In today’s society, it can be easy to start looking at things in a negative light. Maybe it’s stress from your job, a relationship, or a routine that you want to break out of. Whatever the case, that stress can have a negative effect on your life.
Keeping a positive mental attitude is essential to keeping those stressors in check. Feeling successful and fulfilled is tough to accomplish with a negative attitude.
Here are some steps you can take to become more positive in your life.
Believe That You Can Change
This sounds corny, but it’s actually essential to developing a positive attitude. You have to tell yourself that you can do it, that you don’t have to engage in negativity.
The first step is admitting that you have the power to change your thoughts.
Start A Thankfulness Journal
It’s easy to let one or two bad events in our day ruin the entire thing. We’ve all done it before.
A bad commute leaves us angry at work. We snap at a co-worker when we don’t mean to.
Then we take these negative emotions home with us. To combat that, start keeping a journal where you list things that you’re thankful for. Go back through the day and find at least one positive thing.
It can be as simple as a nice conversation or a green light that you just barely made. If your day was terrible and nothing positive happened, write down people in your life that you’re grateful for.
Writing these moments down will help you focus on positive experiences.
Train Your Brain For A Positive Mental Attitude
Here’s a tip–start replacing the word “have” with “get.” Not I have to go to work, or I have to do clean my apartment tonight. Instead, I get to go to work, or I get to clean my apartment tonight.
That focuses you on the positive aspects of your life. You have a job and a place to stay, right? This isn’t meant to minimize real problems that you have, but to put some things in perspective.
Additionally, use positive language when describing your life. The words we use are related to our thoughts. Change the words, and you’ll begin to change your thoughts.
You can even try changing the way you think through more direct means. There are hypnosis downloads available that many people swear by.
Make Peace With A Lack Of Control
Here’s an interesting exercise. Try separating into a list the things you do and don’t have control over in your life.
You might notice that the “don’t” list quickly starts to become much longer. There are simply so many things outside of our control in life. Anything related to the actions of another person–yup, no real control there.
When you break your life down, you realize that you really don’t have control over much. Only your direct actions and thoughts.
You can’t control most things in life, but you can control your reactions to them. Make your peace with that. You’ll find that you start thinking about your reactions more than the actual event, and you can react with a positive mental attitude.
Have some more tips that you use to stay positive? Then share them with the rest of us in the comments!
