Find out how to start to think positive, be more positive every day and live a healthier and happier life
Starting to think positive and having a positive attitude is the most powerful and helpful tool when it comes to a fulfilled and happy life. People who naturally think positive suffer much less from:
- depression
- anxiety
- stress
- physical illness
and they can deal much better with any occurring trauma.
A positive mindset every day is most of the time the key to conquering anything that you want and achieving the goals that you desire.
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- 25 Pages e-book with the 2 posts on how to start to think positive and on how to stay positive when life gets tough
- Daily Affirmations Worksheet (editable)
- Daily Gratitude Worksheet (editable)
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Scientific studies about positive thinking
Having a positive attitude towards life is your natural state of being. It leads to more happiness, joyfulness, success, and healthy life.
Studies have shown that people who think positively are having less illness, less stress, do not suffer so much from mental illnesses, and even live longer.
Here are 3 scientific studies on how positive thinking can affect mental health:
1. Visualization study against anxiety
In this study which was published in March 2016 researchers from Kings College in London tested people diagnosed with anxiety. They asked one group of them to visualize a positive thought on a fear they personally had and the other group was asked to visualize any positive thought whenever the anxiety came up.
The last group which visualized any positive thought, whether it was related to a personal fear of them reported greater happiness and decreased anxiety.
2. Study on: Success does not make you happy, but happiness makes successful
In December 2005 a study was published by a researcher named Dr. Lyubomirsky from UC Riverside. He examined 275,000 people (yes, you heard that right!) and found out that happy people tend to feel more confident, optimistic, and energetic.
Furthermore, others find them more attractive and tend to like those people more.
3. Positive thinking makes you live longer study
3 Researchers from the University of Kentucky studied autobiographies from nuns from 1930 and scaled their positivity level. 60 years later they contacted the nuns who were still alive.
The ones with the highest positivity level lived beyond the average life expectancy and were still alive.
So that’s that. Paying attention to your mental health and your thoughts, whether they are positive or tend to be more negative can not only make you happier and change your life. It can also lead to a healthier and longer life.
Great, but how do you actually start to think positive and stop thinking negative thoughts?
To make it short: choose to.
It sounds simple, and it really is. In the beginning, you will have to concentrate on the good things until it starts to become a habit and your mind will automatically think positive.
It is also very normal that you will fall back to negative thinking from time to time. Just be aware of that, stop, and replace the negative thoughts with positive ones.
For example, You have a car accident. Nothing happened to you, but you scratched another car with yours and it will cost you some money to get the car repaired.
In this situation, you could really be devastated or angry at yourself. But:
Try not to ask: why did this happen to me?
Instead, you ask: what is the lesson in it for me?
Maybe you did not pay enough attention when you were driving your car. Maybe you were on the phone with someone or you were thinking of something you had to do?
You can think positively and say: I am so grateful that nothing happened to me, but next time I have to concentrate more while driving before something really bad happens and someone gets hurt.
In the beginning, it can feel a little weird, and there will be situations – for example – when you are stressed, on which you will start to fall back to the habit of negative thinking. That is pretty normal and ok, too. Just take a breath, refocus and remember to concentrate on the positive stuff.
Examples of positive thoughts
So, it is possible to be aware of your thoughts and actually choose how you are thinking. The following sentences might help you to choose wisely and hopefully think more positive:
- I like this picture
- The food is tasting so good today
- I appreciate the nice lady from the store helping me out
- I like how this father is talking to his son
- The weather is so nice today
- This book is so inspiring and entertaining
See? You choose to think positive by using words like: “I like…”, “I appreciate…” and so on.
Try not to use words or sentences that start with: “I don´t like..” or “I won´t…”.
How can you develop positive thoughts?
The following tips on how to think more positively will help you to implement the habit of positive thinking into your life. These are the habits and absolute basics from people that naturally think positive and have learned this from their childhood on.
You can always go back to these tips and remember the basics when it comes to thinking naturally positive:
Surround yourself with positive people
Surrounding yourself with the right and positive people is by far the best way to a happier life. When you realize that someone is always complaining about everything or criticizing others, then stay as far away from those people as possible.
They will probably talk bad about you too.
It is ok and of course normal to be down sometimes and have some problems. Being a good friend means also being there for one another. But watch out for those energy suckers out there that have always problems and are always and constantly in pain or suffer from everything.
They will bring you down and are not good for you and your health.
Furthermore, you do not want to be hanging out with co-workers or students that are always complaining. Because that will not shed a good light on yourself either.
You can basically closely listen to what those people are telling you. Are they saying positive things like: “I like the nice weather today”, or “I really enjoyed last time we did XY” and so on. You get the idea.
