Do you exercise regularly? You are doing well. Just as we work on our physique and appearance in order to feel great in our body, we also need to work on our minds so that we are well mentally. This is more important, especially when we are surrounded by situations that cause us anxiety or stress.
In today’s article, we’ll introduce some tips for maintaining positive thinking. We will also explain how to work with your mind to better manage all everyday situations.
Why is it important to maintain a positive mind?
Mind settings have a big impact on every area of ​​your life. For the most part, it depends on how you perceive things around you and how you react to them. Try to find out what has recently bothered, upset or otherwise damaged your mood. For example, just how you reacted to a certain stimulus sets you apart from people who have a “set” positive mind.
What will I do if I miss the bus in the morning?
Negative mindset: Well it will be another day! I can’t keep up anymore, my work will be bought up due to my late arrival so that I won’t even have time for lunch. Then I come home in the evening, eat everything I find in the fridge, and get even fatter, all because of the bus.
Positive mindset: Never mind, I still planned to go for a walk today. In peace, I will think about what I will be working on throughout the day, I will sort out my thoughts, I will come to work with a clear head and my day will be maximally productive.
The negative thoughts we carry in our heads affect not only our mood, but also our level of stress or anxiety.
In the short term, these states can increase our performance, for example, they help with maximum concentration before an important presentation.
However, the problem arises when stress or anxiety becomes your long-term partner.
This can lead to the development of phobias, anxiety disorders, aggression, depression, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction or an increased risk of suicide.
In the beginning, developing a positive mind can seem like a superhuman task. However, the opposite is true.
There are many simple practices that you can apply in your life and increase the quality of your daily life.
How to maintain positive thinking?
Positive thinking is not just about being happier and showing a positive attitude towards events and situations.
Simply put, this is a philosophy of life that can help you create real value in life in the long run and build skills that will make everyday life more enjoyable.
Positive emotions play an important role in our lives, as they have an effect on our future actions and performance.
For example, a positive emotion in the form of “joy” that appears in your life (it can be caused by many things) evokes the joy of other things and the desire to embark on other activities.
In practice, this means that a person who begins to feel happy may have a greater desire to create, go for sports, push their boundaries and so on.
6 tools for maintaining positive thinking
To begin with, we will show you a few techniques that can help you actively develop positive thinking.
1. Stay optimistic. Try to get into new things, take risks and assume that everything will turn out well. Do not accept the possibility that your efforts will not pay off, and at the same time do not allow yourself to be drawn into a pessimistic view of the world and the solution of constant negative events.
2. Accept reality. Let’s face it – things don’t always turn out the way you want them to. If this situation occurs, take it as a done deal. Don’t get bogged down in negative thoughts about a situation you won’t affect. It should definitely not discourage you from trying new things again.
3. Be resilient. Even negative things have a place in life. They teach us to cope with failure. After all, even small children learn by failure. They had to fail and fall to the ground so many times before they learned to walk.
4. Be grateful. Actively appreciate all the good things that happen to you in life. Are you failing at work? Be grateful that you are healthy and have a roof over your head. Do you have problems in your personal life? Be grateful that you have a free afternoon and you can practice or read a book. Even in the worst life situation, there is always something you can be grateful for.
5. Practice mindfulness. This technique is that you learn to live and perceive the present moment. Thanks to this, you can better appreciate the everyday joys that you may take for granted, and also better work with your thoughts or feelings.
6. Maintain integrity. Be honest, fair and sincere, on the contrary, avoid lying and cheating. Your behavior will return to you like a boomerang, both good and bad.
How to get “positivity” into everyday life?
We also need to identify simple activities that you can do every day to become a positive-minded person over time. What can you do about it?
1. Enjoy every morning
Think about what can make your day more pleasant in the morning and what can make you happy. Are you looking at news that evokes negative feelings in you? Don’t do it. Instead, listen to your favorite music with your morning coffee or enjoy the silence that will calm you down before a hectic day.
Smile and tell yourself that today will be successful and productive. If it’s nice outside, open the window and let the sun’s rays go in.
2. Take negative events as an opportunity
Did you say in the morning that this day will be worth it, but you can’t do anything? Such a situation can also occur and it is necessary to be able to respond to it. There is no point in cursing or collapsing. If something goes wrong, stop, recap what happened and what the consequences are. After this step, a situation arises where it is necessary to get the most out of an unpleasant event.
