July 2025 GOOD news letter The truth about positivity
The TRUTH about positivity
I am grateful to one of my all-time favorite coaches, Mike Denny, for sharing his insights about the importance of positive feedback.
Those of us who are motivational and inspirational speakers constantly preach that you should find whatever motivates you to be the best version of yourself. We talk about how motivation is needed to help you accomplish your goals and sometimes even to get up in the morning. In this newsletter I’ll shed some light on how to incorporate motivation into your daily life… not once in a while, but every day in some form or fashion.
How many positive experiences does it take to overcome the destructive impact of one negative experience? To effectively offset the negative input we are exposed to every day, we need a lot of positive input. In fact research suggests we need a minimum of five positives for every negative input we hear, see, or experience.
Research suggests that this 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative is crucial for our mental well-being. This balance helps us move from feeling simply okay to flourishing.
Why is positivity so important?
The brain naturally has a “negativity bias,” meaning it is more likely to remember negative experiences than positive ones. This bias can make it seem like negative experiences have a stronger impact, even if the number of positive experiences is greater. To counteract this bias, we need to expose ourselves to more positives.
What type of positive input has the most impact? In a nationwide survey of over 2,000 workers, 69% indicated that receiving praise and recognition was more motivating to them than money. Four out of five workers said recognition or praise motivated them to do a better job.
Providing feedback of 5 positives to 1 negative is a goal for increasing the amount and quality of feedback that we give to others. Positive or encouraging feedback makes an individual more likely to perform a behavior again.
In addition to supporting people with verbal feedback, writing inspirational notes can have a long-lasting impact. Positivity helps to counteract the damage caused by people who seem to be in the demolition business.
“When you expect the best, you release a magnetic force in your mind which by a law of attraction tends to bring the best to you.”
—Norman Vincent Peale
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
—1 Thessalonians 5:11
Giving and receiving positive input helps all of us. It would be hard to find anybody who doesn’t benefit from positive feedback. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you helped make somebody’s day better or even changed somebody’s life? Each of us has the ability to be positive, so I believe we have the responsibility to do this.
I would be thrilled to speak to your company or organization about ways to increase positivity in your workplace. For more information on this topic, please check out The Van Deeb Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.
