What is Positive Thinking?
Think positive thoughts! It’s easier said than done, right?
If you want to know how to be more positive, the first step is understanding what positive thinking actually is.
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First of all, positive thinking is both a mental and emotional attitude that focuses on good and favorable results; the bright side of life. Positive thinking results from creating thoughts that build and transform positive energy into reality. Happiness, health and success are anticipated and believed. Overcoming obstacles and difficulties are not a question of IF, but WHEN.
Isn’t Everyone on Board? Actually, No… But They Should Be
Yet, thinking positively isn’t a concept that every human being believes in and follows. Some don’t believe at all, rather thinking that it’s a figment of the imagination. However, there is a growing number of people who consider positive thinking to be effective and a fact of life (case and point – look at all the many books, courses, and lectures revolved around becoming a positive thinker that have popped up over the last decade).
If you want to become a positive thinker, being aware of its existence is just the first step…and it’s not just removing negative thinking either! Creating a positive attitude starts with creating a vision of your positive future. The next step is to create an attitude of positive thinking around that vision, which will help you succeed in everything you do.
So, stay positive, and let’s dive into the problems associated with negative thinking and then why being positive and creating a positive mindset is so important!
Negative Thoughts Are Harmful
Negative thoughts and emotions tend to trigger the narrowing of the mind and thought. During a negative, fear driven, or anger situation, our brains are programmed to respond to almost instantly. Negative thoughts and emotions come to the surface and the brain immediately limits the options you have at your disposal. Consequently, it shuts off the outside world and focuses on those limited options.
Here’s an example…
When you have a to-do list as high as Everest and you start to feel stressed, you may become “paralyzed” and find it hard to start anything on that list. Can you relate?
This occurs because the brain is closing off the outside world and focusing ONLY on the negative emotion of the situation, which is the stress and anxiety that you are feeling.
Furthermore, you don’t think about the fact that you do have enough time to tackle the list and you are more than capable of getting everything done. Instead, the negative thoughts about being stressed stops you from moving and acting.
As a result, those negative thoughts can drain you of energy and keep you from staying in the present moment.
In this regard, negative thinking is harmful to your both health and frame of mind!
Why is Positive Thinking Important?
Does positive thinking work?
Yes…it does! Contrary to negative thinking, positive thoughts expand the mind and provide more possibilities for life. It broadens your sense of reality and opens your mind up for more options.
Due to this broadening of mind, it also helps to enhance ones’ ability to overcome challenges and gain new perspectives towards life.
Remember… the more you create positive thoughts and replace them with the negative counter-parts, the stronger those positive thoughts can become.
In the end, creating a positive life can be difficult, but it is incredibly important! Creating a positive attitude can help you experience happy feelings towards life in general and other aspects of life, such as: close relationships, contentment at work, relaxing at social events, and others.
Now that we have discussed the harmful effects of negative thoughts, along with why positive thinking is so important, let’s look at some tips & advice to help you start changing those destructive negative thoughts into positive ones!
Positive Thinking Tips & Advice
Learning how to be positive in life starts by putting some things into place in your life. But in general, anything that creates feelings of joy, contentment, and love are key. Doing things that make you happy, should be in your tool box to combat stress and negative thinking.
Here are some ways to think positive and help turn your mind from the negative. Start by picking 2-4 of these tips to work on today. After mastering those, move on to more. Starting on just a few of these at a time will help you get the ball rolling.
*****As a caution… your attitude and thoughts are difficult to change overnight, so don’t be upset if you haven’t mastered these by tomorrow morning.
1. Just Try It – Regardless of how you feel about positive thinking, consider it’s benefits and persuade yourself to try it! It can’t hurt to at least try, right?
2. Visualization – The next time you come across a stressful, angry, or sad situation, ONLY visualize the favorable and beneficial outcomes.
3. Make Sure You Smile – Smiling can do a lot, but in this case, it helps you feel hopeful for the future. That’s a positive emotion that everyone needs.
4. Ignore Other’s Negative Thoughts/Emotions – We all succumb to social pressures from time to time, but the negative doubt, thoughts, and emotions from others can be detrimental to our well-being. Sometimes it’s hard to do, but ignoring what others think or say about you can help dramatically.
5. Positive Self-Talk – Make sure you ONLY use positive words when it comes to your inner dialogue.
6. Be Aware – Try to be aware and focus when a negative thought first enters your mind. If you can catch it early and replace it with positive thoughts, you can be one step ahead of negative emotions!
7. Expect the Best – Regardless of your current situation, keep thinking positively and only expect the best. If you keep telling your mind that you’ll succeed, then you will.
8. Consider Meditation – Meditation may be the best thing you can do for yourself. Take ten minutes and focus on breathing, closing your eyes, and thinking about the positive things in your life.
