Recently I had a conversation with a HR Director who bemoaned the ongoing proliferation of bad news and despair coming through the media.

“Even every conference I attend, there is another economist predicting Armageddon from the podium. It appears there is no escape!” he continued.

Without doubt this focus on the negative is damaging, and in the context of boosting our bottom lines is very misled – why?

1. As our minds work similar to computers the more negatives we input, the more negatives the output. In computer language, garbage in, garbage out! Or as my father used to say “what do you expect from a donkey but a kick!” Put in another way the more we talk recession the bigger and deeper this “black hole” becomes.
2. When an organisation is employing a keynote speaker in the future, you may ask them to put the current challenges in their appropriate context. In the context of Ireland we are just entering a recession after an unprecedented economic miracle over the past fifteen years. How can we suddenly forget this indisputable fact? You don’t have to be a motivational speaker to use this fact as a reframe for our current challenge which like all dips will pass in time.
3. Sometimes people feel helpless in these situations but there is hope.
   “We are all in the gutter but some of us sees the stars,” said Oscar Wilde. We may not be able to change International Economies but it is certainly within our skillset to change our reaction to a downturn. Imagine if your next keynote speaker gave your employees the tools to reframe the current challenges in a positive way. This new optimism would permeate the organisation and have a dramatic effect on your company’s future in the short and medium term.
4. Regardless of how we spin it, life (personal and organisational) is a journey of light and dark. For those who haven’t experienced downturns this new experience will give them the tools and strategies to meet the next one as a positive learning experience.

In summary I penned this blog to show that everyone can play a role in reversing the current culture.

Aristotle once said “ Words are a symbol of our mental experience” – we need new words for the current situation – challenge, opportunity to grow, catalyst for growth, time for personal empowerment and so on……

Choose new words today and pass on any more exposure to the doom and gloom merchants.