Positive attitude: Fill yourself with positive things

“Just be positive” or “look on the bright side!”

Positive thinking isn’t magic and it won’t make all of your problems disappear. What it will do is make problems seem more manageable and help you approach hardships in a more positive and productive way.

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.

“The most helpful definition of being positive is having hope and confidence in one’s ability to handle what’s tough, along with remembering that nothing is all negative all the time,”

Proven benefits of thinking positively include:

·         better quality of life

·         higher energy levels

·         better psychological and physical health

·         faster recovery from injury or illness

·         fewer colds

·         lower rates of depression

·         better stress management and coping skills

·         Better cardiovascular health

·         Reduced risk of death from cancer, respiratory conditions, and infections

·         longer life span

The mental benefits may include:

·        More creativity

·        Greater problem-solving skill

·        Clearer thinking

·        Better mood

·        Better coping skills

·        Less depression

Start every day on a positive note

Create a ritual in which you start off each day with something uplifting and positive. Here are a few ideas:

§  Tell yourself that it’s going to be a great day or any other positive affirmation.

§  Listen to a happy and positive song or playlist.

§  Share some positivity by giving a compliment or doing something nice for someone.

First, Nix the Negative

Negative thoughts get inside your head, and they whirl around like a hamster on a wheel. Negative thinking can ravage your body, cloud your mind and deplete your spirit. Negativity — left unchecked — can ruin your life.

First, begin to recognize your negative thought patterns. What is your inner critic saying to you? Do you think like this? 

All or nothing thinking. If you can’t do something to perfection, do you feel that you have failed or won’t even try to do it?

Overgeneralizations. One thing goes wrong and everything is wrong.

Focusing on the one negative. event in an otherwise enjoyable experience. Unable to accept a compliment or praise, preferring to respond with “it was nothing” or “not a big deal.”

Jumping to conclusions. Before getting all the facts, you become a fortune teller and automatically predict a negative outcome.

Magnification or minimization. Exaggerations of problems or mistakes—catastrophizing or minimizing things that might make you feel good.

Making “should” statements. Your expectations are rigid and the rules set around what “should” be done are not realistic and you feel guilty when you do not meet those rules.

Personalization. You blame yourself for everything that goes wrong.

Be a critical thinker, not a critical person. Practice redirecting critical thoughts by examining the situation from multiple angles and gaining perspective. How can I choose to think about this? What is the next possible action that will help me? What actually went well? What am I looking forward to?

You won’t be able to undo years of pessimism and negative thoughts overnight, but with some practice, you can learn how to approach things with a more positive outlook.

Recap

There are many different types of cognitive distortions that contribute to negative thinking. Learning more about these distortions and remembering that thoughts are not facts may help lessen the power of these negative thinking patterns.

Luckily, positive thinking is a skill that anyone can learn. Here are few tips to train yourself to think positively.

1. Remember to be grateful

2. Get plenty of sleep

3. Accept situations as they are

4. Identify areas you need to work on

5. Remember to laugh

6. Getting out of your comfort zone

7. Being happy even when you have little.

8. Not letting other people’s negativity bring you down.

9. Being true to yourself… always

10.Being happy for someone else’s success.

11. Using the power of a smile to reverse the tone of a situation.

12. It’s not complaining no matter how unfair things appear to be.

13. Spend Time with Positive People

14. Cultivate Optimism

15. Practice Coping with Criticism

16. Savor Positive Moments to Extend Positive Thoughts

Positive thinking, or an optimistic attitude, is the practice of focusing on the good in any given situation. You approach the good and the bad in life with the expectation that things will go well.

"Positive anything is better than negative nothing."