Scientists have proved that our minds are an incredibly powerful tool. By having simple positive thoughts, we can actually achieve what we want. Perhaps, this quote below says it best:
“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
Therefore, it all starts with a thought, your thoughts. The way you think will greatly impact your life. People who always think negatively about something will make decisions and take actions according to their thoughts. And thus, they live a negative life. Many times, they complain, blame, and make excuses.
On the other hand, people who embrace positive thoughts will show in their lives. They make positive decisions and take positive actions. As a result, they live a better and more joyful life.
The problem is that positive thinking is easier said than done. We all want to think positive and nobody wants to be negative, but we don’t know how to do so. Worry not, here are 10 useful and effective positive thinking techniques you can apply to your life right now.
[optin-monster-shortcode id=”wcccxtsffvtc2cim”]
-
Live with Gratefulness
One of the most important keys to living a positive life is to be grateful for everything that you have in life. When you are grateful for what you have, you feel happy and you encourage yourself to think positively.
Conversely, when you are not grateful and you don’t appreciate all the things that you have, you feel bad and negative; as a result, you will never be happy or able to think positively.
Tony Robbins, the world’s #1 success coach once interviewed Sir John Templeton, a successful investor who earned billions during the World War 2 era, about his secret to wealth, and Templeton said the secret to wealth is gratitude. Here’s what he said:
“Because if you have a billion dollars, and every day you live pissed off and frustrated, the quality of your life is called pissed off and frustrated. But if you have next to nothing, and are grateful for whatever it is you have, you’re the richest person that you’re going to know. It doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got if you don’t have gratitude.”
Therefore, practice the attitude of gratitude. When you are grateful and appreciate all the things that you have, you will be positive.
-
Smile and Enjoy More
Besides being grateful, try to smile enjoy life more. You don’t have to wait for certain things to happen in order to feel joyful. You can experience happiness right now by trying to make a smile on your face.
Smiling can change your mood. When you are happy, you will be more positive. Thus, each morning before you brush your teeth, look in the mirror and force yourself to smile. You will be amazed at how this small act can change your mood and relieve stress.
In fact, there are many studies have been conducted about the effect of smiling. Our moods are linked and connected with our body movement. When you smile, you are changing your facial expression, which will lead you to change your moods.
Researchers have discovered that people who stand in a confident way feel more confident and people who put on a facial expression such as a smile will end up feeling the emotion.
The best part is that a smile can make you feel happier. And when you are happy, it is easier to think positive and act positively.
-
Surround Yourself with Positive People
If you want to be positive and stay positive, you must surround yourself with positive people. The people who you mix around with will affect your thoughts, and thus, your thinking.
Jim Rohn said it well, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” When you mix yourself with other positive people, you will hear positive stories and outlooks. These conversations will affect you to think positively as well.
However, finding positive people to fill up your life may not be an easy task. This is especially true when you have no idea if someone is positive or negative. You can only find out after you have talked to someone more deeply.
Therefore, make your best effort to join groups of positive people and try your best to spend less time with people to tend to think negatively.
-
Take Full Responsibility
Another great positive thinking technique is to take full responsibility. No matter what happens in your life, you must take the responsibility because although you cannot control the situation, you can always control your emotions.
When you stuck in traffic congestion while driving to work, take the responsibility that you should prepare yourself and get out earlier. Even if the situation seems like out of your control, you can still manage your own thoughts in order to feel and think positive.
Highly successful people are positive thinkers because they take full responsibility for whatever happens in their lives. They choose to control their thoughts rather than allowing the circumstances to make them think negative.
-
Give a Helping Hand
When you don’t feel like you are happy or positive, give a helping hand to someone who is in need. Now, you don’t have to volunteer or join any charity movement, what you can do is as simple as holding the lift for someone or open the door for someone whose hands are full.
Studies have found that when we help out, it makes us feel great. When someone says “thank you” to you, you feel good and happy. As a result, your mood changes and you started to think positively.
-
Enjoy Doing What Makes Your Heart Sing
Another great technique to make yourself to think positive is to do things that you love doing. What are your hobbies? What do you love doing? What do you passionate about?
Doing things that you love, such as playing tennis, swimming, gardening, cooking, etc, can make your heart sing. When you are in a good mood, automatically, you will be positive.
The key is to make sure that you enjoy the process. A lot of people love to travel and having a vacation in another country. Studies have found that people who travel more often have a more pleasant personality. They tend to be more happy and positive.
This is why you must find time to do the things that you love. When you are doing things that you are passionate about, you will feel great.
-
Exercise and Move Your Body
When we exercise and move our bodies, our brain releases endorphins, a chemical that stimulates happiness. This is why after an exercise session, you feel good and all the stress will be relieved.
A lot of people thought that exercise only benefits their physical health, but in fact, exercise has a lot of benefits including improving our mental health, weight control, and also gives us energy.
A workout session can help oxygen flow more freely throughout the body and make us feel energetic. Plus, exercise improves our productivity and allows us to focus better at work.
-
Embrace Positive Self-Talk
Often, negative thoughts come from our negative self-talk. A lot of the times, we tell ourselves that we are not good enough, we can’t do it, or we are inferior. These thoughts can turn into internalized feelings and make us feel negative.
Whenever you catch yourself talking negatively in your own head, stop immediately and then replace those words with positive and empowering words. For instance, when you find you are telling yourself, “I’m so bad at this,” stop immediately and instead, tell yourself, “once I get more practice, I will become much better”.
Therefore, watch how to talk to yourself. Your thoughts can impact your decisions and hence, shape your life. Thus, make sure you keep an eye on what you say to yourself.
-
Focus on the Present
Living in the present moment is another great technique to stay positive. Many people are stressed because they are not living in the present moment. They worry if they can make enough to pay the bills by the end of the month and they are too concern with what has happened in the office yesterday.
When you are too concern about the past or too worry about the future, you are not living in the moment. What you need to do then is to just stop and enjoy this moment. Most sources of negativity stem from the past event of the exaggerated imagination of a future event.
Stop and bring yourself to this present moment. Don’t think about the past or the future when you are enjoying your coffee. Instead, choose to feel the taste of the coffee, enjoy the moment of your surroundings, and be at peace with yourself.
-
Condition Your Mind with Positive Thoughts
Finally, if you want to think positive, just condition your mind with positive thoughts. This is easy to do. For example, create a vision board and then visualize the achievement of your dreams. Feel good about materializing them.
Another great method is to make use of positive affirmations. Affirmations work just like pep-talk. You keep telling yourself something positive to keep yourself motivated and positive.
So repeat your affirmations each day. Tell yourself something like, “Today is a great day”, “I’m destined for big success”, or simply, “I can do it”.
