be positive, do positive

By Robyn Snyder, 2020 President, Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber Board of Directors

Twenty some years ago, I sat at the annual Chamber celebration and watched the incoming president accept the gavel for the upcoming year. A person at my table said he could see me doing that some year. So here I am, fulfilling that prophesy. I was humbled when asked to serve on the board five years ago, and am excited to serve as your president for 2020.

My theme for 2020 is Be Positive, Do Positive. To keep our community strong and vibrant, we all need to Be Positive and Do Positive. As we connect and collaborate, we need to do it with positivity. As Chamber members, I want to encourage you to bring positive action into your life and your businesses, and into our community as a whole. There is so much negativity in our world day today. Perhaps it’s always been there, but social media puts it in front of us all the time. Did you know our brains are wired for negativity to have a greater impact on us than the positive events?

Over the last several years, I have worked hard to focus on positivity within my own life and the environment of my company. I have seen firsthand how being positive and doing positive can have an effect. A staff member’s spouse recently shared with me, “The inspiration you bring to your group daily follows the ones you inspire home, I have to thank you for that! I have had a difficult week with much negative energy presented daily at my work. It is refreshing to come home and hear about your office positive sunshine daily.”
 
This year, as Chamber president, I want to encourage positivity and have my theme serve as a reminder for all of us to Be Positive, Do Positive. It starts at home, in our personal lives, spreads to our business roles and impacts our community as a whole. So I am challenging you to start and end your day by thinking of something you are grateful for – anything! I challenge you to smile more – smiling sends a message to our brains that we are happy and research shows smiling is contagious! Praise others and show appreciation! In the workplace, I challenge you to have a positive attitude. Attitude will show in the way staff deals with clients, the way they work alongside their teammates. If you are not in a management role, let the positivity start with you. Work hard, smile and keep things light, bring up issues as they arise-don’t let it build up inside of you. Practice honesty, admit mistakes, be appreciative, speak well of your company and your coworkers. Be respectful, inclusive, and supportive of others. Don’t gossip.

At the bottom of this blog is a link to my Be Positive, Do Positive “cheat sheet”. I encourage you to share it with your family, post it on your bulletin board at work, email it to anyone you think could use a positivity boost!
 
I am so proud of the community where I live. We truly are an ultimate destination for people to live, work, play, and prosper. If we, as individuals, can begin to focus on positivity in our personal lives, we can bring it into our workplace and spread it into our community! What you send out, you get back! Positive thinking is more than just a tagline. It changes the way we behave. When we are positive it not only makes us better, but it makes those around us better! 

Click HERE for my Be Positive, Do Positive “cheat sheet”.

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