Good or Bad News – And What Is The Difference?

Good news – things or details that make us happy, content, reassured, secure and active.

Bad news – on the contrary.

Therefore, it will be obvious that there is a difference between good and bad news – read on.

Have you ever received bad news but in the end things went well or better than you expected? Have you ever heard the good news and later what you thought was good news turned out to be so bad?

To the best of my knowledge I can tell you that I have been through all four

Good news that was good.

Bad news was bad.

The good news I thought was good but ended up being bad.

The bad news I thought was bad and ended up right.

Confused right now? I know that over time I have often been confused about the difference between these two seemingly opposite messages. However, I have learned that sometimes the bad news of one person can be considered as good news for another person and that the good news for one person can later be considered bad.

Confused? Let me explain.

Ultimately it is just news and what makes it bad or good or neutral is not the news itself but the way we see, judge, evaluate or react.

How can a person see bad news as the best you can ask? On the contrary, how can one identify the good news as bad?

In short – each of us has a unique history, experience, beliefs and values and as a result none of us have ever seen the same thing or the same situation.

A person who is anxious, unkind, hopeless or impatient can see a bad delay when someone who understands the concept of things is something we cannot control and there are things we cannot control so why are you upset about something you can’t control or if you can control it be busy.

In the end everything happens – it just happens and what we do to interpret it all based on our expectations, intentions, needs or thoughts and all of this is different for each of us.

Let me give you a few personal examples. And if you’re going to process the meaning even though you probably haven’t had exactly the same conditions, if you think about it I’ll be the one to tell.

Prior to watching my speaking and training career, I was the sales manager for the international organization. The 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, isn’t it? That was all I needed to decide that it was time to start a career that had taken over 40 years and allowed me to see the world (25 countries so far) and work with clients and a much larger audience. So in the end the bad news was really good news.

Here’s another quick one.

Years ago I raised my wife and she said yes. Good news isn’t it? (No judgments here please). Later on after doing my best for more than fifteen years I decided it was time to end it and why? We parted peacefully – but we parted. The good news is that I was able – in time – to regain everything I had lost – spiritually and spiritually.

We all have our own stories and we can all make a list of the good and bad news we have received but in the end all of this is just news.

In some of my company plans I share this simple idea – stop asking your employees for good news or bad news – just ask them the news and decide what it is. Because their meaning may be completely different from yours.

And vice versa – since the manager or manager is not broadcasting – I have good or bad news – just tell your employees that you have certain issues and let each of them interpret themselves the way they see fit according to their opinions, attitudes, ideas, expectations, and how it can affect them personally.

I want to make it clear here that I am not talking about rejection, dedication, acceptance or neglect – just a willingness to see that there may be another side to the story, which you may have lost because of your history, ideas, opinions, judgments etc.