Have you ever had bad news for someone? How about some good news? What is the difference or is there a difference?

Good news: things or information that make us happy, satisfied, calm, safe and validated.

Bad news - just the opposite.

So there seems to be a difference between good and bad news. Keep reading.

Have you ever received bad news, but in the end it turned out well or better than you expected? Have you ever received good news and over time what you thought was good news turned out to be not so good?

From personal experience, I can tell you that I've been through all four...

Good news that was good.

Bad news that was bad.

Good news that I thought was good but turned out to be bad.

Bad news that I thought was bad and finally turned out to be good.

Am I still confused? Well, I know that over time I have often been confused about the difference between these two seemingly opposite messages. But then I learned that bad news for one person can sometimes be seen as good news for another and good news for one person can be seen as bad over time.

Confused? Let me explain.

In the end, it's just news, and what makes it bad, good, or even neutral is not the news itself, but how we perceive, judge, evaluate, or respond to it.

How can anyone take bad news for good, you might ask. Or quite the opposite, how can good news be considered bad?

In short, each of us has a unique history, experiences, beliefs, and values, and as a result, none of us ever sees the same thing or circumstance the same way again.

Someone who is worried, negative, pessimistic or impatient may see a delay as bad when another person understands the concept that there are things we can control and there are things we can't control, so why worry about something you can do? t control or if you can control it press.

Ultimately, everything that happens just happens, and what we do is interpret everything based on our expectations, goals, needs or mindset, and all of these are unique to each of us.

Let me give you some personal examples. And if you consider the explanation, even if you haven't had exactly the same circumstances, if you think about it, I can tell you.

Before beginning my career as a speaker and trainer, I was a national sales manager for an international organization. Long story, but the short side is that I had a problem with my boss, the president, and as a result, he fired me. Bad news, right? Well that was all it took for me to decide it was time to start a career that spanned over 40 years and allowed me to see the world (25 countries so far) and work with huge clients and audiences. So, in the end, this bad news was really good news.

Here's another quick one.

Years ago I proposed to my wife and she said yes. Good news, right? (No judgment here, please.) Eventually, after giving my best for more than fifteen years, I decided it was time to end it and why? Well, without the gruesome details, the relationship gradually eroded my self-esteem, confidence, and optimistic mindset and made me decide that I wasn't allowed to be who I became in that relationship. We parted amicably, but we parted ways. Good news, because over time I was able to recover everything that I had lost, emotionally and spiritually.

We all have our stories and we can all make lists of good and bad news that we have received, but in the end it is just news.

During some of my company's shows, I share this simple concept: stop asking your employees for good or bad news, just ask them the news and then you decide what it is. Because their definition may be completely different from yours.

And vice versa, as a supervisor or manager does not convey, I have good news or bad news, just tell your employees you have news and let each interpret it as they see fit based on their personal views, attitudes, mindset, experience , expectations and how this may affect them personally.