7 Tips For Maintaining a Positive Mindset
7 Tips For Maintaining a Positive Mindset
Maintaining a positive mindset in the realm of busy, stressful days can be challenging. But positive thinking is so important for living a happy, healthy lifestyle. Happiness is really just a state of mind. It’s a choice you make to look at the bright side of things and be happy. How you respond to your experiences and things going on around you directly affects how you are feeling. To look and feel healthy and happy requires a positive, healthy mindset.
There was a time in my life when my thoughts were more negative than positive. I worried about everyone and everything. I let my work as a teacher stress me out too much. I wasn’t living with the expectation that good things were coming. I expected to have challenges or for things to go wrong. Getting on my knees in prayer and learning to trust in God’s goodness is how I finally gained peace.
What is the Secret to keeping a Positive Mindset?
The secret to keeping our thoughts positive is emotional and spiritual well-being. It’s important to love ourselves and feel happy about who we are at this moment. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to become better versions of ourselves. It simply means to love yourself where you’re at right now in your journey. It starts with self-love and the belief that you are good and deserve a good life.
Why Does Negativity Threaten a Positive Mindset?
Positive thinking is the ability to consider things in an upbeat, optimistic manner. It means looking at things with a “glass half full” attitude rather than a “glass half empty” attitude. When things are not going as you planned and the day is difficult, it’s easy to let negativity creep in. Negative emotions can easily overwhelm us. This is how negativity can steal your joy.
Have you ever woke up excited about your day and then one thing after another goes wrong? And then you find out a beloved family member is really sick. Your child comes home disappointed because he didn’t get the part he wanted in the school play. Negativity threatens to overtake your mindset and emotions. This is when you must look for the good in difficult situations and choose to stay positive.
A negative attitude can truly affect the quality of your life. Health issues can arise from letting negative feelings dominate us. Negativity can mess with our immune system, cause digestive problems, and add more stress to our lives. It really is important to maintain a positive mindset to insure we feel healthy and happy. Choosing to look for the positives in every situation is beneficial for good health.
7 Tips for Maintaining a Positive Mindset
Maintaining a positive mindset and attitude is something I work on intentionally every day. I’ve been a work in progress for years. Here is a list of my best tips for cultivating and maintaining a positive mindset.
• Tip 1: Start your day with a positive attitude.
When you wake up in the morning tell yourself it’s going to be a great day. Get yourself in a positive frame of mind right from the start! Make an intentional choice every day to choose to be happy no matter what. This helps set your day up for success no matter what comes your way throughout the day. And when your parade gets rained on, look for the rainbow.
• Tip 2: Let go of situations you can’t control.
Our natural tendency is to worry about our families and situations around us. I’ve learned that the only situations I have any control over at all are the ones I am directly responsible for. People get sick, there are deaths, and kids make wrong choices. To worry about my kids and their choices and heartaches are out of my control. I can’t fix their problems. We do our best to teach them and influence them positively, but ultimately they make their own choices and mistakes. I’ve learned I’ve got to “let go and let God” in upsetting situations. I can pray for someone, but then I surrender it over. I can’t let it get me down.
• Tip 3: Practice gratitude every day.
This best way to turn something negative into a positive is to look for something good to be grateful for. There is always a problem that could be worse. There is always a person who is having a more difficult time. I start my day being thankful for my blessings and end my day with gratitude, no matter how difficult the day was. Gratitude evokes positive feelings and emotions. It works to bring more positivity into your life.
• Tip 4: Do not give in to comparison.
We are naturally inclined to look at others and their lives, and compare to our own. Don’t look at your shortcomings and think someone else looks more attractive, or is more talented, or their life is better. You don’t ever know what kind of struggles they may have that you know nothing about. Love yourself for who you are and for the talents and strengths you have.
• Tip 5: Practice saying positive affirmations to yourself.
Negative self-talk can completely derail your efforts to stay positive and happy. Don’t do it. If you catch yourself cutting yourself down for a mistake you’ve made, or being self-critical of your appearance, stop yourself. Instead, tell yourself positive affirmations like, “I am smart. I am capable. I am strong. I am healthy. I am fit. I am beautiful. I am a positive person.” It really works!
• Tip 6: Believe and Persist
Don’t ever stop believing that your life can become better, or that you can achieve your dreams. Have faith that good things are coming. Keep working for your dreams and goals. Don’t let discouragement get you down. Persist in moving forward no matter how many setbacks you’ve had. Think positively and believe in yourself, your talents, and imagine the wonderful possibilities ahead for you!
• Tip 7: Be spiritually grounded.
I’ve learned when negative things happen in my life, my faith is what sustains me. God gives me my strength, peace, and joy. As I said earlier, if there is a situation out of my control, I put it in the hands of the One who is capable and able. Then I don’t worry. I spend some quiet time in prayer and meditation every morning and that helps strengthen my mind and ground me in peace and positivity for the day.
One Last Thing To Remember About Maintaining a Positive Mindset
Keeping a positive attitude is an intentional choice we make every day. It’s more than just looking at the bright side of things. Actually it’s choosing a lifestyle of thinking about things in an optimistic, positive way. It’s a lifestyle of choosing to be happy every day, despite what’s not going the way you want it in your life. Really it’s about maintaining a balance between a happy, healthy mind, healthy body, and healthy soul. They must all be intentionally cared for and nourished. If we can achieve this, we can have a more fulfilled, satisfied, happy life.
I hope you found some value in this post and that these 7 tips for maintaining a positive mindset will help you. You may have tips of your own for maintaining a positive, happy mindset. If you do, please feel free to share in the comments.
