UI Foundation/UI Advancement Weekly Update 03.25.22

Dear Team:

Last week I talked about the pressure we often put on ourselves to be perfect, and this week, I’d like to continue with that theme, with a slight twist … maintaining a positive state of mind. 

Those who tend to look at the glass as being half empty rather than half full, can find something negative in just about every situation. And often, those negatives displace the good that can be found in almost every case – if you look. Have you ever been around someone who reminds you of something negative, in reaction to something you felt good about, or perhaps shared a positive and immediately followed it up with a negative comment? For instance, The Fighting Illini basketball team won a Big Ten championship, but it lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The pandemic allowed many families to spend more quality time together and save commuting expenses, but individuals had to stay at home and wear masks outside their houses for nearly two years. While working from home, I got to eat many more home-cooked meals with my family and have my dog with me throughout the workday, but I gained 10 pounds.

The word “but” has been called a “verbal eraser,” that is a word which, when followed by other negative words, diminishes the positive thoughts that comes before it. This week, I suggest getting rid of verbal erasers. Throw them out, and don’t let your vision be clouded by things that might have been difficult or less than perfect. Those of us who are managers or supervisors should take special care not to let negatives drag us down and keep us from seeing the potential that lies within our teams. A popular 1940s song that has been re-recorded dozens of times, even into the 21st century, has lyrics that state, “You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative . . . ” Now, that’s advice worth taking.

This weekend, flip the script, “The temperatures are only predicted to be in the 40s on Saturday and Sunday, but spring temperatures are on the way, and rain is not in the forecast.” Have a great weekend and best wishes for many more positives and fewer negatives!

Best,

Jim