Attracting Abundance

The Law

Two Doors to Success

Happiness - XIV

Losada from his work on team working derived a non-linear equation which generated a positivity ratio of about 3 which essentially means that in any team working if the positive content is three times the negative content, the team will flourish. Fredrickson applied this equation to her huge database on emotions of individuals and held that the Losada equation applies equally well to individuals as well. This means that any individual who is able to maintain the positive content in his day to day living to at least three times the negative content, that individual is likely to flourish else the individual shall languish.

The Losada equation, which is essentially based on fluid dynamics, has generated lot of controversy on its trueness and Losada has also opted not to defend his equation. However Fredrickson has repeatedly stood by her declaration that the tipping point of 3 is true and good. Considering the huge data that has been collected by Fredrickson over a period of two decades on human emotions and the sensitivity of human emotions to 

stimuli, her conclusion of a tipping point of 3 does make sense and deserves serious consideration. Fredirickson also maintains that the upper tipping point of postivity ratio is between 11 and 12. This means that when the positvity ratio exceeds the upper tipping point, the individual is living in a false world with probably his head in sand. Such a person ignores all negatives and is not prepared to face the challenges in his life.

I categorize negatives in two ways. One kind of negative is the realities of our lives and environment which we need to encounter and meet to survive and grow, I like to call these negatives as challenges. Such negatives help us learn and grow. Some of these negatives are within our control and some beyond our control. Let me explain this with an example. The interest rates on bank deposits is coming down in my country progressively. The rates which were at 12% about  two decades back now stand at 7.5% or less. This coupled with the falling real value of money due to inflation is causing severe constraints on the senior citizens of the country most of whom are not active earners. The difficulty is further aggravated by a non-existent social security system in my country. One way to handle manage the situation is to send petitions to the government explaining the woes of senior citizens. The premise in such petitions could be that the government is not aware of the woes of the senior citizens, which is not a correct premise. The other premise could be that unless a baby cries, it does not get mother's attention. There may be some truth in it. I, and quite a few of other senior citizens, had decided to think from a different level and continued to upgrade ourselves to keep ourselves relevant and earn actively well beyond our retirement ages. 

The second kind of negative is the wallowing kind. Some like to remain in the negative zone, post trauma, for prolonged periods. I suspect that at the extreme end of such negative behavior there is a love relationship between many of such individuals with their grief. 

Negatives are realities of life. They are ignored at our own peril. Their management makes us grow. Wallowing in the makes us sick - psychologically and physiologically.

To know you current positivity ratio, use this link. This will take you a maximum of 5 minutes every day. Take this test for fifteen continuous days. Find out the average of these fifteen days. The result will give you your current positivity ratio. This is the starting block for you to sprint forward. We will see how to increase the positivity in our lives.

Positivity ratio is a division of (P)ositivity by (N)egativity. To improve the ratio you need to increase P and/or reduce N. I suggest increase P and reduce N. 

We will start looking at the "Hows" from the next post.

Namaste

Prabir