6 Ways to be More Positive as a Leader

On this week's episode of Press Start Leadership Podcast, we discuss:

Power-up of Positivity: 6 Ways to Fill Up Your Emotional Health Bar

Finding the Golden Nugget: Unearthing Creative Ideas Without Getting Too Attached

Embracing the Selfish Buddha: 4 Ways to Be Good to Yourself (So You Can Be Good to Others)

Link to my FREE ebook: 5 Heroic Leadership Skills

Music by: Joey the Mad Scientist

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Transcript

Joey The Mad Scientist: 0:38

Hey there press starters and welcome to the press Start leadership podcast, the podcast about game changing leadership teaching you how to get the most out of your product and development team and become the leader you were meant to be leadership coaching and training for the International game industry professional. Now, let me introduce you to your host, the man the myth, the legend, Christopher Mifsud.

Christopher Mifsud: 1:08

Welcome back press starters. This week we're talking about a couple different topics. First up positivity. That's right. those that know me know I love to be positive. So this week we're talking about the power up of positivity. That's right six ways to fill up your emotional health bar. Positivity is powerful. I'm not talking about false optimism, or looking at life through rose colored glasses, I mean the practice of positivity, learning to see your life in a more beneficial way that in turn allowing you to live in a more worthwhile way. Let us begin the power of positivity. Here I have six things you can do to start building a more positive lifestyle. Number one morning affirmations start your morning off by saying and thinking positive things. I'm not saying everything magically turns into rainbows and unicorns. But if you start your day off in a good mood is much harder for something that we're in it. And here's a one up, start with an affirmation that resonates with you. If Abundance flows through me like the spirit of the wolf feels like too much. Start with something like good things happen to me. Number two, recognize the positive. Too often we fly past the good moments in our day, and spend your time focused on the bad. Take some time to stop and smell the roses. The more we recognize and appreciate positive moments throughout the day, the more our brain rewires itself to notice them.

Unknown: 2:36

Number three,

Christopher Mifsud: 2:38

surround yourself with positive people. According to Jim Rohn, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And that certainly extends the mindset. If you're surrounded by negative people, you're going to have a much harder time believing that good things happen to you, and making those good things happen. For smile, most people will smile back. It's a great boost of positivity and can quickly alter your brain chemistry. And here's a one up. If you have a big speech or conversation coming up, make sure to smile before you speak. It boosts your confidence and it's almost as contagious as a yawn. Number five, celebrate other successes. There's no shortage of success. It's not Pie, pie. Being happy for someone else is not only the right thing to do, but it also builds a network of trust and teaches you to celebrate your own success. One more one up. If you're not happy for someone, dig deep and ask why did they receive something you want? What can you do differently to achieve it for yourself? And number six, evening meditation, spend time at the end of your day recounting the positive. What are the good things that happened that day? What are you grateful for? I like to end my day by meditating on all the things in my life, I'm thankful for. That way I'm starting and ending my day with positivity. If you're new to the journey of positivity, be gentle with yourself. It can be daunting, especially if you're used to seeing things in a negative light, you may have to swing the pendulum all the way across before you find your balance. But anyone can learn to change their mindset. Remember, positive people don't have fewer bad things happen to them, they simply see those things differently. And those are the power up the positivity tips for you. Let me know what tips you have for cultivating positivity in you in your team's lives. All right. Our next topic is finding the golden nugget. unearthing creative ideas without getting too attached. creativity can be like throwing spaghetti against the wall. Sometimes it sticks. Sometimes it doesn't. And there are a number of reasons it might not sure. It may not be at the perfect el denta yet, but if you'll allow me to leave the positive metaphor behind could also be that your idea isn't quite right for the project. The timing is off. It's too expensive, or a myriad of other reasons. What do you do with a really good idea that doesn't fit. It hurts to leave an idea behind especially if you know it's a good one. Don't discard the whole project. Find the Golden Nugget or on mining metaphors now. Try to keep up. A lot of times you don't need to or don't want to hold on to the whole light Yeah. So you sift through the original idea the Find the singular piece that stands out amongst the rest. You do this by filtering the idea, just like a miner would break everything apart into tiny pieces and examine them closely. So you could figure out what's gold. And what's just a bit of stone. Is your golden nugget, the theme, the mechanics, something else? Or is the idea just cool? If that's all it is, run for the hills, you found fool's gold. Okay, last metaphor, kill your babies. This one is a bit gruesome. But it's a common phrase in the creative field. And it's an important one. Why creatives can spend a lot of time and effort nurturing an idea and becoming attached to it. But sometimes it's best to let go and let the idea die. Even if you love it. Not all battles are worth fighting. And it can take a project if you've latched on to an idea that needs to go. Knowing when to let an idea go generally comes with experience maturity, and being open to feedback. If you absolutely can't let go of an idea, and it's not right for the project at hand, listen to your gut and save it for later create a graveyard of good ideas. Okay, I promise that's really the last one. And check it every time you have a new pitch. If you believe in the idea, make it yourself, hey, somebody make killer clowns from outer space. And there's a place for everything. Let me know how you go about finding the Golden Nugget in the comments below. What is your experience at unearthing creative ideas without getting too attached? All right, and now the last subject of our podcast this week, embracing the selfish Buddha. You can't give what you don't have four ways to be good to yourself so you can be good to others. Unless you're a narcissist, you probably believe it's good to give. And it is the problem is there's a stigma to being selfish in this world. And that can become a real catch 22. So how do you navigate taking care of yourself and taking care of others. But here's the four tips that will help you find balance. One, de stigmatize the word selfish. The word selfish has become the new s word. One of the last ways we want to be described as selfish. So we spend a lot of time giving away our time, our money, and even our happiness to be considered a good person. But you can't give what you don't have. So if you've given everything away, you'll have nothing left to give. That is why it's important to put yourself first sometimes, otherwise, you'll never be able to put others first to take care of yourself first. Next, take the time to recharge, enrich, nourish and nurture yourself. I see a lot of people give and give and give. And then they burn out and are unable to give anything at all. It's important to take care of you. This could be a very controversial idea. But if you get your ducks in a row before you start giving, you can give continuously and give more. Three weight to give so you can give more. Some of the most generous people in the world are the richest Bill Gates and Warren Buffett alone have given over $48 billion dollars to charity over the course of their lifetimes. And I'm sure they weren't focused on giving while they were building their businesses. They were only able to be selfless after being selfish for a little while first, just think what you would be able to give if you took the time to take care of your finances, your health, your heart, and your mind may not be$48 billion. But I could bet it would be a hell of a lot for become a selfish Buddha. Buddha said that to reach enlightenment, you have to give everything away. Well, this idea has merit. It also feels outdated, untrue and inaccessible to most people. We live in a world where materialism is woven into the culture of our lives. And while it can provide all of our happiness, it is naive to think it can bring us joy. The key to everything in life is finding balance. So be a selfish Buddha and do a little giving and a little tricky. Let me know how you go about being good to yourself at the comments below. What is your experience of giving while still nourishing your needs? All right, that's this week's episode of press Start leadership podcast. Thanks for joining us this week. And being a press starter. Let me know what you think in the comments. And remember, stay awesome. If you haven't downloaded my free eBook five heroic leadership skills, click on the link in the description. Tune in next week for your next episode of press star leadership podcast. Thank you