You’ve Developed Skills. Now Train the Mind Behind Them. How Positive Intelligence Transforms Decision-Making and Relationships

Throughout my career, I’ve utilized a wide range of powerful assessment tools, including DISC, Motivators, Emotional Intelligence, TriMetrix, and the Business Acumen Index. Each helped clients (and myself) better understand how we behave, interact, and think. They gave us language and frameworks to measure what we do and how we do it.

But something was still missing—until I came across Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine.

Unlike other tools, Positive Intelligence didn’t just show me how I was thinking. It showed me how to make the change.

What Positive Intelligence Does

Positive Intelligence (or PQ) is a framework rooted in neuroscience and mindfulness that helps us identify the inner voices that sabotage us—and shift toward the wiser, calmer, more creative part of our brain.

We all have what Shirzad calls Saboteurs—those mental patterns that criticize, stress, avoid, control, or please in ways that ultimately hold us back. The Judge, the Hyper-Achiever, the Stickler, the Controller, the Avoider… they all sound familiar because they’re built into our survival instincts.

But those instincts, while helpful in the past, often sabotage us in our modern lives. PQ helps us recognize when those patterns are running the show—and teaches us how to shift into the “Sage” brain: the part that creates, empathizes, and sees possibilities.

This Isn’t Just Positivity. It’s Neuro-Rewiring.

What makes PQ different from motivational quotes or temporary mindset shifts is that it’s backed by neuroscience. Through simple daily mental exercises (called PQ Reps), people actually rewire their neural pathways. It’s mental fitness training—and just like physical fitness, it takes practice, not perfection.

I’ve seen people make remarkable changes:

• A senior manager who always pushed harder and harder learned to pause, breathe, and listen—and became a stronger leader, not a weaker one.
• A new supervisor struggling with imposter syndrome identified her Judge and Pleaser saboteurs, learned to calm them, and now leads with authentic confidence.
• One of my clients said, “I used to think being hard on myself was what made me succeed. But now, I see that being kind to myself helps me grow faster.”

My Experience—and Why I Keep Using It

For me, Positive Intelligence has changed everything. It gave me a language to understand my internal barriers—and tools to overcome them. I’m more focused, more present, and frankly, more joyful in my work and life.

I’ve used PQ with executives, teams, and emerging leaders. It doesn’t replace other tools—it enhances them. When someone understands their DISC style or Emotional Intelligence scores and then sees how their Saboteurs hijack them… that’s when real transformation begins.

The Bottom Line

Positive Intelligence teaches you to stop fighting yourself and start working with your mind, not against it.
It helps you become the leader, the parent, the partner you want to be—not through willpower, but through brainpower.

If you’re curious about PQ for yourself or your team, I’d be happy to share how the 7-week program works and how we support individuals in sustaining their growth.