8. Writing in a Journal – Writing in a journal will help you compartmentalize your emotions and feelings. Writing about positive things will help you realize that great things do in fact happen to you every single day.
10. Don’t Forget to Play – Make sure to schedule some play time for yourself. Do something that you love to do every day.
11. Surround Yourself with Positive People – Getting feedback and having a good group of people as a sound-board is invaluable. Surrounding yourself with positive people will help you feel more positive, as well as
12. Take Responsibility – Stop blaming others about your problems and faults. Taking responsibility can be a daunting thing; however, embracing what you do and don’t do can provide insight to how you can become better.
13. Serve Others – Sometimes that best thing you can do is forget about yourself. Serving others enables you to put yourself on the back-burner…and sometimes that is just what “the doctor ordered”.
14. Stop Being a Perfectionist – It’s easy to dwell on mistakes and faults. Don’t waste your life away being a perfectionist…no one is perfect.
15. Consider Singing – Singing makes everyone feel better. Showing emotions and feelings through music can help provide an amazing stress relief.
16. Positive Quotes – Reading positive quotes can help remind you of the great things in this life. Sometimes it’s all about reminding yourself.
17. Use Affirmations – See the section below.
ACTION STEP: Start applying these tips into your life. Be confident that doing these things will help you become a positive person.
Positive Affirmations – What They Are & How They Help
What Are Affirmations?
Have you ever wondered what an affirmation is? It is a short, powerful statement to help you control and engage your thoughts. Furthermore, that means positive statements can be used to help control your negative thoughts and engage positive power into your life.
Affirmations can be a great tool for you to successfully combat negative thoughts and feelings. As a result, positive thinking leads to success, just like an electrical connector successfully lights a bulb… and it all starts with saying kind words to yourself.
Do Positive Affirmations Work?
The short answer is yes, but you must believe that they do. Yes, reading, memorizing, and committing to an affirmation is great, but it will have little impact on you until you actually believe that it can help you.
How to Use Affirmations
If you want to bring some positive thinking power into your life, start by using affirmations. Say these affirmations repeatedly to help you create a calm and soothing effect. Get started by downloading one or more of our free affirmations below and do the following:
1. Breath – Take three long breaths. Breath in through your nose, out with your mouth.
2. Read the Affirmation, Slowly – Make sure your brain understands what you are reading, so do it slowly with purpose.
3. Believe the affirmation – Consider what you read and believe that it is true.
4. Commit to the affirmation – Make a commitment, to yourself and the affirmation if necessary. Yes, the result is possible. Believe it, commit to it, and it WILL HAPPEN!
5. Meditate on what you read – After breathing, reading it slowly, believing and committing to the affirmation, meditate for a few minutes on what you read and what it means to you.
6. Breath Again – Take a few more minutes and breath again…in through your nose, out with your mouth.
ACTION STEP: Check out the bonus section of this article, where you will find positive thinking affirmations for you to download and use.
Further Readings – Positive Thinking
- How the Power of Positive Thinking Won Scientific Credibility
- The Power of Positive Thinking
- Positive Thoughts to Dwell On
Final Thoughts on Positive Thinking
Positive thinking is the key to peaceful living. In addition, it enables you to be positive regardless of the scenario and circumstance.
You can train your brain to be positive, so don’t think otherwise. The power of positive thought can be yours, if you truly want it…and it all starts with TODAY. Then, after you have had positive moments today, work on being positive tomorrow…and before you know it, you will have re-wired your brain to think positively all the time.
In conclusion, realize that you do hold the power within yourself to start thinking positively. Believe it…do it…and reap the benefits!
Learning how to be a positive thinker is a key life skill that will put YOU in control…and once you have that control, then you truly have POWER OVER LIFE!
Bonus Items
Different Types of Affirmations
We have created a list of positive affirmations below. Each of these have a handful of affirmations inside them for you to try using in your own life. These are just basic affirmation examples, but using these can help you start on a positive thinking journey. So, download these affirmations for positive thinking and get started today!
- Affirmations for Anxiety
- Affirmations for Confidence
- Affirmations for Love
- Affirmations for Men
- Affirmations for Money
- Affirmations for Self Love
- Affirmations for Success
- Affirmations for Teens
- Affirmations for Weight Loss
- Positive Affirmations for Kids
- Positive Affirmations to Start the Day
- Positive Affirmations for Women
- Positive Affirmations for Work
Positive Quotes
Positive thinking quotes can be found everywhere online. We have compiled the best quotes that we could find, all for your downloading pleasure!
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CHECK OUT MORE
If you enjoyed our article, feel free to download the condensed version. Also, check out some more from Power Over Life!
- Building Confidence – Believe in Yourself
- How to Deal With Stress – Education, Tips & Relaxation Help
- How to Create A Personal Development Plan for Self Improvement
- How to Control Anger: Is it Possible?