- Did your favorite coffee mug break? Take this as an opportunity to buy a new one that will be even better. And as a bonus, get a package of freshly roasted coffee.
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Did your partner break up with you? Finally, you have time to devote yourself fully to the hobbies that you have neglected so far due to joint activities.
Every situation brings new things and possibilities to your life. However, you can make the most of the negative ones. All you have to do is change your approach and start looking at them as an opportunity. We can consciously choose whether to accept the situation as bad or try to find something good in it. And if you do not think of any positive situation, try to consult with your loved ones.
3. Treat others the way you want them to treat you
When someone smiles at you, what do you do? You’ll probably return his smile. And it works the same way in a negative context. When you are mean to someone, you cannot expect them to behave differently.
So do what you want from others. Treat them politely, with respect, give compliments, help others, wish them success. You will see that such behavior will return to you.
4. Do not cling to material things
Try to be a little smaller materialist.
Therefore, try to live for experiences and build strong relationships with people who are important to you. As a result, it will make you a much more positive-minded person than a material thing that you would buy and not even remember in a few years.
5. Compliment yourself even for small achievements
Complimenting someone else can be easy, but hand on heart, can you compliment yourself? When was the last time you said you did something good, that you were really good? You don’t have to brag about big things, just start with the little things.
Do you go to the gym? Compliment yourself for the new PR on squats.
Are you running? Compliment yourself for not giving up when it started to rain.
Well-aimed compliment for your person is the next step in making you a positive, confident person who knows your qualities and can appreciate them. If you value yourself for what you do, you are more likely to be valued by those around you for these skills.
6. Don’t complain about things you won’t affect
How many times have you complained that it was too cold, too hot, raining or rising food prices outside? There are things that you will not affect, and there is no point in complaining about them, spoiling your mood and then passing your negativity to others. Accept it as a fact on which you can again look for positives.
If, on the other hand, you know that you can influence the situation, don’t complain and do your best to make a difference.
There’s no point in just complaining. If you know you can at least partially contribute to change, go ahead and do your best. This is also the way to be satisfied with your actions, thanks to which you can better maintain positive thinking.
7. Enjoy the little things
We live in a time of plenty, when many things become commonplace for us. Yet there are millions of people in the world who have nothing to eat, no place to live, and no access to drinking water. Take these “things for granted” and enjoy them.
Focus on what you have in life and enjoy it. Nowhere is it written that you will always have what you have now.
8. Don’t be influenced by the negativity of others
Do you have someone around you who never smiles, constantly complains and sees only the bad in everything? Think about whether such a person brings something into your life. If you value your time, there is no point in wasting it with people whose presence kills you or otherwise negatively affects you.
9. Meditate
There are many ways to meditate. There are several types of meditation, each with its own meaning. If you are unfamiliar with these methods, you can start with mindfulness, for example, a technique that will teach you to be aware of the present moment.
You can try this mindfulness meditation course!
If you master this technique, you will learn to work with your mind and better manage all the obstacles of everyday life.
10. Learn to talk to yourself
Having a full head of ideas is not unusual, but what matters is what their character is.
Change your perspective and learn how to talk to yourself. Instead of blaming yourself for something that did fail, be proud of yourself for trying. Instead of regretting that you have gained weight, boast that you have more power to use to achieve your dream character. Try to talk to yourself as your friend. You probably wouldn’t say that she’s useless and won’t achieve your goals, would you?
11. Find time for activities you enjoy
What would you do if you had no responsibilities? Would it be drawing, singing, reading, playing sports or watching TV? Make a list of activities that make you happy.
Find at least a moment for your favorite activities every day.
Avoid sentences like “if I have time, I’ll watch TV” or “if I can, I’ll read in the evening”.
If you know how to be organized in work, learn to reserve space for activities that you enjoy.
If you do something you enjoy every day, you will be generally happier and quite possibly more efficient at work.
12. Don’t be afraid to ask for the help of an expert
There may be times in life when even the best instructions on how to get rid of anxiety and negative thoughts do not help. If such a situation has occurred for you, it is definitely appropriate to get help from a professional. He will certainly help you solve the problem more efficiently and quickly than wanna-be experts in internet discussions. You better stay away from them.
Conclusion
Managing the traps of everyday life can sometimes be really hard. However, with positive thinking, problem solving can be much easier, and you may find that certain problems only exist in your head. The sooner you master the basic tools of positive thinking and apply them in small steps to your daily days, the sooner you can observe an improvement in the quality of life in all aspects.
