Positive Mental Attitude

All of us have been told at one point or another to just be happy. While emotions and life circumstances aren’t that simple, there are many benefits to maintaining a positive mental attitude. (PMA as we’ll call it here.)

PMA in Life & Business Impacts

There are numerous studies that show having a PMA can make you both happier and healthier. In one study, a group focusing on kindness/compassion in meditation led to increased social connection and positive emotions. Furthermore, this group had better control of their heart rate as well! In another study, having a PMA can even expand your lifespan! In 1930, the University of Kentucky reviewed biographies from a group of nuns of the same convent around the ages of 18-32. Sixty years later, the UoK contacted the (surviving) nuns. In these nuns, those who lived the longest, had the positive feelings and thoughts from 1930 regardless of circumstances they were going through!

Outside of just studies, having a PMA serves many other purposes and has several benefits as well. For starters, your PMA will also attract others with the same attitude. We attract people we are similar to and if you are always putting your best foot forward and keep up that PMA, you will eventually fill your circle with people of the same manner. Every business (owner) will come to face its challenges, maintaining a PMA will help you in the face of adversity. If you try to tackle a challenge when you are feeling down, you are more likely to accept defeat or create more problems in the long run. Viewing these hardships with a PMA builds resilience which is essential to the longevity of your business. Additionally, a PMA works to strengthen your decisions and creativity. Finding ways to navigate issues, gaining confidence to make the next steps, feeling comfortable with yourself and in social circles. These are all ways PMA contributes to creating these things more easily. The many advantages of PMA may sound nice, but may be hard to find where to start if it does not come natural to you.

How to maintain your PMA

PMA may not be your brain’s first pathway of thinking, and that’s okay! It takes time to build but you can definitely do it! First off, it’s important to note that positive thought processes do not mean you have to ignore the bad things that happen to you or the unpleasant feelings that arise in life. Positive thinking is created by reforming negative dialogue into your head into positive dialogue instead. It starts with identifying the type of negative thoughts you may be encountering. With the help of the Mayo Clinic, here are the most common types of negative thinking:

If something strikes you as familiar, it’s time to tune into that and decide how to turn that into a positive thought. Some easy examples are “I can’t” into “I can try,” or “this is too hard,” into “Let’s try this in a different way or ask for help.” Retraining your thoughts takes time. But there are also other things you can do to help create a PMA as well.

Another way positivity can be learned is through kindness to yourself and others. Acknowledge the good things about your life and yourself. Talk to yourself like you would talk to a friend. You are deserving of all the same care and love. Doing something good for others can also make you feel better by yourself and creates happiness for everyone involved. Moreover, doing volunteer work or involving yourself with projects that mean a lot to you, can bring you to others who share the same values as you and enhance your life with more purpose. Some other ideas for creating a PMA include: keeping a gratitude journal (keeps track of all positive interactions in a day so you can start to shift your focus to the good in day to day life, practice meditation, having daily affirmations said or written down. Finally, do not underestimate the power of physical health on mental health. It is vital to emotional well-being to get enough sleep, eat well, and have some sort of physical exercise/activity every day. If your physical health is not taken care of, your body is put under stress that will impact your mental state regardless of how you want to feel.

Keep that PMA going forward!

With time, you can keep up a PMA and dominate in your career and in life! And remember, if you are struggling, it’s okay to reach out to others and/or professionals. Use this hotline in case of any emergency. You can do this!

The Perfect Office Space for You

Whether you work at an office with others, another shared location with someone else, or have a personal room at home, it’s important to create the right office space for you. With a little help, you can plan and execute the best office for yourself!

