Terri Ramsey Beavers When bad things happen in life, it can be difficult to stay upbeat and positive.
Yet having a positive mindset is essential to living a fulfilling life. A positive attitude will improve your relationships, help your health and well-being, and can influence how much you make at work.
So how can you get one? And once you’re feeling positive, how can you ensure that those feelings don’t go away?
Keep reading to learn about 5 different tips that can help you think good thoughts, and then maintain them afterward.
1. Keep a Journal of Positivity
When bad things happen in life, it can be difficult to stay upbeat. It’s important to remember that there are always good things happening around us as well.
It’s natural for the human mind to cling to a negative event that happened during the day. It can be easy to dwell on your boss criticizing your work or an argument with your partner. But you can combat this negativity by keeping a gratitude or positivity journal.
Take 10 minutes and write down 5 things you’re grateful for. These may be people in your life, things you have, or events you saw that day. It can be as simple as walking past a fragrant flower in bloom!
If you feel that you need a burst of positivity, try journaling it in every day. At the end of each week, you can look back and be amazed at all the good things that happen.
Scientists have determined that gratitude reduces anxiety, stress, and depression.
2. Surround Yourself With Positive People
Have you ever spent an evening with an unhappy friend, and you left feeling unhappier than before? Positivity and negativity are both contagious.
When spending time with a negative person, it can be easy to begin feeling down yourself. When someone only talks about the bad, that can rub off on the other people around them.
On the other hand, sometimes you’ll come across a person who truly lights up the room that they’re in. Whether it’s their smile, the things they say, or their energy, they have a way of making others around them happy.
Staying positive doesn’t mean that someone is faking being happy. Instead, it means that a person can accept the bad things in life, and still choose to be thankful for the good.
It also doesn’t mean that you should eliminate friends who are feeling negative themselves. Try to be a light in their lives. You may find that by doing so, you both get to a place of happiness!
3. Try to Speak About Yourself Positively
Have you ever given a presentation or speech and asked others what they thought of it? Odds are, they said that you did a great job. But you may still feel that you did poorly. That’s because no one is harder on yourself than you are.
A shift in how you view yourself can have an effect on your happiness, lowering how you respond to stress in the process.
Although changing your mindset is a difficult task, you can take small steps that will make positive self-talk habitual. When you feel a negative thought about yourself, recognize it as such, and then try to counter it.
If you feel yourself scrutinizing the things you don’t like about yourself, try to find something you do like. Maybe you are unhappy that you can be shy in some circumstances. But acknowledge that you’re also a really good friend to others!
Understand that you’re your own worst critic and that others are not seeing the negative things that you’re seeing in yourself.
Check out this list of uplifting quotes, which may give you the self-confidence boost you need.
4. Understand That Bad Things Happen
Staying positive can be difficult in periods of negativity. When one bad thing happens after another, it can seem like the universe is out to get you.
Aside from remembering the positivity that also exists around you, you should also work to use adversity to motivate you. If you recently lost your job, put all of your energy into finding a new one. Try to act instead of dwelling.
Keep in mind that life is a balance full of ups and downs. Things may seem good or bad at one moment and can be different the next. This is normal, and by accepting the inevitable fluctuations, you’ll be better able to respond to them.
When you’re comforting a friend, what do you say to them? You don’t shut them down, you acknowledge what they’re feeling and express that they have every right to feel that way. But you then go on to offer support, as well as encourage them that things will get better.
You should have the same positive mindset with yourself.
5. Do Good and Help Others
One of the best ways to make yourself feel better is by working on making others happier.
If you have a friend who has been unhappy lately, try to help them get to a better place. Listen to what is going on in their life, and offer them advice that can help them improve their situation. Even if you don’t know what to say, reminding them that you’re there for them can be all they need to hear.
Helping others can also mean volunteering for a cause. Maybe by volunteering at a soup kitchen, helping to build affordable homes, or organizing a clothing drive, you’ll be able to become more positive and gracious in the process.
Work on being a light to your friends and in society, and you may become more positive in the process.
Think Good Thoughts and Be Happier
The struggle to think good thoughts can be challenging. However staying positive, even in times of difficulty, will help you live a happier and healthier life.
Do you have any other tips or suggestions on how to be positive? What are some things that you do? Let us know in a comment!
For more guides and tips, don’t forget to check our other blog posts.