On a warm summer afternoon a couple of months ago, I was sitting on my Uncle Jack’s porch…chatting with him about many things, some serious and some definitely-not.

 

That’s when he surprised me by asking, “Haven’t I ever told you my Plus-Minus Theory?”

 

I said “No” and sat back to catch a little more shade and listen to my Uncle Jack’s Plus-Minus Theory.

 

He explained, “At the end of the day we should think about the ‘pluses’ of the day and the ‘minuses’ of the day. If we find the ‘minuses’ consumed more than 75% of the day then we better make changes.”

 

Now, since that afternoon, I have thought about pluses and minuses every single day.

 

And, I have shared my Uncle Jack’s ‘theory’ with a number of folks.

 

Each time I share the story and the theory I talk about the thoughts I have had for several years about feeling good and feeling bad at work and the thoughts I had about measuring these feelings. I talk about the fact I have worked at teaching and helping people learn the importance of doing these things. I talk about the Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale we use to measure feelings.

 

And, I never fail to mention I had no idea my favourite Uncle had already established a ‘theory’ on this topic, beating me [and many of the motivational gurus by decades].

 

Clearly, this is proof we need to spend more time with our Favourite Uncles!

 

Footnotes:

1. At Spirited Leaders we use colours as visual signals:
   • green = good things…especially Good Habits
   • blue = New Things
   • red = Bad Habits
2. Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale: like my Uncle Jack’s ‘pluses’ and ‘minuses’ we are talking about monitoring feelings throughout the workday. Negative feelings are feelings that signal you are not in situations or taking actions aligned with your goals. Positive feelings are feelings that signal you arein situations or taking actions aligned with your goals.
   • Plus 1-4: you are at least accepting the situation and have some comfort about your action
   • Plus 5-7: you enjoy the situation and the action you are taking
   • Plus 8-10: you are enthusiastic about the situation and your actions

Link: How do you feel when you are at work?