Mindset ROI: Positivity vs Negativity

What's the ROI on your mindset? Because the truth is, positivity pays dividends. Negativity is expensive. Let's talk about how to invest your energy where it actually grows your firm.

Welcome to The Law Firm Owner Podcast, powered by Velocity Work, for owners who want to grow a firm that gives them the life they want. Get crystal clear on where you're going, take planning seriously, and honor your plan like a pro. This is the work that creates Velocity.

Hey everyone. Welcome back to The Law Firm Owner Podcast. I'm so glad you're here. This is, you could kind of think of this episode as part two of what we discussed last week. I'm coming off of two really impactful conferences and have been not just noodling on concepts, but implementing the concepts and using them to tweak how I'm thinking about my approach to work, my approach to clients. And so, I want to deposit here on this podcast useful things for you all.

And last week, we talked about mindset. If you haven't listened to that, that's probably a better one to start with than this one. So go back and listen to that episode. And then this episode, today, we are diving into a topic that impacts everything: how you lead, how you think, how you feel at work, and ultimately, the results that you create. And we're talking about the return on investment, the ROI, of positivity versus the ROI of negativity.

And I want to be really clear out of the gate: this is not about toxic positivity. I'm not talking about slapping a smile on your face and pretending like everything's fine when it's not fine. What I am talking about is being intentional with your mindset because the ROI on positivity is exponentially better than the ROI on negativity. And we are going to break it down in this episode.

Again, just to give credit where credit is due, this is totally inspired, and many of the terms and sentences that I say in here, I got from the talk with Jon Acuff. He is amazing. You should follow him. You should read his books. He's hilarious. If you have a great sense of humor, you will really enjoy learning from him. So let this be a warmup, and if you're interested in more, I highly recommend you go out and get in his sphere.

All right, so what are you practicing? There was a lot of talk about what you're practicing in terms of soundtracks, but in terms of positivity and negativity. So, whether you're aware of it or not, you are always practicing something. You are either practicing how to dwell in frustration or you're practicing how to shift into a solution mode. You are either reinforcing stress responses or you're learning how to ground yourself in something more constructive. And whatever you're practicing will become your default.

So, think about it. What you're rehearsing mentally, emotionally, behaviorally. Are you reinforcing negative loops, or are you building the ability to pivot, to solve, to lead? And this matters because when the stakes are high and the pressure is on, we all default to our training. I'm going to say that one more time because it's so important to understand, and you might have been not listening for a second, so I'm going to bring you back. When the stakes are high and the pressure is on, we all default to our training. So what you practice is what you produce. What's your training? What are you training yourself on right now? It matters.

Now, I want to talk about one of the fastest ways to start shifting your mindset, an element that if it's there, you will be able to move forward with less friction. And that is curiosity. Often, when someone presents an idea or we're faced with a challenge, our first instinct is to critique. That won't work here. That's not how we do things. That's too risky. That's going to take too much time. That sounds too expensive. We don't have time for that.

But what if, instead of shutting it down, you got curious? What if you said, "I wonder if that could work here. I wonder what would have to be true for that to be possible." You're curious, you're open. Criticism is closed, and you can't grow inside of a closed system. So you have to catch yourself and shift from "this won't work" to "I wonder what could work." And that small change creates space for movement.

Now, last week, we talked about fixing your broken soundtracks. So, identifying what the broken soundtracks are and then being able to shift those. This conference was called Shift, which is awesome. But being able to shift those to something that's much more productive and useful for you. And so curiosity did come into the conversation. But as a quick review, the soundtracks are just a thought that you've repeated so many times that it's a part of your identity. And we start to believe those soundtracks as fact, even though it's not; it's just our perception.

So last week, we covered this, but there's three questions to filter those soundtracks. Number one, is it true? Number two, is it helpful? Does it move you forward, or does it hold you back? And number three, is it kind? And if the answer is no to any of those, it's probably not a soundtrack you want to keep on repeat. And I love this because it gives us a way to coach ourselves in real time. Thoughts are just thoughts until we choose to believe them and act on them. So, start picking your thoughts more intentionally. And this, these three questions are one way to help you do that.

