When thinking of having a positive mindset, maybe the opposite comes to mind first. Have you ever met someone that ALWAYS has something negative to say? No matter what the topic of the conversation is, they are such a “Debbie Downer?” We’ve all met people like that and if we’re being honest, we all have had those moments in our lives too. Sometimes it begins with one incident that ends up spiraling, turning into a day or maybe even a week of negativity. The more time you take to self-reflect, the higher your chances are of recognizing if you’ve been one of those negative people.
Being that May is National Mental Health Awareness month, I figured it would be a perfect time to share 5 ways to develop a positive mindset. In this post, I’ll provide 5 things you can do, starting today, to become a more positive person. My goal with this post is to help you minimize your chances of being the “Debbie Downer” of your circle 🙂
1. Filter Out What You Consume
One of the main things we should all recognize is that we are responsible for our own life. We have the power to create the life we want (I’ll get more in depth in a future post). With that responsibility comes action. Since we are a digital society now, one of the best things to do is take ownership of the digital content we consume.
What I mean by that is being intentional with the pages and people you follow on social media platforms. I have unfollowed friends and even relatives on social media who would post a bunch of violent videos or news articles. I’ve unfollowed the people who love to share their life drama for attention too. I’ve even unfollowed the one girl from high school that seems to post the same selfie every single day…the list goes on.
Imagine waking up one morning after your peaceful rest, only to click on your favorite social media app and seeing the most violent news headline along with a mugshot above it. Your body immediately reacts to that news, tensing up, heart racing, and your peace dissipates in an instant. Your day now begins with that negative energy.
Unfollowing or unfriending people is not a bad thing. It is actually a very empowering thing to do since it means you’re establishing boundaries. If you don’t want to straight up unfriend or unfollow, you can always “mute” the person too.
After removing that negative content from your social media feed, you can go the extra mile and follow inspiring or funny pages that will uplift your mood. This simple tip will increase your chances of having a positive mindset without much effort afterwards. While you’re at it, you can also begin practicing how to protect your energy too.
*Now, I want to note that I’m not saying I never watch the news. I choose when and how I consume news stories. Typically, I mentally prepare beforehand by taking a deep breath before looking at a news page and once I’m done, I typically read positive news stories afterwards so that I feel good at the end.
2. Journal
Whenever you’re feeling upset, sad or any other way you don’t want to be feeling, take out a notebook and write it out. If you’re not a fan of writing, you can type it out on your phone’s notepad or even record yourself speaking your thoughts out loud.
Ask yourself what is causing you to feel that way and then pause. Take a deep breath and gently observe your thoughts. The answer is always within. If you don’t get an answer, simply writing down how you feel will help because you’re getting those emotions out of your body. Don’t hold back. Once you start writing out your thoughts, get it all out until you have nothing left to say. Once you finish, you can rip up the piece of paper/permanently delete the note on your phone or delete the voice recording.
A bonus tip is telling yourself how you want to feel and why it is possible to do so. We have the power to change our mindset. It all starts with self-awareness and practice is key.
3. Use Affirmations
One of my favorite ways to create a positive mindset for myself is by using positive affirmations. It feels effortless because once you have them up, all you have to do is mindfully read them and allow yourself to believe them (a.k.a “take them in”).
I am a huge fan of sticky notes, letter boards, and phone lock screens. Anywhere you can add an affirmation you’ll see throughout the day will work. There’s a phone app called “I am – Daily Affirmations” which I highly recommend. It notifies you with affirmations of your choice (they have different categories such as self-love, business, confidence, etc). If you have an iPhone, you can even add a widget that will show you a new affirmation each time you unlock your phone.
You can also write affirmations on a sticky note and place them on your bathroom mirror, on the bottom of your work computer monitor, on your refrigerator, etc.
Some positive affirmations you can use to get started are the following:
- I deserve to live an amazing life!
- Everything always works out for me
- I am worthy of love, happiness and success
- Today will be a great day!
- I am strong, capable and smart
The more positive affirmations you consume, the faster you’ll program yourself to have a positive mindset. After a while, you’ll begin to come up with positive affirmations automatically and hopefully you’ll begin to embody them as well.
4. Visualize
Whenever you’re not having the best day, you can take a minute to check in. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and imagine a positive outcome. The focus should be on feeling the outcome you desire. Use as many senses as possible to “take yourself” to the outcome you’d like to achieve. Visualization has been proven to work by countless scientific studies. Many athletes are known to use this technique to achieve their goals as well, as you can see here. So close your eyes, visualize the positive outcome and feel as if it already happened.
5. Trust
The final tip kinda goes with the previous one. Trust that everything always works out. There is a peace that comes with giving our worries, burdens and fears to a higher power. It’s very liberating to do that although it may feel easier said than done at first. Practice makes perfect though and it’s important to know this is always an available option.
By trusting that everything always works out for you, you’ll naturally develop a positive mindset because with time, your brain will only think of positive outcomes. And once you only think positive thoughts, you’ll be more likely to live a harmonious life!
Anything is possible!
So there you go, I hope you enjoyed these tips and implement them in your life today. You can begin with whichever resonated with you the most and you’ll quickly feel a difference in your life. Before you know it, you will be on your way to having the mindset you’ve always desired.
Let’s work together!
- If you’re really ready to create the life you want
- If you want to increase your happiness and feel more confident in who you are
- If you want to trust yourself more and live on purpose
I can help you! Schedule your clarity call to work with me HERE.
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