Your outlook on life has a major impact on how your life will turn out. Think positive thoughts and you’ll have more positive experiences in your life; think negative thoughts, and the opposite will be true. If you’re wondering how to have a positive mindset and live your life to the fullest, we’re sharing 8 tips to beat negative thoughts in their tracks!
What Does It Mean to Have a Positive Mindset?
When you have a positive mindset, you’re always looking on the bright side of things. You see the cup as half full and expect positive results from the situations in your life. You make positive thinking a habit and don’t dwell on negative thoughts and circumstances. Having a positive mindset means you make the best of any situation you find yourself in and live life to the fullest.
When you have a positive mindset, it doesn’t mean that you ignore life’s problems and troubles. There’s a difference between being ignorant and being positive. You’re aware of the downsides, but you choose not to concentrate on the bad in things. You recognize the positive and the negative, but you choose to focus on the positive.
6 Benefits of Positive Thinking
1. Lower Stress Levels
People who are positive thinkers are better able to handle stress. If something bad happens, they focus on the solution rather than spiralling into negativity. They don’t dwell on what happened and wonder how it will ever get better – they take action to make the situation better themselves.
2. Lower Rates of Depression
It’s hard to feel down and depressed when you’re focused on the positives in life and all you have to be grateful for. Positive thinking leads to more joy and happiness in your everyday life.
3. Better Overall Health
Positive people often have better overall health and tend to live longer than negative people do. When you’re focused on positive thinking, you’re less stressed and less likely to feel anxious and depressed. Negative people are more inclined to face heart problems, sleep problems, mental illness and more.
4. Better Relationships
When you’re a positive person, you’re also more likely to have better, more positive relationships. People are naturally more attracted to positive people, so they tend to have more friends and more successful romantic relationships.
5. More Successful
Positive people also tend to be more successful in life. They don’t focus on their failures, and see them as learning opportunities. They’re more confident and productive and are open to learning and trying new things.
6. Happier
Last but not least, people who choose to look on the bright side and practice positive thinking are happier in their everyday life. How could you not be? When you think positive thoughts, you attract more of that to your life.
5 Positive Thinking Exercises
1. Repeat Positive Affirmations
Affirmations are sentences that you repeat to yourself everyday that make you feel good and boost your confidence. Repeating positive affirmations is meant to get your conscious and subconscious mind to believe what you are telling it, even if it’s not completely true yet. The point of affirmations is to repeat something to yourself so many times that you begin to believe it and live it. Here are some examples:
“I know my worth”
“I inspire others”
“I have the power to change my story”
“I am a money making machine”
“I am worthy of love and happiness”
“I believe in the person I dream of becoming”
2. Practice Your Breathing
Breathing exercises are also very helpful in building a positive mindset. When a stressful situation comes along, there’s something to be said for taking a few long, deep breaths before making a decision. It can help you put things into perspective and think more rationally. Focusing on your breathing throughout the day has also been shown to decrease overwhelm, anger and frustration.
3. Set Exciting, Realistic Goals
When you set exciting, realistic goals for yourself, you have something to look forward to and something to work towards. Unrealistic goals can lead to self doubt and feelings of frustration and negativity, but when you set achievable goals, you’ll feel more motivated and inspired to work for them!
4. Listen to Inspiring Podcasts
It’s very important what you feed your mind, and podcasts are a great way to get into a positive mindset. Find a few podcasts that you really love and that get you motivated. Listen to them every day to get yourself into your highest vibe!
5. Talk With Only Positive Words
Do you find yourself using negative words like “can’t” “won’t” and “shouldn’t”? Take these words out of your vocabulary and only talk with positive words. It may take some practice, but it will totally shift the way you think and have a really positive effect on your everyday life.
3 Positive Thinking Techniques
1. Exercise
Exercise can immediately make you feel better and lead to more positive thinking. Make it a habit to exercise consistently and you’ll realize how much better you feel everyday. When you’re physically active, your brain produces endorphins, which are chemicals that make you feel really good. Exercise is good for you mentally and will make you look better physically, which is also going to boost your confidence.
2. Practice Gratitude
There are so many things to be thankful for every single day. Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have a bed to sleep in? Are you supported by your significant other and family to do what you love? Do you have food in the fridge? An amazing group of friends? Come up with a list of things you’re most grateful for and focus on them every day.
Write them down in a gratitude journal (I swear by my Five Minute Journal!), think about them, tell the people you’re thankful for that you love them. The more you focus on and appreciate the good in your life, the more positive you’ll feel. Never take anything for granted. This is when negativity will start to creep in.
3. Surround Yourself with Positive People
You are who you surround yourself with. If you hang out with negative people who think the world is against them and only look at the bad in things, it’s going to be really hard to have a positive mindset. Surround yourself with people who think and act in a positive way. Energy is contagious, so you want to make sure you surround yourself with positive people as much as possible.
Having a positive mindset can truly change your life for the better. Use these 8 tips to beat negativity and reap all the benefits of thinking positive thoughts!
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