Another way to help you do that, which we also covered last week, I'm just going to briefly mention it now because it fits in right here, is the bridge thoughts. It's a soundtrack that, you have one soundtrack like, "I'm a terrible manager." And maybe instead of that, it's instead of saying, "I'm an awesome manager," maybe bridge it. "I am learning to be a great manager." And that will probably feel true to you, but it's so much more productive than thinking I'm a terrible manager.

You can see when we have very negative thinking, there's like a period at the end of the sentence, and there's nothing left to say. That's how it is. What do you do with that? There's nothing to do with that. You're going to stay in frustration. You're going to stay stuck spinning in your own cycles and getting the same crappy results that you're complaining about that you're the victim of. So, be careful anytime you find yourself saying something where it's just a period at the end of the sentence, and that's just it, you know that you're not open. That's closed. Criticism is closed. Curiosity is open. And so there's room to be more curious. And one great way to be more curious is to ask those three questions that I talked about last week, but we're reviewing here this week.

Okay, for this next part, I want to zoom out a bit and talk about your inputs and auditing your inputs. If you are being mindful about your thoughts, you also need to be mindful about your inputs. What are you surrounding yourself with? Who are you listening to? What kind of content are you consuming? If you are constantly around people or content that lean towards drama, scarcity, cynicism, it's going to rub off. You'll absorb those perceptions, that vibe, that energy, and you'll start thinking that it's yours. It'll start to become part of your identity.

So do an audit. Are your inputs supporting the kind of mindset you want to have? Or are they feeding the negativity loop? It's important that you select wisely. This stuff matters more than we think. Garbage in, garbage out. Curated, thoughtful inputs in, more likely get thoughtful, grounded decisions out.

Okay, let's talk about turning this into action, because positivity is not just about how you feel, it's about how you lead. One thing I wrote down in my notebook when I was listening to Jon Acuff speak was, "Where do I want to win this week?" Now, you all know that we are very into Monday Map, Friday Wrap, which is a system, a process that you abide by so that you spend your time intentionally. And you make a plan for how you're going to spend your time, and then it's your job to honor that plan to the best of your ability. So the question, "Where do I want to win this week?" That simple question orients your thinking. It gives your positivity direction.

You're not just trying to feel good; you're choosing thoughts and soundtracks that help you show up well and make sound decisions, and move the ball forward. And that's what great leaders do. They're not just positive people; they're intentional performers. They think with purpose. They act with alignment.

So, once you have had a look at the soundtracks and you've focused and worked on getting curious, and you've asked those three questions about the things that are default in your mind: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it kind? Then it really is your time to now start to put this into motion. Let the work that you do here, this work with positivity, let the work that you do here fuel your progress.

And let's not forget, your mindset is contagious. Your team feels your energy more than they hear your words. If you are dwelling in negativity, if you're second-guessing everything, if you're reacting from frustration, your team is going to absorb that, and they will mirror it back to you. But if you are leading from a place of grounded curiosity, of optimism, and of ownership, that becomes the tone of your culture. And that's where, really, things can grow. Good things can grow.

People talk a lot about, if you've seen an accountability chart, at the top, there is a box, the seat that is responsible for strategy, for vision of the company. And oftentimes that's where the CEO sits. And there are responsibilities listed next to each box. But next to that box, culture is always one of them. Culture starts and stops with the top. So if you are leading from a place of curiosity, of optimism, and ownership, it will be the tone of your culture. It has to start with you.

And hey, by the way, you don't have to be perfect, but you do have to be responsible for the energy you bring to the table. That line that I just said there, that is influenced by, there's a woman named Jill Bolte Taylor who wrote an amazing book called "A Stroke of Insight." She had a stroke on the left hemisphere of her brain, and she was a neuroscientist.

