jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • Advertise a Job
  • Recruiters
  • Your Account

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

career-advice.jobs.ac.uk

Secondary Sidebar

jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

  • CV and Cover Letter Advice
    • CV Tips
    • Free CV Templates
    • Cover Letters with Examples
    • Personal Profiles
    • CV Resources
  • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
    • Jobseeking Tips
    • Academic Interviews
    • Professional Interviews
    • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
  • Career Development
    • Academic Careers
    • Research Careers
    • Career Progression Stories
    • Professional Careers
    • Working in Industry
    • Career Development Resources
    • Global Careers
    • Working From Home
  • Women in Higher Education
  • FE Career Advice
    • FE CV & Interview Tips
    • Working in FE
    • Managing your Career in FE
    • FE Jobs Profiles
  • Resources
    • Academic Case Studies
    • Professional Case Studies
    • Job Profiles
      • Biological Science Jobs
      • Health and Medical Jobs
      • Engineering and Technology Jobs
      • Computer Science Jobs
      • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
      • Professional Service Jobs
        • Business Development Manager Jobs Profile
        • Chef Jobs Profile
        • Civil Service Jobs Profile
        • Compliance Officer
        • Email Marketing Jobs Profile
        • Office Admin Jobs
        • Programming Manager Jobs
        • SEO Jobs Profile
    • Vlogs
  • Webinars
  • Country Profiles
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Nigeria
      • South Africa
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • United States of America
    • Asia
      • Bahrain
      • Brunei
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Malaysia
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Dubai
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Turkey
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Work in Vietnam – Country Profile
      • Work in Uzbekistan – Country Profile
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • United Kingdom
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • PhD and Studentship Advice
    • Before your PhD
    • During your PhD
    • After your PhD
    • PhD advice
    • Studentship Resources
    • PhD Vlogs
  • Need help advertising a job?
  • About jobs.ac.uk
  • Ask A Professional
  • Academic Spotlight Interviews
  • Menu
    • CV and Cover Letter Advice
      • CV Tips
      • Free CV Templates
      • Cover Letters with Examples
      • Personal Profiles
      • CV Resources
    • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
      • Jobseeking Tips
      • Academic Interviews
      • Professional Interviews
      • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
    • Career Development
      • Academic Careers
      • Career Progression Stories
      • Research Careers
      • Professional Careers
      • Working in Industry
      • Career Development Resources
      • Global Careers
      • Working From Home
    • Women in Higher Education
    • FE Career Advice
      • FE CV & Interview Tips
      • Working in FE
      • Managing your Career in FE
      • FE Jobs Profiles
    • Resources
      • Academic Case Studies
      • Professional Case Studies
      • Interview questions tool
      • Vlogs
      • Job Profiles
        • Biological Science Jobs
        • Health and Medical Jobs
        • Engineering and Technology Jobs
        • Computer Science Jobs
        • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
        • Professional Service Jobs
        • Civil Service jobs
    • Webinars
    • Country Profiles
      • Africa
        • Work in Egypt – Country Profile
        • Work in Ghana – Country Profile
        • Work in Kenya – Country Profile
        • Work in Nigeria – Country Profile
        • Work in South Africa – Country Profile
      • Americas
        • Work in Canada – Country Profile
        • Work in the United States of America – Country Profile
      • Asia
        • Work in Bahrain – Country Profile
        • Work in Brunei – Country Profile
        • Work in China – Country Profile
        • Work in Hong Kong – Country Profile
        • Work in India – Country Profile
        • Work in Japan – Country Profile
        • Work in Kazakhstan – Country Profile
        • Work in Malaysia – Country Profile
        • Work in Qatar – Country Profile
        • Work in Saudi Arabia – Country Profile
        • Work in Singapore – Country Profile
        • Work in South Korea – Country Profile
        • Work in Turkey – Country Profile
        • Work in United Arab Emirates – Country Profile
      • Dubai
      • Europe
        • Belgium Country Profile
        • Work in Denmark – Country Profile
        • Work in Finland – Country Profile
        • France Country Profile
        • Work in Germany – Country Profile
        • Work in Ireland – Country Profile
        • Work in Italy – Country Profile
        • Work in the Netherlands – Country Profile
        • Work in Norway – Country Profile
        • Work in Russia – Country Profile
        • Work in Spain – Country Profile
        • Work in Sweden – Country Profile
        • Work in Switzerland – Country Profile
        • Work in the United Kingdom – Country Profile
      • Oceania
        • Work in Australia – Country profile
        • Work in New Zealand – Country Profile
    • Studentship Advice
      • PhD
      • Studentship Resources
      • Vlogs
    • Need help advertising a job?
    • About jobs.ac.uk

The Power of Positivity

positivity

Do you want to learn a simple trick to help you guarantee career success?  It’s called Positive Thinking and it can have a huge impact on your career potential.

