The Power of Positivity

Something that often goes under-utilized, but is never under-appreciated is yep…you guessed it…positivity. Early today I was reflecting on how much I enjoy working with people who think and act positively, and how much more effectively I seem to work with them. Have you ever noticed how much happier you become when you’re around someone who woke up on the “right side of the bed?”  I don’t think you’re alone.

Everyday when we wake up before we go to bed or school, we have a choice to make. Either we can say to ourselves, “Man, this week has been horrible. The project I worked so hard on failed, no one appreciates me, and I just don’t get paid enough.” The alternative to said situation might be, “Today is a brand-new day and I’m going to make the most of it. There has been such a negative influence around me lately and I want to change that. It is MY choice how I view the world, and as bad as things get around me, the only thing I can control is my attitude and how I can approach life.” There is no doubt about it, the first approach is much easier. It’s so easy to find things wrong with our lives and dwell on them, but where does that get us? I’d be lying if I said I never get bogged down with a poor attitude because we all do. What’s important is that we become more self-aware and realize when we become “Debbie Downers.” With this pro-active approach, we can save ourselves and everyone around us a great deal of stress and negative feelings. Negativity is a a perpetuating cycle and the only way to stop it is with a positive influence, whether it comes from a spontaneous event, or something you create yourself with a simple change of perspective.

In this day and age with Facebook, Twitter, and Social media sites, I’ve noticed people bombarding my “News Feed” with status’ complaining about how horrible their lives are and how bad school sucks. First off, if your life is so undeniably unpleasant, is it really a good idea to let the world know about it? Secondly, most people want to associate themselves with positive people who can bring joy to their lives, not grief and griping. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s very important and healthy to share your feelings with people, but that should be done intimately through a support system such as your significant other, friends, and family. These people will not just listen to you, but they will also be offer to provide good insight and advice as they want the best for you.

I’ve noticed that the positive people around me are often the most successful. A pessimist might say, “Well, they’re positive and happy because they’re successful.”  While that may not be entirely wrong, but their attitudes and overall “can-do” perspective toward life has a lot to do with their success.  There is nothing more rewarding than working or being around someone who laughs, smiles, is overall excited about what life has to offer.  These individuals are very approachable and we feel comfortable asking them for advice or seeking input.  We know that they won’t bite our head off for no reason or blow us off  rudely.  Oftentimes, if we are positive, we find ourselves working to find a solution because we are optimistic that we can create a positive outcome despite the challenging circumstances.  With this mentality, we feel that our efforts are fruitful, not futile.

Life isn’t always served to us on a silver platter, but whether we feel like it or not, we have the power to change the way we view it.  I think if we all make a stronger effort to be more positive and see the best in what’s around us, our quality of life will continuously improve.  Give it a shot…I dare you to test the Power of Positivity.

Leadership Iowa University – Cedar Falls Session

What a success!

This last weekend I attended one of our final Leadership Iowa University sessions in Cedar Falls, IA.  Despite the challenging road conditions due to a statewide snow/ice storm, we saw almost 100% attendance from this year’s inaugural class.  With students located throughout the entire state including the large public universities to smaller private colleges to some of the country’s finest community colleges, it was great to have so many of us make it.

The session was terrific.  With only a day and a half together, some of the activities we did were:

• Individual Strengthsfinder analysis from Tom Rath’s nationally renown book, Strengthsfinder 2.o
• One-on-one resume and cover letter improvement meetings with experienced human resource professionals
• Tour of one of Iowa’s Fortune 500 companies, John Deere
• Marketing workshop with ME&V
• Etiquette lunch with Christian Fong, an Iowa young professional who recently ran for the Governor of Iowa

One of the activities I enjoyed the most was hearing our keynote speaker, Christian Fong, speak during our etiquette lunch on Saturday.  Christian spoke on why Iowans are leaving Iowa at such an alarming rate and what is being done to reverse the trend.  As a young, born-and-bred Iowan nearing my college graduation, the issues he discussed struck close to my heart.  It was quite refreshing hearing him tell his story about leaving Iowa and coming back to pursue a successful career, which he has clearly achieved at such a young age.  One of the key points he made was how Iowa’s business and civic environment offers many jobs with internationally competitive salaries that provide greater opportunities for success than other states.  It’s crazy how many people who I’ve heard say “I want to leave Iowa because I can make more money and have a better career” or feel impelled to leave because of the “glitz and glamor” of big city.  With this said, I’m not saying that none of these claims have merit as many of them do.  What I think, though, is that people are doing this without a good understanding of what they are leaving for, and what they are leaving behind.  As a finance guy who understands the value in cost-benefit analyses, it is necessary to develop an educated decision by weighing the pro’s and con’s of a situation and not simply acting on emotional impulse.

Fong spoke about how in Iowa it’s much more attainable to become a big fish in a little pond whereas many ambitious people leave Iowa and find themselves utterly disappointed at the fact that no matter what they do, they will always be a little fish in a big pond.  One of the unique characteristics of Iowa is the accessibility of local, county, and state politicians, but more importantly, the accessibility of becoming civicly engaged in Iowa often goes understated.  Mr. Fong emphasized that one of the advantages young people have in Iowa is the ability to become involved and make a positive difference in their communities, which can lead to increasing professional opportunities as well because you are seen as a leader in the community.