So, her experience of this is pretty radical, and her recounting her experience. One of the things she mentions is that she could feel the energy of the nurses walk in the room. She knew which nurse it was when they came into the room because of how they, their energy. And some were amazing and would take great care of her and were loving. That energy was very healing. And others that walked in the room, their energy sucked. They didn't want to be there, they didn't like their job. Like there was just nothing, they were bringing nothing to the table in terms of energy.

And so, the quote that I loved so much out of that book was, "Please be responsible for the energy that you bring into the space." And she goes on to say more, but that sentence just really spoke to me when I read it. I think about it before I walk into meetings. I think about it before I walk into a client retreat. I think about it all the time.

Is there room for improvement for me? Absolutely. It's always in the back of my brain, and I appreciate that. And so I'm going to offer that up to you guys here. I'm sure I have shared that on the podcast before, but offer that up to you here because it fits. It's not about being perfect; it's about the energy that you bring into the space. And if your energy is grounded, it's curious, it's optimistic, and there's a sense of ownership, like that's all going to foster the things that you want in your company.

So, here's your invitation this week. Pick one thought to practice, just one. Write it down. Make sure it's one that you choose, not one that just shows up by default. And last week, you could build on this from last week. If you listened to the episode, I had you pick one soundtrack that's broken and run it through the three questions and see what kind of wiggle room you can get. What kind of new soundtrack can you create? What kind of bridge thought can you be thinking that will help connect you to the identity that you'd rather have and that will be more productive and more useful?

So this is sort of building on that. But pick one thought to practice. You could pick, if you did last week's exercise, take that one and just keep practicing it, keep practicing it, keep practicing it. If you didn't, fine, but pick one thought to practice.

This whole episode I created because I wanted to play with the concept and flesh out this idea that the ROI on positivity is so much greater than the ROI on negativity. And I'm hoping you can start to see this. I think most of you, most of us, if somebody would say, "Is there a better ROI on positivity or negativity?" People would say positivity.

It's not like I think that this concept in and of itself is rocket science. But what we don't allow ourselves to do is to take the time to explore and be really curious about a concept that can make a huge difference if we were to slow down and look at it and dissect it a bit and use what you find in your own world and apply it to your own life. And so this episode, I'm hoping can do that for you.

Because positivity takes effort. It takes awareness, intention, sometimes courage to rewrite some of this stuff that's no longer serving you. But the return is exponential. It will sharpen your leadership. It's going to strengthen culture and it will create momentum that actually lasts. And negativity is easier, straight up, for most people, and everybody kind of has a default with where they fall in terms of on the spectrum of positive to negative. But negativity is typically, it feels easier because it is the default, but it comes at a very high cost. It costs you clarity, it costs you connection, it costs you progress, and all of that, by the way, will cost you time and money.

So one is an investment. The other is a leak. So be deliberate. Choose the mindset that builds something. The ROI that is real, and you will feel it in every part of your firm.

Thank you guys for tuning in to this part two of a conversation about mindset. There'll probably be some more mindset stuff coming out in the coming weeks as I continue to flesh through the things that I'm working on. And I have a couple things about ready to record that are about a little more nuts and bolts stuff. So we try to keep it balanced over here, but mindset's important, more important than the tactical things that we talk about here. So we're not going to skip it.

I hope you guys have a wonderful week. I'll see you here next Tuesday.

Hey, you may not know this, but there's a free guide for a process I teach called Monday Map Friday Wrap. If you go to velocitywork.com, it's all yours. It's about how to plan your time and honor your plans so that week over week, more work that moves the needle is getting done in less time. Go to velocitywork.com to get your free copy.

Thank you for listening to The Law Firm Owner Podcast. If you're ready to get clearer on your vision, data, and mindset, then head over to VelocityWork.com where you can plug in to quarterly Strategic Planning, with accountability and coaching in between. This is the work that creates Velocity.