Think About the Progress That
You've Already Made
"Of all the things that can boost
emotions, motivation, and perceptions
during a workday, the single most
important is making progress in
meaningful work." This is what
Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer
refer to as the Progress Principle—
the idea is that it's the "small wins"
that keep us going, particularly in the
face of stressors.
Know Whether Optimism or
Defensive Pessimism Works for
You
For many of us, it's hard to stay
positive when we've got assignments
up to our eyeballs. For others, it isn't
just hard—it feels wrong. And as it
turns out, they are perfectly correct—
Psychologically, it's often not whether
we've reached our goal, but the rate
at which we are closing the gap
between where we are now and
where we want to end up that
determines how we feel. It can be
enormously helpful to take a moment
and reflect on what you've
accomplished so far before turning
your attention to the challenges that
remain ahead.
optimism doesn't work for them. It is
stressful enough to try to juggle as
many projects and goals as we do, but
we add a layer of stress without
realizing it when we try to reach them
using strategies that don't feel right—
that don't mesh with our own
motivational style. So what's your