Posts filed under ‘Accentuate the Positive’
Happy Englishness
Could it be that English speakers are biased toward exercising the Fresh Ideas strategy ‘Accentuate the Positive”?
The Scientist reports that, “In one of the most comprehensive analyses of the English language to date, mathematicians from Cornell University and the University of Vermont collated more than 10,000 words from four sources of text—Google Books, Twitter, The New York Times, and song lyrics. The words were scored on a scale of 1 to 9, with 1 being the most negative and 9 being the most positive. (The highest score was awarded to “laughter,” which received an 8.5, while “terrorist” received the lowest, coming it at 1.3.)
Overall, the researchers found that positive words outnumbered negative ones, suggesting “a positivity bias” in the [English] language.”
“Bless That Which You Want”
In ‘25 Unusual Methods For Making A Trillion Dollars,’ James Altucher reframe
s the Fresh Ideas strategy Accentuate the Positive as he describes an essential practice he calls “Bless That Which You Want”:
“ … I read a story as a kid: two people were walking by the executive dining room at their corporation. One guy said, “look at those jerks. Eating in their own lunchroom.” And the other guy said, “I’m fine with them eating there. I’m going to eat there one day.” Never be jealous of what you want. It puts a huge dividing line between you and THEM. Admiring the qualities you want to achieve instead of being jealous of them is the only way to achieve them. Catch yourself today anytime you are jealous of people who have more. Reverse it. Build that into your daily practice.”
Light Sources
The next time you feel your creative mojo waning,
consider Leonard Cohen‘s illuminating take on
the Fresh Ideas strategy ‘Accentuate the Positive‘:
“Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.”
Mr. W
He doesn’t know why, but no one likes him. They think he’s annoying.
He was lonely, but got used to it … until everything changed.
Someone applied the Accentuate the Positive Fresh Ideas strategy,
asking “How could this be a good thing?”
Find out what happened here (2 minute video):
