You know when you have been burning the candle at both ends (late nights, travel, hard work, lack of sleep…) but still need to keep going?

That was me yesterday. Important meetings with exciting potential new clients ahead but little energy to do myself justice.

In these moments I have found that positive thinking makes a big difference.

What I have found incredibly useful is to actively seek a trigger to this positive thinking. Merely saying to yourself “be positive” is rarely enough.

Yesterday, my good mood was triggered by a bird pooing on my face, jacket and bag.

Being tired and irritable I could have reacted in the wrong way - creating a spiral of negativity. As a result, I am unlikely to have performed well in my important meetings.

Instead, I laughed, wiped the poo off my face, and saw it as the trigger I had been looking for.

Academic research has proven that a positive outlook leads to greater creativity and better problem solving. It also builds stronger teams and creates deeper relationships.

I managed to perform better by getting into a positive mindset even if I did this by grasping at a superstition.

Perhaps more important in doing myself justice as I battled my tiredness was an avoidance of negativity.

Positive thinking should be an important part of everyone’s pre-performance plan. So next time you need to perform, actively seek out a trigger for a positive mindset.

You never know where it might land from.