Learn to Master the Art of Positive Thinking
You can’t afford to take positive thinking for granted. At times, it might sound like cliche, but it is a fact that your thoughts become your things!
As the old saying goes, if you wish to stay positive, prevent negative-minded people. It is not easy to be positive, but if you wish to survive and enjoy success, you have no choice but to learn to think positively as negativity can be very destructive.
Negative emotions can spiral. If you want to stop letting yourself sink down into bad feelings, you can train yourself to let the light in. You can learn to find the bright side and stay positive, avoiding negativity in your life, and going about the process of improving yourself for the better. Well, a few steps can be followed in order to help find the bright Side.
Begin smiling more. When you smile, your brain activates neural messages that actually make you feel more positive. Even if you are feeling kind of “blah,” make your face do the work of brightening up your day. It works.
• An added bonus? When you smile, you will spread positivity around to other people, putting other people in good moods as well. It is good for everyone.
• If you are not in a great mood, grumping about it will not make it any better. Practice forcing you to smile and it will become second nature.
Craft little changes in the words you use. It is easy to say things that can accidentally bring you down. Using positive words, as opposed to negative words, has a proven effect on your mood and your attitude.
Do not identify yourself with your feelings. Do not say, “I am sad” or “I am frustrated.” Instead, put the negativity elsewhere. Say, “That movie made me feel sad” or “This task is difficult and frustrating.”
Do nice things for others, even if you do not feel like it. Not having a great day? That does not mean you have to act like it. Choose to spread positivity around, and the smiles you get in return will do a lot to make you think more positively. Here a few little ideas for things you can do to brighten someone else’s day:
· Clean up the house before your partner or roommate gets home
· Pick up tea, coffee or donuts for your office
· Mow your neighbor’s yard, or shovel their driveway in winter
· Just greet or say hello and compliment a stranger
You become who you associate with. Be with people you enjoy. If you want to think positively, surround yourself with other positive thinkers, and with people who bring out the best in you. Hang out with people who are supportive, friendly, and like you for who you are.
If you do not like hanging out with someone because they put you in a bad mood, stop hanging out with them. Make this choice seriously to be with people that make you feel good and confident.
Find positive quotes or mantras to keep with you. One great way to keep your outlook bright is to keep little quotes or sayings that you like in your pocket, on your phone, or otherwise in your mind as you go about your day.
Subscribe to positive affirmation feeds on Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook to keep your social networking more positive and influential in your life. For example, I am a follower of Robin Sharma’s Facebook page. I get extremely motivated every day.
Keep a journal and record each day. If you sometimes end the day on a sour note, train yourself to turn that around. Instead, pour yourself a cup of tea, or another beverage of your choice, and sit down with a journal and write it out. Just sit down and start writing about your day. What happened? What went right? What went wrong? Put it all down.
• Write down three things that went well and explain why they went well. Write down three things that did not go well, and explain why they didn’t go well. Be as specific as possible in describing the events.
• Read back over what you wrote. Sometimes, what seems super-dramatic in your mind will suddenly seem much more minor when you actually read it out. Was it really worth all that negativity? Now I would like to share a few tactics in relation to avoiding negativity.
Discover your negativity triggers. What puts you in a dark mood? What makes you feel bad? Identify the things that make you spiral into negative emotional states, so you can plan how to attack those triggers and get rid of them from your life.
Do you get angry or upset at a particular time of day? When a particular event happens? When you are around a particular person? What makes you angry? What particular discussion makes you angry?
Maybe you just have trouble feeling positive about much of anything. If you struggle to approach even your vacation day with a positive attitude, you might want to get checked out for signs of depression and talk to your doctor.
Only keep supportive friends. If someone in your life does not contribute to your mental well-being, they do not have a place in your life. People who stress you out, criticize you, or bring you down are a waste of your time and energy. Avoid these people or draw firm limits with them.
• If you have to hang out with someone who rubs you the wrong way, or you cannot stop seeing someone, do your best to draw limits. Be honest with them and tell them that you really need your space and you would prefer to be left alone.
Give less weight to what other people say. If you feel good about something, let yourself feel good about it. If you do not care about something, do not let yourself be swayed by the opinions of others. Listen to your own voice and pay less attention to what other people have to say about you or your business.
• Do not ask for other people’s opinion if you do not really need it. What difference does it make if your co-worker does not like the name you picked for your new pet cat? As long as it makes you happy, that is all that matters.
Stop comparing yourself to others. Competition can bring up a lot of negativity in people. Avoid situations that force you to compare yourself or your skills to the skills of others. These situations can breed bad feelings, resentment, and anxiety. If you want to keep a positive mindset, avoid any situation that will force you to compare or compete with others.
Stay busy. Work hard and play hard. Fill up your schedule with activities that will keep you so busy you will not have time to sink back into negative feelings. If you are focused and productive, it is hard to feel negative about much of anything. Stay focused on the things you are doing and your accomplishments, not on anything else.
