialists can plan important roles in bringing these benefits to life in their organisations. Here are some tips on how to do this.

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Do you see the glass as half-empty or half-full? Are you a pessimist or an optimist? It’s a classic debate. Optimism is a ‘feeling of hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.’ It’s the belief that things will turn out okay, even when you have no evidence to back it up. Compared to pessimists, people who have optimistic mindsets handle change more resiliently, report higher levels of general well-being and solve problems more creatively.

Here’s the good news: optimistic thinking patterns can be learned at any stage of your life. You can literally train your brain to look on the bright side as a default.

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70% of high achievers live in persistent fear of people finding out that they “don’t have a clue” what they’re doing. Despite evidence to the contrary, such as hard-earned degrees or a proven track record, they still attribute their achievements to luck, fate or simply good timing.

If that sounds like some of your employees, they might be suffering from a condition called imposter syndrome. As an HR practitioner, you can substantially eliminate fear of failure in your organisation and open up your employees to real, lasting success. Here are some practical ways to do this.

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With ‘positive thinking’ being constantly touted in pop psychology, do you find yourself feeling guilty about your negative emotions? Don’t be. Your perceived ‘negative’ or uncomfortable feelings are just as important as the positive ones in helping you evaluate your experiences and make sense out of life’s complexity.

Uncomfortable emotions are often associated with a tendency to act in self-preserving ways. When you’re afraid, your tendency is to escape; when you’re angry, your tendency is to attack. In dangerous situations, this can help you survive. But here’s an interesting question: what role do positive emotions play in human survival?

Barbara Frederickson, a key researcher in the field of positive psychology, developed the ‘broaden and build’ theory, which explains how experiencing positive emotions opens you up to new experiences.

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Knowing what your signature strengths are, can boost your well-being – and it’s boosted even further when you regularly utilise those strengths. Leaders and managers are now regularly using character strengths exercises to help employees become more engaged, productive and happy.

In my last article Find your strengths, find inspiration for success, we discussed how to identify your signature strengths and how to work them into your day:

• Take a signature strengths assessment
• Use your strengths in new ways
• Record the positive results of using signature strengths
• Reconnect with your inner child

If you are an HR practitioner, you can use signature strengths to develop employee purpose, motivation and performance. Here are some simple steps you can take this week.

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