Must-Know Info About Positive Influence
Being an influence on others involves more than setting a good example. In addition, using “positive influences” as a term often sets people up for failure.
This might sound strange, but the word “positive” can encourage the mindset that something should or must be done well all the time.
Optimistic is a better choice. It lets you feel more open to mistakes and not getting it right every, single time. The word “optimism” promotes greater ability for change when things don’t work out like you thought.
For example, when viewing a person as a positive influence on others, they may often feel like they have let someone down. Have you ever felt this way?
In This Article
Ideas to Focus on Before Influencing
It’s healthier to view yourself or someone else as having an optimistic influence. There is more opportunity for growth and to encourage the same in others.
This is great if you are an influencer, especially for larger groups, or maybe a boss.
This mindset sets the stage that you don’t always have the answers and can’t possibly always be correct. It creates a foundation for allowance of mistakes and imperfection.
To create confidence for the view of optimistic influence, it’s important to spend time on your personal growth and focus. This does not mean academics, but rather authenticity.
Before jumping in to lead others this is especially important.
Average confidence is great in leadership, but you can get burned out trying to remain a positive influence rather than have a view of optimistic confidence.
Let’s look at some pointers about optimistic influence.
7 Guidelines for Preparation of Influence
This first section of guidelines is about recognizing areas that can be used to gain energy, confidence, and understanding toward optimistic influence.
You can’t lead well or be a good example if you are burned out and feel exhausted.
These points help you stay grounded and energized to spread the wealth to others. Influencers can focus on their own strengths and giftings to bring optimal results to others.
1) Realize You’ll Never be Perfect
This point is simply about giving yourself a break.
Too often we look within expecting perfection on all counts. Even having this expectation in small doses is unhealthy. Being more forgiving of yourself—and others—makes your life much less stressful.
When you are in a position to influence others, this becomes especially challenging. However, releasing yourself from the impossible mindset of perfection is very freeing.
As leaders, we often tell our teams to embrace imperfection but have difficulty walking it out personally. Give yourself a break.
2) Rest: Take Time Instead of Make Time
It’s common to make—create/carve out—time in our busy schedule for a vacation or occasional fun. In between we often suffer the consequences of “busy-ness.”
Instead, this view encourages the thought of taking time every chance you get for rest. This includes not only resting your body, but also resting your mind.
It only takes a few minutes to disengage from the stress around you and rest. It can happen at a traffic light, when waiting for an appointment, and when trying to go to sleep at night. You might use music, read, or even meditate.
One key component is practicing slowing your breathing. It begins to slow your body and mind and is a great cue for relaxation.
This method only takes small increments of time. It takes practice, but when you form this habit, it whisks you away to your restful state, even on short notice. It’s a terrific re-set throughout your day.
3) Enjoy Mindfulness in Nature
This is in addition to the last section about rest. Initiating a rest sequence and deep breathing helps prepare you for mindfulness.
Spending time enjoying the outdoors is a great way to practice mindfulness, especially if it is a new concept. Start by getting relaxed and focusing on the sights, sounds, sensations, and smells you encounter.
This allows your body to become more in tune with your surroundings and more present in the moment. While this is great for longer periods of time, it can be used—as with rest—at any given moment throughout your day.
4) Blow Off Some Steam
Even if you’re not the most active person, your body needs activity.
Our body systems were made to stay in balance. Your effort to maintain or improve your health is called wellness.
Stress kills the balance in your body. Movement, especially exercise, is a great way to blow off some steam and decrease your stress level.
We have all heard this fact, but only a small portion of people exercise regularly. Staying fit doesn’t have to mean focusing only on exercising. There are other ways such as gardening, dancing, and walking that are terrific to keep you moving.
Choose one and keep going!
5) Spend Time Around Like-Minded People
While this is an excellent point, it does have some guidelines of its own. Sometimes the ones we spend time with are not the best influence for us. Choosing those around us wisely is an important step.
Also, don’t be discouraged if you have trouble finding others that fit into this category. Instead, try looking in a different place. Spiritual areas are excellent for finding those that are great influencers and give you a pick-me-up.
Also, it’s good to build a network of those that might have things in common with you. Not necessarily your hobbies or favorite foods, but in this case similarities for what you do as an influencer. This can create an area where people understand what you’re going through daily especially as a boss or as you influence others.
6) Feed Yourself by Committing to Personal Growth
As with some other points, I take a little different view of personal growth.