Employer Guide to the Right Office for Employees

According to Gallup, as of August 2025, 52% of work is done in a hybrid work setting. (Hybrid means a mix of being in office or working remote/at home.) With about half the time spent in an office, it’s vital that employers design and produce an office space to benefit employee wellbeing. For starters, instead of cubicles, having a more open layout can promote more interaction between employees and thus lead to more ideas and strengthen team work. Creating a quiet zone can prove to be valuable as well.This gives individuals a place where they can either zero in on what they’re doing undistracted or give them an area when they’re not feeling up to socializing. It may also be a good idea to have break areas or outdoor spaces for others to roam to. No one wants to be stuck at their desk for 8(+) hours. Furthermore, outside of employee happiness, these spaces can show potential new hires that employers consider employee needs and wants.

The International WELL Building Institute focuses on their system, called WELL Building Standard, when determining a building’s performance in a comfortable and productive environment. Although some parts of WELL are less about the physical design of an office, this can still be a good way to construct an office building to make all your staff happy. Below is a picture that outlines their ideals.

Recently, they have added additional categories which are: thermal comfort, nourishment, sound, and materials. For more information on the WELL Building standard check out this link and you can check out IWBITM’s website here. When you work at home, it’s just as vital to enhance your workspace as well. 

Creating your Office Space on Your Own

Now, for the 26% of us who work exclusively at home, (or those hybrid workers), it’s time to conjure up and commit to making an outstanding workspace for yourself! First off, consider the location. If you live somewhere where there is a lot of noise, it may be best to find a space that reduces your chances of continually hearing outside distractions. Furthermore, if you are often in meetings, external sounds can take away from the importance and, for some, the professionalism of your meeting. Placing your desk by a window can also bring natural light in and fresh air; should you decide to open it. If you are still worried about sound, there are different types of soundproofing foam that are meant to absorb and diminish excess noise.

Health and comfortability are essential to everyday wellness. When it comes to your space, your chair and desk are paramount to achieve these things. A good desk chair should be cozy but also allow for good posture and mobility. Standing desks can also be a good investment for those who spend long periods at their desk. (If you are unfamiliar with this type of desk, it gives you the power to either sit or stand by alternating the height of the desk.) Next, lighting can be just as critical as everything else. For those who experience migraines or headaches, certain lights can amplify this effect. Lighting also assists in building an ambience in the room. Finally, clutter can create more stress and interfere with your focus. Consider keeping your desk and space organized with shelves, bins, and even other tools to manage all your computer’s cords.

Go on and Design the Perfect Space for you!

By thoughtfully curating your office space, you can achieve the ideal room for all your needs!

Scams & Keeping Yourself Safe from Them

In the digital age, so much of our lives are intertwined with the internet, and because of this, we run the risk of cyber attacks everyday. With all the different ways one can reach out on the web, it’s vital to keep yourself safe and aware of common scams.

Best Security Practices to Keep Everyone Safe

Online protection comes from having a good foundation of practices in place and general knowledge on what to look out for. The five C’s of cyber-security is a good tool to lay down the framework of good online practices in a business. They are as follows:

Change – This means keeping up with new trends and working with them.

Compliance – Each state has different laws and regulations and it is your responsibility to understand these rules, carry them out, and continue to do so.

Cost – Implementing new safety measures (like software for example) may cost your business a lot up front, but the cost now will be far less than if something were to attack your business’s security and leak information of yourself, or especially, clients. Spend time finding something that works in your budget but is also reliable.

Continuity – Information gained is useful but only if you continue to apply it and adapt regularly. Similar to change, this more so means continuing on with good practices and not just stopping once you’ve done the minimum.

Coverage – Ensuring you protect your valuable information; both physical documents and online ones. Insurance is available for cyber-security and can protect your business in many ways. (Making sure you stay compliant, handling fines if something happens, etc.)

In addition to the five C’s, there are a few other things to keep in mind as well. First off, you should identify any risks in your systems. By doing this, you can then find ways to mitigate these risks. Next, stay aware and cautious of who has what access. Whether that’s personal logins or client’s passwords, you’ll want to ensure all information is protected as much as possible for everyone. Finally, create a plan to promptly deal with a cyber-attack if it does happen. Being prepared is important for all situations, but especially when information is paramount to people’s lives. For a bunch more tips on cyber- security, check out this website!

