Where you are in your business right now has as much to do with your attitude as it does the economy. A few months back a thoughtful blog post, There’s No Pink Pill For This, was published by Andrea M. Hill of Hill Management Consulting. It carried a strong call to action:

“Recessions, like extreme weather events, natural disasters, and national emergencies, create pockets in time when nobody gets much done. We stand gaping at the scene and we remain there as long as possible, for comfort and camaraderie as much as for information … We cannot afford to be immobilized any longer. We cannot be codependents of the recession, hiding from our business shortcomings and responsibilities by pointing to the big bad economy.”

About the same time Business Week included an article entitled, How Positive Psychology Can Boost Your Business,  by Jill Hamburg Coplan. While there is debate about Positive Psychology (the Science of Happiness), mostly because repeatable clinical trials and other scientific tests must be expanded, many aspects of the article ring true:

“[But] this much seems certain: People can take control of certain actions that will make them happier for a time, such as setting appropriate goals. They can add gratitude, hope, and a dose of self-control to each working day. And it’s clear that happy bosses perform measurably better, building productive teams and inspiring loyalty.”

Getting to the point of being “positive” is about “exercising power over the self … Psychologically, self-regulation is a muscle you can train over time.” It is the same as developing muscles and stamina through exercise or building a new habit – it is best done in increment. You accustom your body to change by pushing just past your comfort zone toward the next goal. “You can do the exact same thing in your company — push past your comfort zone and achieve goals once thought to be out of reach.”

What are the takeaways from these articles:

• Choose to be happy. Plan for, accept, and work through difficulties and know you did your best.
• Choose to be positive. Work toward making “positive” part of who you regardless of what is going on around you.
• Choose to turn turbulent times in your business into opportunities. Take stock of the intangible and tangible value in yourself and your people. Find opportunity. (Also see Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.)
• Be ready when the opportunities burst open. Take the time now to improve internal systems, upgrade technology  … do whatever you can to be ready

You achieve what you plan to achieve, prepare to achieve, and act to achieve. It is up to you.