With all the ongoing chaos of life, it can be difficult to remain positive when there’s not much good news around. The media is filled with sad cases and stories and even possibilities of the world ending.
To top this up, the pandemic causes panic and worry. In all these situations, remaining positive seems a harder sport than running a marathon. But it’s not impossible.
Being positive doesn’t change the situation but changes how you experience it. When everyone else complains about the rain, choose to dance in it. When they see the glass as half empty, see it as half full or just be grateful that you have a glass.
Having this kind of mindset positively impacts your health, improves your experiences in your career and even your relationships.
In this article, you’ll get to learn how to build a positive mindset that births a better, and happier version of you.
7 Ways to Build a Positive Mindset
Celebrate Your Small Wins.
Most of us, myself included, are incredibly hard on ourselves. We focus more on our flaws and where we went wrong instead of what we did well.
Over time, this becomes a draining toxic trait as our standards keep going higher and higher.
Turn this around and choose to celebrate your wins, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem to others.Graduating from college is a win, paying off your debts is a win and even finishing your to-do list is a win.
Even if no one else celebrates you, don’t forget to celebrate yourself.Surround yourself with like-minded individuals.
They say that birds of the same feather flock together. Take a look at your inner circle of friends, how do you feel when with them?
Do they make you love life and want to try out new adventures or do they make you question why you left home in the first place?
No matter how positive you are, the fire in you dims everytime you’re around negative people who complain about everything including the weather. Instead, surround yourself with positive people.You’ll constantly hear positive stories and affirmations. Their words will sink in and affect how you think and give you a better view of life.
Repeating Affirmations.
Let’s be honest, we won’t wake up everyday feeling that we can conquer the world, some days we get low and doubt ourselves and our dreams.
So what should you do on such days?
Practice and repeat your affirmations. No matter how you feel, get up, go to a mirror and say the words. “ I am proud of you. I Am proud of who you are and I’m proud of who you’re becoming.”
Doing this sends a message to your subconscious and reprograms it to think more positively. Over time, the affirmations you repeat to yourself manifest themselves physically.
Practice gratitude.
Once the day ends and you’re snuggled up in your blanket, what runs through your mind? Do you take time to reflect on the day, or blindly fall asleep? I’m a victim of passing out once I hit the bed but I’ve been reminding myself to take a moment to reflect.
In that moment, when your phone is far away and the world is quiet, reflect on the day. Find out what you’re grateful for.
Maybe you’re grateful to your wife for preparing dinner for you, or you’re blessed with wonderful children. It might even be your colleague who brought you a cup of coffee.
Consciously train your mind to think back and pinpoint your blessings from the mass activities of the day. This in turn transforms you for the better.
Practice Positive Self-talk.
What words come out of your mouth when you speak? Are they words to build up or words to tear down?
This is not just about what you say about others but yourself too. Are you constantly putting yourself down in the name of jest. The words when repeated get internalised and soon enough you’ll start believing them.
If you say you can’t do it, you never will be able to. But if you say and believe you can, you definitely will.
So everytime you notice yourself having self-talk, stop, do a 180 ° turn and change it to positive self-talk. Even if you don’t believe it, say it and soon enough you’ll believe it too.
Protect your mind.
What you allow to go into your mind will eventually come out. That’s to say, garbage in, garbage out.
Just like you wouldn’t let anyone dump their trash in your house, don’t let anyone dump trash in your mind too.
Be selfish with the kind of content you allow into your mind, whether it’s the music you listen to, books you read or even movies you watch.Select only the beneficial ones and those that will lift you up and filter through the rest.
Be present.
Sounds simple right? It takes actual practice and mindfulness to be completely 100% present. If you really think about it, the things that worry us the most either have already happened or they haven’t. Namingly, the past and the future.
Worrying too much about the past leads to depression and worrying about the future broods anxiety.
The present is just that, a present, a gift that we take for granted at times. The past is already gone and the future not yet formed so the present is the only time we have full control over.
One of the ways to develop a positive mindset is by living in the moment.
Block out thoughts about the past and future, take a deep breath, and focus on the here and now. Doing this makes you pay more attention to your loved ones when with them, makes you more productive at work and gives you time to literally stop and smell the roses.
No matter how positive you are, the fire in you dims everytime you’re around negative people who complain about everything including the weather. Instead, surround yourself with positive people.
Final thoughts.
Developing a positive mindset takes time and effort. Some days you’ll lean more on the negative. But even on those days, retrain your mind to focus on the positive side of the situation. By following these, you’ll be seven steps ahead to creating a resilient and positive mindset. Wish you all the best.