• In some people, staying busy helps to outrun feelings of negativity. In others, it creates it. Some people just need more downtime than others. If you are one of those people, make sure you get it for yourself.
Do not sweat small stuff. Being happy and satisfied, spending time with family and friends–these are the important things. Anything else? Chalk it up under the category of “small stuff.” Do not sweat it.
• Block stuff on social networking that drives you crazy. If you have got a friend who will not stop humble bragging and making you annoyed, stop subscribing to their updates. Ignore it.
• Of course, if you are in a bad place and you need to improve your life that may be an important step to take to help yourself get positive. As a matter of fact, I feel like sharing more strategies about improving our life.
Get active. Exercise is shown to have drastic and positive effects on your mood, releasing stress-reducing hormones in your body that help to keep you feeling good. One excellent way of improving your outlook is to find some method of exercising that you enjoy, and making physical activity a bigger part of your life.
• Beginning is instrumental no matter how little it is! Start small. Just start by taking 30-40 minute walks around your neighborhood, moving at a good clip. Cue up some music or a podcast that you enjoy in your headphones, and get some fresh air.
• Find a team sport that you like, like football, cricket, basketball, or volleyball, and join a community team if you enjoy the positive effects of sport.
• If you do not like gyms or sports, try a solo activity like hiking, swimming, or riding your bike (To be continued…….)
Set and complete goals. Sometimes, if you start feeling like you are wandering aimlessly, the negativity will start to creep back in. To keep those feelings at bay, start setting goals actively and working hard to meet them. Even if they are relatively small things, it is important to have some sense of purpose to meet the day.
Write up a five year plan for important goals and do something every week to get yourself moving toward those goals. Where do you want to be in five years? What do you want to do? What can you do right now to move in that direction?
If you are feeling successful in your life, but still struggle with feeling like you are not getting the most out of it, get a new hobby. Pick up an instrument, or start an art project to get creative in a way you might not be used to.
Take the time to celebrate. It is important to set aside time to let yourself feel good. Even if you are busy, even if you are not feeling that great, it helps you cultivate a positive mindset to take the time out to celebrate with friends and family.
Celebrate accomplishments, big and small. When someone graduates, that is a cause for celebration. But, so is a regular Friday. Raise a toast to getting through the week!
Eat well. What you put into your body can have a big impact on how you feel, both physically and mentally. Getting more leafy greens, omega-3 fatty acids, and folate in your diet is proven to come with mood-altering properties for the better.
Always eat breakfast. Research reveals that people who eat breakfast are helping to jump start their metabolism, resulting in more energy and positivity throughout the day.
Eat complex carbohydrates, found in oatmeal, whole grains, and sweet potato, to give yourself energy without the crash associated with simple carbs, like sugary cereals and processed foods.
Let yourself relax when you need to. Relaxation is essential to staying positive. If you are the stressful type, train yourself to take a step back and grab a relaxation break when you need it. It is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign that you are doing what you need to do to stay healthy.
Take short breaks periodically throughout the day. 10-15 minutes of sitting quietly and listening to contemplative music, or reading a magazine during a busy workday can help you feel a lot more positive about the day. Take longer breaks as well. Do not leave unused vacation days on the table. Take a week off and use it to restore.
Apart from the shared effective tactics, I would like to stress upon two more game changing scientifically proven activities. One of these is called Mantras or autosuggestion which are positive words and sentences that, when repeated over and over, change your inner world, create new beliefs and vibrations which eventually change your reality. The ancient spiritual masters were all aware of the tremendous power of repeated positive statements. Nowadays known as autosuggestion or affirmations, this simple and easy technique is also at the heart of many modern self development methods. You too can use mantras to achieve different kinds of positive goals, such as confidence or courage; better memory or concentration; recovery from disease; better relationships; getting rid of bad habits; and success in education, work or business. I do not mind sharing my current Mantra with you “I am confident, I am courageous, I am fearless, I am successful and I am grateful.” The final key tactic is to meditate regularly. Meditation is mental exercise. This quiet practice expands our consciousness and improves our concentration and creativity. Establishing control over our own minds gives birth to a positive life view.
There is no denying that our life is full of sorrows, challenges, difficulties plus lots of ups and downs. Particularly getting to be born in a third world country poses you with numerous setbacks. Therefore, it is extremely essential to cultivate a positive mindset. Since the beginning of mankind, whatever has been created, discovered, innovated or conquered. We achieved by the dint of our belief and positive thinking. We get driven by the command of our brain. As a result, it is useful to command the brain in a positive manner. People become successful because they believe in their craft. Positive thinking leads to greater belief. Napoleon Hill said “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Positive thinking is the mother of firm belief. As an individual or nation, whatever our current situation is, mastering the art of positive thinking would certainly boost our minds, inspire us to take more actions with a view to bringing about positive changes in our life and maximizing our joint efforts for creating a better world.
Written by: Shohag Mostafij