Thinking more positively can impact your work and personal life. Thinking this way doesn’t mean living a fantasy life and avoiding problems or cutting yourself off from the rest of the commonly less than positive world. More positive thinking can result in less stress in your life and consequently better health. It can make yourself more resilient and better able to cope when genuinely lousy news or a problematic situation comes your way.
Positive thinking means your approach to difficulties is more positive and productive. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst, according to the Mayo Clinic. Positive thinking starts with self-talk which is the stream of thoughts running through your head, which can be positive or negative. Some of this self-talk comes from logic, reason or misconceptions due to lack of information.
There are many ways to help you think more positively, according to an article in Lifehack.
Improve your posture.
Sitting up straight, according to a study, makes you more likely to generate positive thoughts and recall positive memories.
Stop the train of negative thought.
If you find yourself thinking dark, depressing or angry thoughts that may just tie up your brain in a spiral, break that spiral by physically doing something. Stand up, close your eyes, move something on your desk, stretch, take some action to disrupt that chain of thoughts.
Stay away from the news in the morning. Find something uplifting.
Typically if an event is in the news, especially if it’s a lead story, it’s bad news because bad news sells. Not that you should run and hide from what’s going on in the world, but dipping your toes or taking a dive into the negative news in the morning can get your day off to a bad start. Try to find something uplifting, perhaps a podcast on a positive topic or read something inspiring.
You’ve heard of this before, and it may work for you. Every day write down three things you’re grateful for. It can be life altering (like a parent, spouse, child or cure of a serious disease) or one of life’s simple pleasures (ripe pineapple or comfortable shoes). Gratitude can improve our wellbeing, enhance relationships and promote happiness.
Celebrate your wins.
It’s easy to dwell on all the minor, daily injustices we suffer but it’s better to celebrate our victories. Write them down every day. It records our progress in life and boosts confidence.
A study by Harvard Business School researchers found that when a group writing daily journals wrote about some accomplishment, great or small, it resulted in the release of the chemical dopamine in the brain, which is associated with a feeling of pride and achievement. It also motivates us to keep on accepting challenges and achieve more victories creating a positive reinforcement loop making us more likely to succeed.
When you practice law, you can’t just paint rosy pictures for your clients. Since you need to try to protect your clients from potential adverse consequences from different courses of action, it’s easy for attorneys to focus on all the bad stuff that may happen to them, yourself and others. For your own health and the health of your relationships with others, take a walk on the wild side and think positively