Life can be hectic and feel chaotic. Between responsibilities at work, home, and the community, you may be too busy to focus on yourself and your happiness. You may not even realize that negativity plays a more significant role in your life than positivity.
The National Science Foundation claims a person can have up to 60,000 thoughts a day. They also claim 80% of thoughts are negative, with most of them being repetitive thoughts. Think about the way you talk to yourself throughout each day. Are you one of that 80%?
Negative self-talk and thinking can have mental and physical ramifications.
Scientific research has shown there are direct connections between thoughts and overall health. For example, negative thinking leads to a weakened immune system, anxiety, and more flawed decision-making. These factors can lead to physical ailments, mental illness, and risky activities that can lead to further troubles.
There is something you can do to avoid the effects of negativity and become more positive in life.
Below, I’ve put together simple tips you can start implementing today. In a short time, you will notice the benefits positivity offers in all areas of your life.
Tip: Change The Way You Think
Thoughts lead to feelings and actions. Even ideas based on falsehoods can influence how you treat yourself and others. If you continually think negatively, it will reflect in your work and relationships.
For instance, if you tell yourself you cannot do an excellent job at work, then eventually, you will not do a good job. If you tell yourself you are not worthy, you will feel unworthy. Your choices will reflect how you feel. You may not try for promotion; you may stay with an abusive partner, you may not care what you put into your body.
I encourage you to change the way you think from negative to positive.
To do this, take time to understand your thinking style. Pay attention to the silent statements you make throughout your day. Commit to replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. Each time you catch yourself saying something negative, stop and give yourself a positive comment.
This process is called cognitive restructuring. If you find it too hard to do on your own initially, reach out for help with an individual therapist who specializes in this technique.
Tip: Individual Therapy for Cognitive Restructuring
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a method used by licensed mental health professionals to teach you how to change your thoughts so that your behaviors will become more positive.
Therapists are great teachers. You can quickly learn how to stop negative thinking in its tracks. You can also learn how to be rational and realistic in your thinking and coping with criticisms. Further, you can learn to analyze and react appropriately to thoughts.
Tip: Learn to Let Go
When thoughts enter the mind, it is up to you to let them go or give them power. It is essential to learn how to let some thoughts enter and exit your mind quickly rather than holding on to them and allowing them to become repetitive.
Practice making quick evaluations of your thoughts. If you can benefit from them or make them constructive, do so. But if they are random negative statements with no purpose, let them go.
Tip: Think Thankful and Grateful
Make time each day to practice gratitude. You can do this by keeping a journal, practicing meditation or prayer, or carving out a few minutes before starting your day and before you go to sleep.
You may want to partner with a friend and make a pact to share the things for which you are grateful with each other via email, phone calls, or texting.
Be thankful for the little things you have. Show gratitude for food, clothing, and employment, as well as bigger blessings. Being grateful each day will turn into a habit, and eventually, you will start feeling thankful most of the time, without trying.
Tip: Smile, Even When You Don’t Want To
When you smile, chemical signals are sent to the nervous system telling your body to relax and feel good. Even when you don’t feel like smiling, or are having a bad day, smile. Trick your brain into thinking it is happy so you can receive the physical and mental benefits produced by smiling.
If you need help smiling, start implementing actions that force you to do so. Watch comedy shows, read a book of jokes, talk to friends that make you laugh, or practice smiling while looking at yourself in the mirror. Every day in your travels play a game.
See how many people you can get to smile back at you. Every person you see, smile at them. Make a mental record of their response. Your smile could make someone else’s day much better.
Tip: Find Ways to Feel Rewarded
Smiling can make you feel good. Giving back and helping others can make you feel fantastic. Paying it forward could be a goal for everyone because it feels so good to make a difference in someone else's life, stranger or not.
Simple ways to feel rewarded include helping someone cross a street, paying for someone else's meal, donating your time at the local shelter, or even just complimenting someone.
Even if others are not helping you, you will begin to feel happier when you start giving back. Negative thoughts will be replaced with ideas of how you can continue to do well works to make you feel good.
In conclusion, the tips listed above are just a few of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of ways you can become more positive in your life.
The key is to implement positive habits in all areas of your life. Positive habits can include eating well, exercising, and many times; it means you are saying "no" to the many requests you receive from people for help.
Make becoming more positive a priority in your life. Make you a priority. You deserve a happy, healthy, long life. Start your journey of change today.