“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”
― Lao Tzu
What we think and what we say every day can have a huge impact on the type of energy we put out into the world, and the energy we attract to ourselves. Our thoughts and actions determine our mindset, which in turn determines our behaviour, causing a ripple effect which extends to all parts of our life. Studies show that if you have a positive outlook on life, you will achieve more, feel happier, and take better care of yourself.
Sometimes it is difficult to be positive and we all have THOSE days, but you CAN choose to have inspirational, positive thoughts. Use these nine tips to help you infuse positivity into your life and brighten your view of the world.
1. Change Negative to Positive
Don’t give negative thoughts the power to consume you. Next time you are thinking negatively, or you catch yourself judging others, take notice of the thought, process it, and then take a moment to change each negative thought into a positive observation. Don’t judge yourself or the thought, just notice that the thought is negative. This simple practice will refocus your brain’s attention, eliminating the negative thoughts.
2. Dream It, Believe It, and Achieve It
If you can dream it, you can achieve it. Believe in yourself. Know that you have something special to offer the world and that you are capable of significant achievement. Positive people have a deep inner self-belief.
3. Visualise Your Success
Imagine yourself achieving your goals. Visualise your book being published, winning the race, delivering an amazing speech, standing on the winner’s podium, accepting an award. Let your mind create your reality.
4. Show Up And Take Responsibility
Don’t blame other people or circumstances for your life choices. If you are unhappy with any part of your life, then create a plan, take action, and make the change.
5. Be Your Own Cheerleader
Become your own motivator by telling yourself positive things. Each morning, say out loud positive and encouraging affirmations. You might say something like “I am going to make real progress towards my goals today”. Use positive self-talk to reprogram the conscious mind and overcome any doubts, worries, and negative thoughts. Face up to any problems you encounter with a constructive and optimistic attitude.
6. Associate with Positive People
Gravitate towards and spend more time with optimistic, positive, and upbeat friends, family, or acquaintances, and limit time spent with negative, cynical, and pessimistic people. The optimistic people will encourage and inspire you, while the pessimists will make you doubt yourself and feed your insecurities. Surround yourself with positive people and you will feel more energised and uplifted. If you find yourself in a negative conversation, tactfully try to change the subject to something more positive.
7. Count Your Blessings
Shift your focus away from negativity, and list the things in your life for which you are grateful. You could be grateful to live in a beautiful country, to have a job, to do a job you love, to have a place to sleep each night, to have good food to eat, to have a healthy body, to be the mother of amazing children, to have a loving partner, or you could be grateful that the sun shone this morning. Practicing gratefulness can cause an immediate shift in your perspective. Keep a daily gratitude journal, or you could do as I do, and say in your prayers at night what you are grateful for that day. This has you going to bed content with life and excited for the new day ahead.
8. Relax and Enjoy Life More
Laugh out loud and lighten up a little. If you can laugh at things then you will find they are easier to cope with. This is one I try to concentrate on. As a single mum working on my own business, I frequently have ‘to-do’ lists that are way too long! Don’t try to do everything at once and become overburdened with work and all the things you ‘should’ be doing. Make time for yourself and do things that make your heart sing. Dance, dance, dance…
9. Do Something Kind
It’s easy to get wrapped up in our own world and ‘to-do’ lists and to forget about the people around us. Make the time to do one nice thing for someone else each day. Compliment a stranger, call a friend in need of a kind word, or go out of your way to help someone. Even just a smile and a friendly hello could make someone’s day.
Each of us has a set of messages that play over and over in our minds. Too often this pattern of self-talk is negative. We tell ourselves we can’t do this and we can’t achieve that. Our thoughts have a magnetic power and this can mean that if we expect a negative life, that unfortunately is what we will get. Many studies confirm the correlation between positive thinking and success.
The Takeaway:
So why do we choose to think negatively if positive thinkers achieve more, are happier, and live longer than negative thinkers? I think the answer is that sometimes it’s easier to think negatively to avoid disappointment, though this is counterintuitive as this only leads to a pessimistic view of life. So takeaway these 9 simple steps and start thinking positively today!
