The Power of Positive Thinking: 3 Tips to Give You a More Positive Mindset

Could a brighter future be all in your head? Science says yes. Picture this: a study showed five groups different film clips that elicited different feelings, ranging from joy to anger. They were then asked to create a list of possible actions they would take if found in the same situation as the one they viewed. Those that had positive thoughts bumping around their heads blew their negative-minded counterparts out of the water in terms of quantity and quality of responses.

Positive thinking doesn’t just happen; you’ve got to work for it. However, with benefits ranging from lower rates of depression and distress all the way to increased lifespan, your glass is definitely 100% full of potential. We want you to harness the power of positive thinking to unlock a better you, beginning with these three steps:

1. Check your self-talk: Tell yourself you’re in a bad mood, and you will be. Say that you’ll never bounce back from surgery and adapt to a new lifestyle, and you won’t. The words you let bounce around your head dictate the actions you do or don’t take. Keep tabs on the “can’t’”, “won’t”, and “never” dialogue, and immediately correct yourself when you catch it. The first step to embracing positive thinking is to tell yourself you are, even if you have to fake it ‘til you make it.
2. Confront your stress head-on: Closing your eyes as a car slides towards you through an intersection won’t stop it from hitting you. Likewise, ignoring the weight of stress on your shoulders doesn’t stop it from dragging you down. Positive thinking requires you to acknowledge the negatives in your life so that you can best create a plan of attack to eliminate them.
3. Choose optimism over happiness: To feel happy is to feel everything amplified: the sky looks brighter, your day looks less stressful, and everyone looks a little kinder. However, happiness is situational and based on an emotion that fades fast. Optimism, however, is in your hands. It’s believing that you’re responsible for creating and maintaining your own happiness. Look at a situation, identify all the positives and negatives it can reap, and choose to hold onto those positives.

A happier you isn’t discovered overnight, but embracing positive thinking today gives you a longer lifetime to find it. Reach out to us today and let us know what we can do to help add a little more happy to your life.