A single positive thought can be viewed as having the same effect as dropping a pebble in a lake.  The ripples can be seen and felt long after the pebble has disappeared from sight.  This ripple effect of positive thinking can have an impact not only in terms of career growth but also in the impact it may have on your own mental and physical health.

The Benefits of Positivity

So, why should you try to adopt a more positive outlook?  Well, it has proven results when it comes to career success…

  • Helps you engage with others and gain support for your ideas
  • Builds your reputation as someone trustworthy
  • Helps you highlight your achievements
  • Boosts your energy
  • It’s related to higher levels of job performance
  • Enhances your self-confidence
  • Broadens your mind to see new possibilities
  • Leads to a positive impact on your physical health – lower stress levels, lower blood pressure, helps you to sleep better and to feel less anxious

How do I become more positive?

Of course, it’s easier said than done.  Humans are often conditioned to think negatively – a mistake will be remembered for far longer than a success story.  And, of course, positive thinking doesn’t mean that you simply ignore life’s most difficult situations.  Instead it’s adopting a positive outlook – viewing a difficult time as something that will pass, seeing a lack of success as a single issue that you can move on from.

If you tend to have a pessimistic outlook, you can change if you adopt a few simple strategies.  Adopting a positive mindset in just a few areas of your life will have the exact same ripple effect.  Positive thinking spreads – if you let it.

  1. Be Grateful
    Try to think of three things every day that you are grateful for.  Some people like to write this down or record it as a note on their phone, others simply think of them.  Whatever style works best for you is fine!  Set a daily alarm on your phone to remind you and carefully think of at least three things that happened on that specific day that made you feel positive.
  2. Be Kind
    The pay it forward campaign has had proven success in improving people’s mental health. Pay for the person behind you when ordering a coffee, open doors for people, take time to say hello when you pass someone in the street.  But, here’s the crucial part, note what you have done and how it made you feel.  Allow the ripples to take effect.
  3. Avoid catastrophising
    Catastrophising is when you take a small issue and expand it in your mind until it seems insurmountable. “I’m stuck in traffic so I’ll miss my meeting.  I’ll probably get fired when I get back to the office.”  Try to think of simple steps to help keep you calm.  Use the ‘best friend test’ – what would you advise your friend to do in this situation?
  4. Surround yourself with positive people
    Tim Smit, the founder of the Eden Project, once said during a business seminar – you can have ten positive people in a room but you only need one negative person to drain all that energy away. Adopt a similar approach in your life by spending more time with the most positive people you know.
  5. Positive self-talk
    Instead of telling yourself what you can’t do try to rephrase your thinking. “I’m getting better at..”, “It didn’t go as I planned today, what can I do to make it work next time?” It’s easy to dwell on mistakes and lose confidence in your abilities, allow yourself a maximum amount of time for complaining and then think of three positives you took from a negative experience.  It doesn’t matter how small they are! Try to start each day with a positive outlook – what are you looking forward to that day?  How will you reward yourself for success?

Finally, it’s important that you keep practising, especially if you have a natural tendency to be pessimistic.  Nobody is perfect, and we are all constantly learning, so allow yourself time to develop this approach to your career and to your life.

What did you think of our article? - please rate

5 / 5. 1


Share this article

Lucie Johnston

Lucie Johnston has worked as a Careers Adviser in Higher Education since 2004 following a successful career running a graduate training scheme. She has particular interests in enterprise within industry, portfolio careers and career changers. Lucie has been published in Prospects and also writes for national features magazines as part of her own portfolio career.

Reader Interactions

You may also like:

  • Female intern listening to mentor explaining computer task

    How career mentorship helps growth and development

  • Students Engaged in Group Discussion in University Classroom

    The Teaching Tightrope: Presence Versus Pressure

  • female gas analyst

    The future of women in engineering

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

19 + five =

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

Career Progression Stories - jobs.ac.uk

Latest Jobs

  • Vocational Studies Tutor

    School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing, University of Glasgow

    Location: Glasgow

    Salary: Salary: £220 per session paid in equal instalments over 12 months


  • PhD Studentship: Exploring the Impact of Misalignment on the Appearance of Black Holes

    Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton

    Location: Southampton

    Salary: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships


  • PhD Studentship: Hidden Black Holes and the Search for Self-lensing Binaries

    Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton

    Location: Southampton

    Salary: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarships


  • PhD Studentship: Wearable Machine Learning Enabled RF Sensors for Measuring Human Hydration

    Faculty of Engineering and Physical Science, University of Southampton

    Location: Southampton

    Salary: We offer a range of funding opportunities for both UK and international students, including Bursaries and Scholarship


  • IT Service Desk Officer

    University of Greater Manchester

    Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester

    Salary: £24,533 - £27,181


  • NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry

    Faculty of Health and Life Sciences (HLS) - Institute/School Clinical Directorate - Department of Clinical Directorate Professor Services, University of Liverpool

    Location: Liverpool

    Salary: £39,260 - £68,478 per annum (post 2009) Lecturer


Footer

jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025

  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Careers Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility
jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025