List Three Positive Attitudes That Can Enhance Your Relationships With Others

Your nonverbal message speaks louder than words. What you say is often not as important as the way you say it. Through your tone of voice, inflection and body posture, you convey your meaning. When you respect another person, your nonverbal language lets the other person know you care and value the relationship. People sometimes become defensive when they feel disrespected. But when you have a respectful attitude toward others, trust develops and your relationships flourish.

When you expect bad things, you look for the negative. But when you see people and situations with an optimistic outlook, you find the best. Even when bad things happen, an optimistic viewpoint seeks ways to turn negative consequences into positive results. When you expect the best it helps you create enduring relationships, according to “Optimism in Close Relationships: How Seeing Things in a Positive Light Makes Them So,” on the University of Oregon website. The research indicated that feeling supported is more important to men. The researchers speculated that guys are more concerned about supportive romantic relationships because women generally have broader social circles.

Enthusiasm motivates, inspires and brings excitement to all types of relationships. The U.S. Department of Labor cites enthusiasm as equal to or more important than job skills in an employer-employee relationship. Job skills can be learned, but enthusiasm is a personal characteristic. In personal relationships, an enthusiastic attitude brings humor and ease to interactions in the “process of living life well,” writes Susan Leigh, a counselor and hypnotherapist, in the article, “The Importance of Enthusiasm,” on the Lifestyle Therapy website.

If you are not naturally gifted with positive attitudes, you can change. Understanding how your thoughts, behaviors and feelings are related can help you take steps to have a more positive attitude. Think of each attribute as a point on a triangle mounted on an axis: one point for thoughts, one point for behaviors and the last point for feelings. Move the thought point, and the behaviors and feelings points move, too. By deliberately thinking about the good, you change the way you respond and how you feel. Likewise, by changing the behavior point -- deliberately smiling or being polite -- you change your thoughts and feelings. Small changes can lead to positive attitudes and enhance all your relationships.