Combating Negativity

Combating Negativity in Professional Development

Chunmei Yan (chunmei_yan@yahoo.co.uk)

Central China Normal University

August 2014, Anqing

1. Evaluation of current state

• Positive aspects?

• Negative aspects?

• Sources of negativity?

Sources of negativity

• Heavy workload (teaching, supervision, research, etc.); High pressure from work and life (upgrading qualifications, fulfilling various mandates in addition to routines, ‘publish or perish’ culture, family responsibilities);

• Poor relationship with colleagues (competition, isolation, distrust);

• Lack of recognition (low income and status, possible layoff);

• Loss of faith (positive values downgraded, puzzled), burnout, etc.

2. Overcoming negativity

• Share your ways of dealing with the negative aspects of work and life.

3. Suggestions on combating negativity (1)

3.1 Keep a positive attitude.– Cling to professional ethics and positive

values for a clear conscience.– Keep hope alive.– Stay in the moment.

3. Suggestions on combating negativity (2)

3.2 Don’t waste your potentials (academic and personal strengths).

1. Give full play to your potentials.

2. Further exploit your potentials.

3. Suggestions on combating negativity (3)

3.3 Make long-term investments.1. Never lose your passion.

2. Make each small effort meaningful, worthwhile and rewarding, and value each ‘failure’.

3. Develop keep-fit strategies (e.g. task-switching, integrating research and teaching, balancing professional and personal lives).

4. Network within and beyond own institution (informal mentor, PD resources, etc.).

4. Inspiring quotes

4.1 Stick to positive values

• A good reputation is better than fame.-- Louis Dudek, Canadian poet

• Too often reason deceives us ... but conscience never deceives.-- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Genevan philosopher and writer

• The ultimate test of man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.-- Gaylord Nelson, American politician

4.2 Stay in the moment

• Delay breeds fear.

― Jessamyn West, American writer

• I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets.-- D.H. Lawrence, British novelist

4.3 Be in charge

• You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost.-- Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer

• I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.-- Bill Cosby, American comedian and actor

4.4 Derive pleasure from each task

• Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.-- Oprah Winfrey (American media mogul and philanthropist)

• Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.

-- Madeleine L'Engle, American writer

• Life is too challenging for external rewards to sustain us. The joy is in the journey.-- Bradley Whitford, American actor

• The most prepared are the most dedicated.-- Raymond Berry, American football player

4.5 Take a long-term perspective

• Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.-- Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur and motivational speaker

• Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.-- Robert Collier, American writer

• The brighter you are, the more you have to learn.-- Don Herold, American humorist

• I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.-- Thomas Jefferson, third U.S. president

4.6 Be resilient

• Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.-- Vince Lombardi, American football player and coach

• Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.-- John Wayne, American actor

• You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.-- Maya Angelou, American writer

• In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments -- there are consequences.-- Robert Ingersoll, American orator and political leader

• If there is no struggle, there is no progress.-- Frederick Douglass, American social reformer, orator and writer

4.7 Develop keep-fit strategies

• The ability to give yourself treats and rewards is one of the basic strategies for improving mental fitness.

-- Gillian Butler and Tony Hope, British psychotherapists

4.8 Expand network

• It is much easier to be a hero than a gentleman.-- Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer

• Good words are worth much and cost little.-- George Herbert, British poet, orator and priest

5. Concluding remarks

• Enjoy whatever comes to you and deal with them proactively as an active agent.

• The ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices will be yourself.