On Dec 7, Oracle hosted its first ever Girl Geek dinner which was attended by over 550 women in technology from the Bay Area. I was on the speaker panel and shared the stage with strong and dynamic women leaders – Maria Kaval, Vivian Wong, Gretchen Alarcon, Michelle Hulst, and Renu Chintalapati from Oracle. We shared our views on how to find the path to success in the corporate environment and inspire women in technology.
A day before the event, as I was writing my talking points, I yet again realized the role optimism has played in my success! It is proven that optimism has a direct correlation with success. When you think positive, you attract positive energy and using that power of positivity you can chart your success plan and a recipe for happiness.
Positive thinking is a choice, you can train your brain to think positive. It is also a trial and error process and different things work for different people since happiness does not come naturally to human beings. I have been practicing positive thinking for years now and here is what has worked for me:
- * Mindfulness: Mindfulness provides clarity. Every day for 2 minutes, my kids and I practice mindfulness through meditation. I can go longer but that’s the most my kids can go so 2 minutes it is. I find it hard to meditate by focusing on my breath so instead I practice meditation the easier way which is to think nothing. To just be for those two minutes.
- * Visualizing goals and happiness: It is easy to get worked up by negative things at work, in personal life or in the world around us. I know that once I get into a negativity spiral, it impacts how I operate. I spend some time each day thinking about my goals. I like to close my eyes and imagine how my life would be when I have achieved those goals. This helps me focus on the bigger picture – my aim and moves the focus from any negativity.
- * Investing in myself: I spend an hour every day learning new skills or reading about topics of interest. It helps me discover new tools to help me move closer to my goals.
- * Kindness to myself: This one was the hardest for me. I practice being kind to myself. I acknowledge my successes however small they are. A nice email from someone, a thank you note from someone who liked my talk or article, or an appreciative call from work…I let myself enjoy these things without being overly critical of myself. It helps build my confidence and allows me to focus on the skills I have to achieve my goals.
- * Gratitude: Everyday, before going to bed, my kids and I thank the power above for all the “good things” that happened during the day. It doesn’t matter how big/important the “good thing” was…it is about acknowledging all the blessings that we have in our life and focus on the positive.
- * Share positivity: I share positivity with the people around me. I write about it, I talk about it and I read about it. I practice meditation, mindfulness, and gratitude with my family and people I know. It is proven that when a group of people practice the power of positivity together, they release positive vibrations (much stronger that an individual’s positive vibration) into the universe. These positive vibrations that are put out in the universe attract positive vibrations from the universe (quantum physics) which leads to happiness and optimism.