I used to drop my second daughter off at elementary school on my way to the office. Over time, we developed our own way of saying goodbye as she got out of the car. She would lean forward and give me a kiss, and I would say, “Great your day, Charleigh.” And she would reply, “Great your day, Dad.”

I don’t know how we replaced the much more common “Have a great day” with our own version “Great your day,” but somehow we did. A few years ago, I would often spend the rest of my commute thinking about this little exchange. And I decided that it was a powerful interaction. Words create worlds.

“Have a great day” is passive. It makes my day – and my attitude about it – dependent upon the circumstances I encountered. On most days, there are lots of things that can make my day anything but great – traffic, the weather, coworkers, clients, quotas and budgets, just to name a few.

But “great your day” has a much different connotation. It indicates that I have some control over what happens to me. There are tons of things, most things in fact, that I can’t control. But I can influence how I react and respond to them.

So, to preserve some chance of staying positive, I developed an an acronym to remind me to “great my day.”

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Greet My Team

I half-jokingly refer to myself as an antisocial extrovert. I could easily get to the office and disappear into my computer. But in reality, I feed off of the positive energy of others. On days that I grab a cup of coffee and say “hello” to my teammates, I tend to get off to a much better start.

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Review My Gameplan

When I do sit down at my desk, I ask myself a series of important questions: What are the goals I’m working toward? What are the critical things on my to do list (which, hopefully, that I made the night before)? How quickly can I achieve Inbox Zero? What are the projects that are imminent and/or inspiring to me?

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Execute Without Excuses

I can always control my activity, so I need to make sure I don’t let common excuses keep me from doing so. If I’m tempted to think I’m too busy, I go back and review my gameplan again with an eye to identifying my top priorities. If I’m tempted to say I’m too inexperienced in some way, I try to figure out what questions I need answered so that I can succeed. I remind myself that I own my own education. If I’m tempted to be apathetic, I’ll rehearse one of my favorite motivational phrases – squeeze your own adrenaline gland.

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Always Be Kind

One my heroes of positivity is Conan O’Brien. He unceremoniously and unfairly had his dream gig of hosting The Tonight Show taken away from him. On his final night as host, he graciously made a statement that has become a personal credo, “But if you work really hard, and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” Those are words to live by.

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Take Time to Be Grateful

The best antidote to negativity that I’ve found is gratitude. I have so much to be thankful for. On days that I make a list of things for which I’m grateful, I can’t help but be positive.

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I’m not a positive Pollyanna kind of person by nature. I tend to be pretty cynical and more than a little sarcastic. I recognize this about myself, and it can frequently keep me from having great days. But when I remind myself to “great my day,” I’ve got a much better shot at actually having a great day.

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