Another way to find out if the other person is thinking positively is by observing them and how they treat others, for example, the waitress. Are they rude to other people or do they treat other people with respect? Think about it.
Be aware of the media consumption that you choose
Media consumption and especially social media can be very time-consuming. It is entertaining and you can easily get caught up in the overwhelming information that it can provide. But, this can be total too much for your mind and for your brain to process.
So, be careful about what you actually consume or read about. Studies have shown that what you listen to, read about, or the watch can get into your subconscious mind and it can totally influence your emotions and your thoughts.
Think about it, you maybe enjoy a horror movie at the time you watch it, but how did you feel after watching it? It certainly does not leave you with happy feelings or happiness.
Be grateful
Being grateful is the best feeling in the world and it is very powerful to shift your mind into positivity. By being grateful you count your blessings and acknowledge what you have in your life, instead of feeling lack for something.
Gratefulness needs to be practiced. I encourage you to write down at least three things that you are grateful for every day. This can be anything and everything. You can be grateful for the ability to breathe. That you have something to eat or a house to live in.
You will immediately start to realize that you have a very fortunate life.
Think about it that way:
When you have a house to live in, something to eat every day, and clothes to wear you are actually one of the very few percent of people in this world that are so fortunate and live such a luxurious life!
Stop comparing yourself to others
There is a saying and it goes like: “Do not compare your chapter one to someone else’s chapter twenty.”
This is so true. Do not compare your reality with the reality of someone else. They have totally different circumstances than you do and they all started somewhere too.
In this universe, there is plenty for all of us and everybody. Do you. Go your own way and do not look to the left and the right what others do or have. It is not good for you and it truly does not help you at all.
Watch out how you talk to yourself
There are thousands of thoughts running through your mind every day. Some are conscious, but most of them are coming or happening in your subconscious mind. That means that you do not even realize that there are there or what they actually say.
Let us concentrate on those that you can control. Positive Thinking and a positive attitude towards life are really starting in your mind and it depends on how you talk to yourself. It all started in your childhood and the way you talk to yourself and how you treat yourself is really something that your parents taught you.
A mother can talk to her child and be like: Oh wow, this painting is so pretty, I love it. You are my sunshine, I love you, you are so talented.
Or she can say: What happened? why did you make such a mess? I want you to clean everything up. Why are you always making things difficult for me?
So, which sentence felt better? The sentences that parents actually say to their kids do matter. They go straight into the subconscious mind and they are saved there. They influence the way that the child will, later on, talk to itself.
So, even if you realize that someone or something “programmed” you wrong along the way there is good news. You can totally change that. It requires a little bit of work, but it is possible and really worth the effort.
One simple way is by doing affirmations. Affirmations are sentences that you can read or meditate about. Your brain and mind can not tell the difference if they are true or not. They are sentences that provide emotional support or encouragement.
Examples for positive affirmations are:
- I am positive and strong
- I will always find the good in people and myself
- I have time for myself and I love myself
- Today I will be very productive, fresh, and energized
- I am focused, excited, and ready to learn something new every day
- I am joyful, happy and I live in this moment and can truly enjoy it
You can read them every day, include them into your morning or nighttime routine and even come up with your own.
Take some time out
People that have a positive attitude towards life and always think positively make sure that they do something for themselves from time to time.
That does not mean to be egoistic or anything, but it simply means to take care of yourself. You deserve it. Especially parents or people who take care of the elderly have oftentimes the feeling that they can not take some time off for themselves.
This is simply not true. If you are stressed out or get sick then this will not be helpful for anyone. The greatest gift to your loved ones is that you take care of yourself and do something to stay healthy.
Here are some ideas for taking care of yourself:
- Take a bath
- Read a good book
- Meet up with a friend and get some coffee
- Sleep
- Go for a walk
- Meditate
- Do your affirmations
- Listen to some ASMR
- Get a new haircut
Whatever it is that you need to do. It does not have to be for a whole day or for long. Just some extra time here and there for yourself can make a huge difference for your mental health and your positive attitude.
You are unique
Remember, you are unique. About 7 billion people are living in this world and there is no one like you. No one in this world does look like you, have the same genes as you, or the same mind and soul. You are unique. Embrace it, be thankful.
Conclusion
Starting to think more positively and making it a daily habit to be aware of what you are thinking is totally worth it to look into.
When you feel stressed out or something goes wrong or not the way you want it to be, it is really easy to get caught up in anger. That is normal and totally ok, too.
But it is also important to remind yourself from time to time that life is good, you are loved and unique. This life is worth living, so great, and has so much to offer.
Positive thinking can really help you live the happy life that you want and truly deserve.
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How to stay positive when life gets tough
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