Having a positive outlook is a choice. You can choose to think thoughts that elevate your mood, throw a more constructive light on difficult situations, and generally color your day with brighter, more hopeful approaches to the things you do. By choosing to take a positive outlook on life, you can begin to shift out of a negative frame of mind and see life as filled with possibilities and solutions instead of worries and obstacles. If you want to know how to think more positively, just follow these tips.
1. Remember that thinking positively takes time. Developing a positive outlook is actually the development of a skill. You’re not born thinking negatively –– it happens over time as you absorb the world around you, including how you were raised, educated, and treated through life. As with any skill, it takes time to master, and it requires dedicated practice and gentle reminders about not falling back into negative thinking.
- Say positive things about yourself, regularly. How you communicate to yourself affects your thinking and your emotions, as well as your self-esteem.
- Be sure to praise yourself for things done well; you deserve to acknowledge the good you’ve achieved and the efforts you made. Treat yourself to something and keep it as a memento of that achievement.
2. Try new things. Experiencing a wide variety of life will do wonders. Stepping out of your comfort zone can often take you by surprise and knock those negative generalizations and black and white thoughts right back into their cave. Something as simple as trying a new food in a restaurant can lead to the discovery of new tastes and different sensations, along with the release of negative prior impressions. Here are some other new things that can help put a positive spin on your life:
- Take an acting class. This is a great way to express yourself and move out of your comfort zone.
- Visit a new town, city, or country and see how other people view the world.
- Read a novel in a genre you’ve never considered before.
- Learn a new skill, such as knitting.
- Take up learning an instrument, do sudoku, or learn a new language.
3. Be more aware. Negative thinking is often an excuse to live in a rut, stay on autopilot and to stop really seeing and experiencing the world and other beings. It’s a form of creating a shield around oneself and shutting down on being present and is mentally lazy. By forcing yourself to notice people, listen attentively, feel the things happening to you with grace and care and to remain aware of what is happening, you’ll find that it’s much more enjoyable to be positive. Here’s how being more aware can make your life more positive:
- You’ll be better able to recognize turtle behavior (trying to escape back into your shell) and be gentle with yourself rather than beating yourself up for mistakes –– for example, if you’re just tired and need a break, you’ll learn to understand your body and take a rest instead of thinking you’re slow or lazy.
- Consider taking up meditation as a way to center yourself and learn excellent focus. By meditating every day for 10 to 20 minutes at a time that’s convenient for you, you can increase your awareness of self and the present, helping you to corral the stinking thinking with greater consciousness.
- Try taking a yoga class. Yoga can also help you become more aware of the world as you get in touch with your breathing.
4. Read more. Read about people who have fought fear with courage and have succeeded in life, from explorers to entrepreneurs. Through reading, you will gain new knowledge and understanding and you will see that you’re not alone in the endeavor to constantly reset the mind’s course. Every person has to do this to succeed in creating a personally fulfilling life.
5. Explore your creative side. If you haven’t had a chance to explore your creative side, now’s the time. Taking the time to be artistic and to work with your hands or explore your most original thoughts can do wonders for your power to think outside the box and to therefore think positively. Even if you don’t think you’re naturally inclined toward creativity, there are a number of ways you can express yourself to become more positive.
- Pick up a camera and start taking pictures that inspire you, or even take a photography class.
- Take a ceramics or pottery class and take pleasure from working with your hands.
- Be a creative writer. Try penning a poem, short story, or even try your hand at a novel.
- Take a watercolor or oil painting class. This is a great way to give your mind a break as you focus on the images on your canvas.
6. Spend time with optimistic people. Optimism is infectious. Misery is also infectious. Which would you prefer? If you want to be infected by optimism, you should associate with people who can provide something of value. Look for the positives in other people too –– finding what is good in people and accentuating that will help more of it to flourish. Learn to compliment people around you. Here’s how to spend more time with optimistic people:
- Avoid people who sap your energy and motivation. If you can’t avoid them, or don’t want to, learn how not to let them get you down and keep your connection with them brief.
- Avoid dating anyone with a negative outlook, unless you really care about that person and want to change him. If you’re already prone to negative thinking, you’ll be falling into a trap.
- Connect with people who have many passions they call their own and want to share them with you. Passion — and optimism — is contagious.
7. Set meaningful goals. Whatever your goal may be, you should keep yourself busy working on it and believe in the cause you’ve set for yourself. Once you reach the first goal, you will be inspired to continue with the remaining goals, as well as adding new ones to your life. With each goal you achieve, no matter how small, you will gain confidence and your self-esteem will increase, feeding more positivity in your life.
- And in general, have a plan for your life––where you want to go and how you want to get there. Where do you want to be at certain points in your life? This doesn’t have to be complicated, but by having a general plan, you give yourself the motivation to overcome obstacles and to start feeling that you are in control of your destiny –– not fate, not other people, and not random events.
- Embrace the difficulties you may face as you try to reach your goals. They will happen as often as successes or peak moments in your life, perhaps more often. They are there to teach you what doesn’t work, what needs changing, and how you can improve your approaches. They are something you can cope with, if you choose to do so.
8. Don’t forget to have fun. Okay, it’s a cliche but it’s said often for good reason –– people who seek a bit of regular fun in their lives tend to be happier and more positive because it isn’t all drudgery and never-ending monotony. Fun breaks up the hard work and challenges. Here are some great ways to become more positive by having fun:
- Do something completely out of your comfort zone, such as skydiving or rock climbing, and see how much fun you have.
- Always make time for laughter. Hang out with friends who make you laugh, go to a comedy club, or watch a funny movie. It’ll be hard to think negatively when your funny bone is being tickled.
- Always plug fun into your schedule. If you’re a stressed-out workaholic with no time for fun, then you’re much more likely to think negatively. Work a few hours into your week when you’ll have license to laugh, goof off, and not take life so seriously.
- Just be plain silly. Tell bad jokes with your friends, play dress up, or play charades. You won’t be able to think negatively if you’re too busy goofing off and having fun.