3 Ways to Stay Positive in a Negative Environment

I’m sure everyone who is reading this has struggled to keep a positive mind. It is certainly not easy, because it requires a high degree of control and self-awareness.

To truly stay positive with disregard to your external environment you have to be aware of your thoughts and what exactly influences them.

Positivity comes from within us. Every breathing creature on this earth is initially programmed to be positive or have a positive mindset simply because that is the main factor that makes life worth living. Negativity comes from your surrounding environment and is reflected back to you. It is up to you whether you want to absorb or reject the negativity that comes your way.

The thing about negativity is that it has a strong influence on people. The human brain associates negativity with intimidation, danger and/or worry. As everyone has experienced at least one of these three emotions in their lifetime you might now how exactly it feels and how much of a psychological impact this might have. It’s therefore not easy to fight or control these emotions when they are triggered by an event that happened in your surrounding environment.

Incorporating these things will help you stay more positive:

1. Have something to look forward to

This will help you a great deal, since this can act as a “weapon” against negativity. If you are having a bad day dealing with people or issues that you don’t like, its always good to have this thing in the back of your mind which triggers some sort of happiness within you. If you don’t have something to look forward to, create something. Building, creating or initiating something for yourself (it could literally be anything), something you can be proud of will instantly push you to create more. For me personally is writing these entries. It’s never easy to come up with an interesting topic to write about, but when I have a good idea I can’t wait to get started.

2. Be around the right people

The company you keep plays an important role in your life. If you constantly surround yourself with people who are being negative on a daily basis, your mind will eventually absorb this negativity. Be sure to have people in your life who inspire you, help you keep a positive mindset and most importantly, accept you for who you are.

3. Be aware of your thoughts

If you are not aware of your thoughts, the first two points won’t matter. When you are in a state of negativity stop for a second and assess why you are unhappy at this very moment. Think about it, reflect and from there you can take the next steps. Being aware is the most important part.

There’s plenty more factors which might help you to stay positive, and these three apply specifically to my personality. Like mentioned in earlier blog posts and what is basically the entire theme of this blog is that everyone is different. You have to assess for yourself what methods/thought exercises work for you, and which just don’t. At first it is hard to figure it out, but once you take it seriously and invest some time working on it, you will eventually find the right path.