SELF-IMPROVEMENT
10 Tips on How to Adopt a Positive Outlook on Life
#1 It’s your response that determines the outcome of a situation
I haven’t always had a positive mindset. That saying: seeing the glass half full wasn’t something I resonated with for a long while in my life. It wasn’t until I started attending classes on positive psychology that something clicked. I was a bit resistant to embracing positive psychology in the beginning. But then I started discerning between positive thinking as an overall mindset and toxic positivity.
As I started embracing a more positive outlook on life though, as time went by, I started seeing the benefits it brought to my overall well-being and mental health. Which also led to strengthening and better nurturing my relationships with others as well.
As my mindset started shifting, I focused more on the positive aspects of any situation, learned to see rejection as a lesson I could learn from, and lived life more authentically and liberated.
What is positive thinking?
“[P]ositive thinking actually means approaching life’s challenges with a positive outlook. It does not necessarily mean avoiding or ignoring the bad things; instead, it involves making the most of the potentially bad situations, trying to see the best in other people, and viewing yourself and your abilities in a positive light.”
A positive mindset is definitely not something that can be achieved overnight. As you might well know, rewiring one’s brain is a process. There are over 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion connections — or synapses — between these neurons in the adult human brain. In the process of learning something new, the connections between relevant neurons communicating with each other are strengthened. So making a habit out of it will lead to seeing results in time.
Bear in mind, that I am not talking here about toxic positivity which is not about ignoring anything negative or unpleasant in your life. It’s about incorporating both the positive and negative into your perspective and choosing to still be generally optimistic.
We cannot control the external factors but we can surely take back control of the way we handle what comes to us.
The benefits of adopting a positive outlook on life:
Adopting a positive outlook on life can help us:
☛cope better with stress
☛increase our life span
☛reduce rates of depression and levels of distress
☛boost our immune system
☛improve your cardiovascular health and protect us from cardiovascular disease
☛build resilience when facing difficult situations and rejection
Tips on how to adopt a more positive mindset:
I would like to share with you some of my favorite personal tips that I have been using in my life for the past ten years and which have helped me tremendously:
- Keep in mind that it’s your response that determines the outcome of a situation — you might not be able to control the outcome but for sure you can control how you react to it.
- Use positive affirmations or phrases to chase off negative thoughts- whenever you catch yourself having a negative thought, take a moment to see if you can reframe it into a positive one; for instance: I’m not good enough for this task, you could say: I am learning more and more every day and I am getting better at this task.
- Find inspirational quotes and messages to bolster your positivity- there is a wide range of inspirational quotes you can use to remind yourself daily on staying positive, choose the one that best resonates with you; personally, my favorite is “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree“ by Martin Luther. Write it down on post-it notes or make it your screensaver to see it daily.
- Practice gratitude- keep a gratitude journal and whilst you write down the things you are grateful for, become immersed in that wonderful feeling of appreciation for the small things.
- Practice acceptance — acknowledge that things might not have gone as planned and be ok with that. Surrender a bit the need to control the way things unfold and enjoy the plot twists life brings you.
- The power of ‘yet’- this one is an amazing way to empower yourself where feelings of self-doubt and discouragement start creeping in, instead of saying ‘I am not good enough to do this’, you might try ‘I am not good enough yet, but through perseverance and polishing new skills, I will get better and better’.
- Put yourself out there to build resilience- growth is not going to come out of your comfort zone and the more you put yourself out there, the more you’ll strengthen your resilience muscle and learn to cope better with rejection and disappointment, seeing them instead as lessons and redirection.
- Practice mindfulness- meditation, breathing exercises, and being more present in the here and now help you regulate your nervous system and be more relaxed and thus enjoy yourself and life more.
- Help someone, pay a compliment to someone, or acknowledge their work- sometimes even the smallest act of kindness through helping someone, acknowledging their presence or worth can do wonders!
- Express your creativity!-being creative is a great way to allow your inner child to rejoice in the small things in life and helps you get into a relaxed state of flow, which leads to a sense of ecstasy, a sense of clarity. Csikszentmihalyi and Nakamura reached this conclusion by interviewing a variety of self-actualized, high-performing people: including mountain climbers, chess players, surgeons, and ballet dancers.
Every day we create our lives and our realities depending on which outlook we choose to adopt. Knowing that we can control the way we react to certain things, situations, or people we interact with is very empowering and a true game changer.
I would love to know if you have any tips on practicing positive thinking!
Thank you very much for reading, I appreciate you! ❀
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