Joel Chery Explains How to Achieve a Positive Mindset
One of the best ways to improve your mental health is by adjusting your mindset. A mindset is your emotional response to everyday activities and events. How do you respond when a manager asks for additional work or a friend cancels a meet-up?
Ask yourself, “do I have a positive mindset?”. If the answer is no, here are some ways to achieve a more positive mindset! The power of positivity can have a major impact on your life, from helping you set and reach your goals, to improving personal and professional relationships.
It is hard to change jobs, make new friends, solve family issues, or move your home; all which can impact your mental and physical health; but you can make an impact on your mindset each day. You can choose to approach life, minor upsets, and daily frustrations with a positive outlook. Joel Chery suggests looking at these ways to get started today.
Identify your negative thoughts
The first step to improving your mindset is to notice what things make you feel bad. The ability to notice ideas, events, and actions that create negative thoughts is called awareness. By improving your awareness, you can better understand what causes negative thoughts, actions, and outcomes and begin to change your mindset. To do this, you can write down your negative thoughts and what caused them over the course of a few days and then review them to better understand your feelings.
Consider what you are grateful for
If you are focused on the negative, you may need to remind yourself what you are grateful for. Whether it’s the love of friends and family, the experiences you have had working at your current job, or the chance to travel and make new experiences during your time off; each of us has something we are grateful for. Write these thoughts down and review them when you are feeling down, to help remind you what you are working towards during tough times. When you remember to focus on the positive aspects of life, rather than the negative or painful ones, it can help improve your mindset.
Take time to destress
Everyone has things in their life that cause them stress, but some of us are better at minimizing that stress by focusing on activities and spending time with people and pets that help us relax. Set aside daily and weekly times to “destress” with relaxing activities like exercise, socializing, and spending time alone and on self-care. For Joel Chery that means boxing, weight training, and running in some of his favorite spots in Worcester County, MA. When we allow ourselves time to relax, we are better equipped to deal with life’s stressors and to bring a positive attitude into our daily lives. Whether it’s meditation, yoga, walking the dog, or just taking a few minutes to focus on your breathing and relaxation at work; it’s important to consider your own self-care every day.
Focus on the positive
Do you jump to conclusions, increasingly negative ones? When you hear that tiny voice in your head criticizing a person, action, or event; pause and consider where your feelings are coming from. Are you focused on the negative when there are positive results as well? Try to share your positive reactions first, before your negative ones. By starting and ending a conversation with positive feedback, you are better able to communicate negative feedback as well!