Types of Cyber-Attacks & Common Scams

Now that you’re equipped with all the knowledge of basic safety practices, it’s time to learn about all the most common scams and the different types of cyber-attacks. Understanding the most basic type of attacks on a core level will help you to recognize if something seems amiss. Phishing is one of the most well known types of attacks. Phishing requires an individual to click on a link that then asks for sensitive information. Filling this document/paper/etc out, then goes into the attackers hands and now they have all your info. Ransomware is another very common digital threat. Ransomware encrypts into an user’s device and locks it; then the attacker uses this as a way to extort money from you in order to unlock the device. DDoS stands a frequent cyber attack as well. DDoS, (which means distributed denial-of-service), are attacks made on a network to cause huge outages on a person’s/place’s/business’s server.

Even acknowledging the different overarching types of attacks, there are a vast amount of scams nowadays. Sometimes, it can seem easy to detect a fraud post, link, etc., but other times it may be challenging to determine if something is genuine or not. Here are some of the current and most well known scams.

Work Scams – When searching for a new job, it is possible you may see a fraud listing. Upon submitting your resume, you’ll get told you got the job and they will send over a document to fill out for employment. On this document, it will ask for SSN (Social Security Number) and/or other important personal information (like your bank account numbers). Another way work scams are done is by asking for money once you’ve “got the job.” They may tell you that the money is for a job-related reason or they will give you a “sign-on bonus”- only for the check to bounce- and then request that money back. To stay safe, never put in any vital & confidential information until you either get to the workplace, or/and confirm the place of business and hiring manager. And if you need money from the get-go, especially “before you get hired”, it’s a scam.

Tech Scams – These scams usually begin with a pop-up or a call stating that your computer has a virus. (The pop-up will usually lead to a hacked link or it gives you a fake tech number to call.) The “support team member” will then ask for remote access to “help” you, and upon accepting, they gain full control of your computer. Here they can download malware that allows them to harvest all your logins thus, ultimately, getting all of your information. Alternatively, the scam artist may only ask you to pay for “new software, warranties, and/or, regular maintenance.” Real tech support will never call you first and do not ever click on any pop-ups that you see (in general- not just tech ones!)

Imposter Scams – These scams start with someone pretending to be someone else. Often the scammer will pretend to be a family member or a romantic connection but they also commonly pretend to be a celebrity, authoritative figure, delivery person, and even company representatives. Popular scams are: saying there are overdue invoices to a company, building a romantic relationship to ask for investments, family member(s) asking for help with bills/projects/other things, celebrating pushing a product (that is not real or doesn’t exist). Keep yourself safe by never sending money to anyone/anything you aren’t sure of. Be wary of all new phone numbers and take steps to verify the information said to you.

AI Scams – AI is developing more rapidly than ever and is now being used in a multitude of ways. One of the most common is through deep fakes. Deep fakes are described as “images, videos, or audio that have been edited or generated using artificial intelligence, AI-based tools or audio-video editing software.” Consequently, this tricks people with eye-catching ads/photos, promotion of counterfeit products, and deception through phone calls as AI can even mock voices. Handle this similar to imposter scams – double check if everything is accurate, don’t hand over money to anyone/anything you don’t know 100%, and then try to decipher if it is real. AI, as it is not human, will often alter photos/videos in strange ways (like arms or ligaments bending in unnatural ways, melding the background into the main focus of the picture, etc.). Additionally, check for weird ways of writing or saying something. It may not always be obvious in emails, text, or letters, but it’s a good thing to check for regardless.

Even with all these scams covered, there are still a plethora of other scams out there. Check out these two links to read about some more!

Stay Safe and Informed!

By practicing online safety etiquette, you stay up to date with common scams and have all the knowledge to protect yourself going forward!