You have often heard it stated that we should be “life-long learners.” To most people that means you should take courses, keep sharpening your skills at your profession, or even stay astute to things that can make you smarter.
While this is true, I believe that one of the most important parts of being a continuous learner is assessment of self. To bring optimistic influence, a better understanding of yourself is important. This is another way to keep from experiencing burn out too.
A great way to keep this in check is with daily intentions. These have a shorter duration and are terrific for measuring success.
We should spend some time with focus on how we are changing and growing, what our thoughts are, and the action steps we are taking and planning. This creates a space for acknowledgement. It helps us realize if we are taking the right paths in life. This should include all areas: personal situations, environmental health, contributions, etc.
7) Enjoy Thinking Back Over Your Successes
This is a great way to form a more optimistic view.
Try revisiting those successes that may not have happened perfectly. They are still cause for celebration, but maybe didn’t end exactly the way you thought they would.
This is a great exercise in creating appreciation and gratitude for what you have accomplished. It also helps you see that situations don’t have to come together only one way. (Again, the optimistic vs. positive influence.)
If you have trouble finding examples that you consider successful, try moving forward with the outlined approach. Take note of the next time you have a better outlook when trying something or helping someone. That’s a success!
6 Outlooks for Optimistic Influence
We’ve discussed guidelines to use for better influence in your own life. This second section shows action steps of optimistic influencers.
Changing your vocabulary from positive influence to optimistic influence can create a longer lasting effect. Also, don’t feel the need to have things perfectly lined up when leaning in as an influence for others. We all commit to learning as we go. An optimistic influence approach is a great start.
The following are areas that bring more optimistic influence on others as you take action.
1) Be Willing to Share Wisdom
We have probably all experienced a person that felt superior to others and showed it in their actions.
Instead of keeping your insights to yourself, it’s good to share your wisdom with others. This allows a farther reach. Your goal as an influencer should be to grow amazing leaders and more influencers. To do this, it’s important to share what you know.
2) Be Open-Minded to Those Around You
Every person is different and has their own quirks, values, and giftings. If you use optimistic influence, you readily stay open to the differences, diversity, and opinions of others.
Be assured that doesn’t mean you need to agree with all that you hear. There is much more power in staying open to others than simply following another’s view. Practicing this method can increase your abilities as an influencer, parent, and healthy mom, among other roles.
Growth happens during this process. Sometimes, we even learn and don’t realize we’re learning. Embrace that!
3) Be Generous to Others
The greatest influencers are generous people.
Often, we think of generosity as financial gifts. This is not necessarily the case. Generosity can be expressed in numerous ways including time and talents.
Optimistic influencers are generous with information and their knowledge. They also, look at how they can be of service and help others.
4) Be Compassionate, Not Only Kind
Kindness is different than being nice. It is a longer-lasting approach than the temporary result that niceness often brings.
To take it a step further, compassion is feeling deeper for the needs of others than only sharing kindness. Kindness and compassion both bring about action steps for change, but compassion is derived from a deeper concern.
Optimistic influencers believe that their compassion and kindness make a difference.
5) Be Intentional in Your Conversations
This point is important to remember with all the relationships you’re in. It creates great connection as an influence on others.
Often people want to feel heard and when we approach a situation in this manner it allows critical connection.
In addition, instead of always feeling like you should have a comment, or explanation, think before you speak. There is nothing wrong with a brief pause instead of saying something you wish you could take back.
Intentionality creates better results when learning to get along with others and especially for optimistic influence on them.
6) Be Approachable
It can be challenging to remain relatable to those that look up to you for direction, information, or assurance. The truth is that presenting yourself as an approachable person is important in all aspects.
I don’t know anyone that was born with all the influence they currently have. Even if you were born with some, you have worked and grown into the person you currently are. This comes with age and experience on all accounts.
Each part of our journey has made us more relatable to those that we have influence with now. Instead of working to encourage people to see you on a pedestal, remain approachable as a better influence for them.
We all have a platform. How you choose to use it shows your character.
Final Thoughts About Positive Influence
It may seem like a strange concept when first introduced but having “positive influence” can be confining to say the least.
When a different outlook of “optimism” is taken—by leaders and influencers—it can bring greater success.
We discussed ideas that are important to consider for breaking ground with optimistic influence. As mentioned, no one is perfect, so moving forward with even a portion of this new outlook can give you greater satisfaction and bring more growth.
When this viewpoint is shared by those around you, it allows an even better effect for creating long-lasting, optimistic influence.