Another part of the mini-conference, which ties closely with Christian’s message of accessibility to community leaders, was having the opportunity to meet some Iowa entrepreneurs.  I was able to meet the head chef for a new, phenomenal Waterloo restaurant Roux Orleans and a woman who has created a unique business through consulting and writing books which combine expertise in nutrition, etiquette, and professional behavior.

As a member of the task force and participant of Leadership Iowa University, it’s rewarding to see the success and be a part of the inaugural year of what is becoming one of Iowa’s premiere collegiate organizations.  I look forward to seeing what future events have to offer!

Brad Zaun Holiday Party

Last night I attended the Brad Zaun Christmas Party at Christophers in Beaverdale, and let me tell you, Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District should be really excited about their future U.S. Representative.  Here is a link to a video montage of the successful event.

I was invited by my long-time friend Adam Kaduce, “Students for Zaun” Chair, to help out with registration and meet some of the key individuals behind the Brad Zaun movement.  Arriving around 6pm, we mingled with few of the other early birds including Brad’s political director, Tom Clegg.  Right off the bat I was impressed with the experience and caliber of Brad’s team, which he cleverly deemed his “Kitchen Cabinet.”  Many of these individuals have been with Brad through all of his political victories from Urbandale City Councilman, Urbandale Mayor, and Iowa State Senator.  It’s clear to me that this team is successful.  Successful because they have the penchant for victory, but most importantly, because people flat-out want Brad as a community, state, and now a national leader.  With Brad Zaun, you get what you see- a transparent, passionate, conservative leader who will and has consistently stuck by his beliefs. 

After more people started filing in, we moved to the entrance to greet other attendees to the event.  I was taken back by everyone’s excitement to talk to Brad and listen to his speech; it was truly contagious.  There was a diverse crowd ranging from high school students to retirees, and everyone in between.

In Brad’s speech, he reiterated Thomas Jefferson’s perspective regarding deficit spending stating that it is unconstitutional to incur debt that would burden future generations.  Now that’s refreshing to hear.  It scares me to know that current congressman are treating the national deficit with utter disregard to push their selfish political agendas.  I understand the health care system could use some improving and these liberals do care about the well-being of their constituents, but government-run health care is purely not smart.  They are more concerned about having their names associated with revolutionizing America’s health care system and being in the history books.  It may sound cynical and unfair, these people really need to step back and learn the economics of their decision and the ancillary effects of such radical legislation.  Some politicians are  jaded by their own political motivations, and jump into groupthink mentality which, inhibits their ability to conduct the necessary due diligence particularly in such a momentous bill.

Toward the end of the night, Adam and I had a great conversation with John Elliot, one of Zaun’s lifelong friends, regarding conservative politics and the future for the party.  John was very interested in getting the perspective from the youth about political figures like Sarah Palin and how we bring forth a candidate that satisfies the expectations for fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, and teapartiers.  His questions really made me think because it feels like society is moving away from conservative values and my generation, in particular, is not being taught the same types of values with which our parents grew up knowing.  Whether this phenomenon is positive or not, it’s the reality we’re living with and politicians must learn about and cater to the youth as Mr. Obama proved in the last presidential election.

Overall, it was a great night and I’m excited to watch Zaun’s campaign evolve over the next year as he gathers more momentum and replaces the long-time incumbent Democrat Leonard Boswell.

As Zaun states in his website, “America has lost faith and trust in Congress. I firmly believe nothing can be done; no positive change can be made until we restore trust in those we have chosen to lead.” 

Join me and take a stand.

Hello world!

I’m pretty excited that this is my first official blog on wordpress!  The world of communication is changing drastically everyday and I’m beginning to realize communication doesn’t just occur through email, cell phones, and text messages.  Now, we have Twitter, blogs, facebook, and tons of new resources that I don’t even know about yet.  Some people see it as pure madness and others see it as opportunity.  It may be a little of both, but that’s the beauty of it- you can chose what you want to make of it.  I’ve posted on blogs before for class assignments or organizations and I’d have to say I’m one of those individuals who sees blogs as a source of opportunity, but most importantly it is a valuable resource to help me digest the multitude of information I consume on an everyday basis.

The following are a few ways that blogs can be used other than a cantankerous personal rant (which many of us may associate with personal blogs):

• A destination for storing good articles and information you have read for future reference
• Sharing your ideas in order to connect with individuals who have similar interests
• Taking ownership of our ideas and use blogs as an instrument to receive criticism in order to strengthen your own ideas and platforms
• To develop critical thinking skills by verbalizing your thoughts into constructive arguments and/or tidbits of informative regurgitation

I’d be interested to hear about how others use blogs…thoughts anyone?

The only way we become smarter is by manifesting and deconstructing new information/ideas, then building upon our existing knowledge base to create a more enlightened perspective.  Of course this is my personal opinion, but it seems to have worked for the world so far.

-Nick Litwiller