IN PHOTOS: Positively a ‘Good Guy Thing’ at Botanical Garden Restaurant in Mbombela

The Good Things Guy founder and editor, Brent Lindeque, recently shared some personal pearls of wisdom over coffee at the Botanical Garden Restaurant in Mbombela.

While cold and wet weather greyed the outdoors on Friday, August 2, good coffee and a light-hearted yet meaningful discussion warmed up the indoor gathering with Mbombela personality David Walters hosting Lindeque on stage.

It all started 10 years ago when Lindeque, inspired by the Neknominate online drinking game (a game that sees people film themselves downing a pint of an alcoholic beverage in a single go before nominating the next person to follow suit), flipped the script with a simple question: why don’t people use the power of social media to encourage one another?

A subsequent post of Lindeque feeding a homeless person went viral and the rest is history. He had unknowingly created what became known as Good Things Guy – the popular online good news website.

Soon CNN African Voices came knocking and he landed a slot on Gareth Cliff’s Cliff Central and eventually, what Lindeque touts as a personal highlight, a feature on Oprah Winfrey’s O, The Oprah Magazine and a call from Harpo Studios to have lunch with Oprah.

Lindeque said people tended not to use social media for good due to a phenomenon called negativity bias – a cognitive bias that causes people to be more affected on a psychological level more by negative events than positive or neutral events, even if they occur equally often.

He said this tendency could be changed by implementing the spotlight effect.

“If you focus on one thing, it magnifies in your mind. Then it becomes your problem and eventually consumes you. All people need to do is look for something else that is going to bring balance,” said Lindeque.

He explained it was not about removing the negative stuff, but just focusing on other, more positive things around one.

He also highlighted the prevalence of mental health challenges in society, saying only one in four people mean it when saying they are fine.

Encouraging people to make space for others to be vulnerable and open up about challenges they face, he reminded the audience that one cannot pour from an empty cup. “Positivity breeds positivity. That’s the only reason the platform [Good Things Guy] exists,” he said.

When asked which personality he would like to meet, Lindeque said he wanted to continue meeting ordinary people and hear their stories.

I cheer for people.

I will clap my hands for you until they are red and sore, and I can't no more. And then I will keep going because you inspire me!

You see, I was raised to believe there’s enough sun for everybody. And if you think about it, there truly is! We are all going…

— Brent Lindeque (@BrentLindeque) September 6, 2024