How to face the future with optimism and enthusiasm
Victor Kuppers, educator, lecturer and professor at the UAB and UB, at Graphispag gave the audience a good dose of energy and optimism. As the popular lecturer and professor acknowledged, the fact that physical contact was reestablished at meetings such as the last fair was already a cause for celebration. Here are his thoughts and inspirational quotes he had for the printing and graphic arts sector.
You are going to hear things that you have heard many times but have always forgotten. We must stop, breathe and remember the things that are common sense. We are going to talk about encouragement and joy for two reasons: the first is that when a person is encouraged, he or she feels a very good feeling, and the second reason is that encouragement brings out the best in each of us.
The difference between your best version and your worst is in the mood. We have to keep our spirits up and not lose them, because when we lose our spirits, we lose our enthusiasm, our enthusiasm and our energy, especially after such a difficult time we have been through, both socially and personally.
In this sense, positive psychology does not provide any miracle recipes, it is not demagogy, it is a science. There are dangerous phrases such as “where there is a will there is a way” or that we should always be happy and content. We are human, and we all go through difficult times, and when we are in the tunnel we have to allow for sadness, anger and frustration because they are natural emotions. What we must not do is to dwell on these emotions. So, how can positive psychology help us? Basically, with one main idea and 3 attitudes.
The basic idea is this: each person chooses the attitude he or she has in dealing with the things that happen to him or her. Choosing the right attitude is therefore crucial. Having a good attitude is a decision and then a habit. Therefore, I recommend you to stop, think about your attitude and choose the best possible one for each moment.
We can live at the mercy of circumstances or independently of them, choosing the best attitude. People who are emotionally healthy fulfil a 3-1 ratio: for every negative emotion they are able to generate 3 positive ones.
The 3 most important attitudes are:
- Have a cheerful spirit
- Being aware of what is most important in life
- Being a good person
- Have a cheerful spirit
And how do we achieve this? Calmly to accept what we cannot change.
Faced with a situation in which the sector has experienced difficult times, if we remain anchored in these moments, we run the risk of losing the illusion. Being aware of the difficulties and challenges we face, we must learn to live reasonably with frustration.
What can I do to adapt to the changes? To digital transformation? To be more sustainable? To enjoy my work? Complaining and moaning guarantees failure. Courage is choosing the best attitude in difficult moments and bringing out the best in everyone. Because as they say, the problem is your attitude towards the problem.
Other attitudes we can have to strengthen our spirit and mood is to value the positive things in life. We can ask ourselves what is fantastic in my life. To draw a parallel with the graphics sector, it is a sector that has been able to adapt to the circumstances. Fortunately, now trade fairs and events are back to normal and there is a great opportunity with the digital transformation. Moreover, it is a very close-knit sector, as associations have existed since the 1960s. This leads us to think that we must extract the positive from what we are experiencing.
We need to look forward to the future. It is essential to set small illusions and even more so if the environment does not set them. And we should not forget a sense of humour either, it is very useful and therapeutic in dealing with difficult times.
- Being aware of what is most important in life
Essentially, we are all the same and value the same thing as important: the people we love. However, we know this in the background because the foreground is occupied by other more inconsequential things, so that what is really important is relegated to the background.
Let us take great care of the relationships of the people we love and appreciate because relationships do not work by inertia, they work with 2 words: love and time. There is nothing more motivating than wanting and feeling loved. For as obvious as it may seem or as much as it may be a play on words, the most important thing in life is that the most important thing is the most important thing.
- Being a good person
We must reclaim human kindness and goodness. It is impossible to be a good professional and a bad person. What makes a boss a good boss is his or her human qualities. And in a sector that is also very commercially focused, we talk about human relations as a basic pillar because before they buy your product, they buy from you.
Intelligence is overrated, we need good people, in the truest sense of the word. Ultimately, our greatest asset as people is our human qualities.
Cristina Benavides, Graphispag partner
