What often comes to your mind when you are about to board an airplane?
“What if it’s going to crash!”
What often comes to your mind before you enter into a business venture?
“What if it doesn’t make money!”
Whether we admit it or not, we are quicker to think of the negative rather than of the positive.
Being a negative thinker can be a bad habit. Because it is a habit, it will be difficult to think positively about life especially if we were not taught how to be positive, and if we grew up surrounded by negative people.
The question is, how can you be a positive thinker when everything around you influences you to always be negative?
10 PRACTICAL TIPS TO STAY POSITIVE
TIP #1: SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE
It is good to have many friends, but choose your circle of friends. These are the people whom you will be hanging out with more often. As the saying goes “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”. If we allow ourselves to be surrounded by people who do nothing but criticize, are ungrateful, and pessimistic, it won’t be long until you too will find yourself doing the same thing. Negativism is highly contagious!
Choose people who are supportive and positive. Exposing yourself to these types of people will help you think and act positively.
TIP #2: ALWAYS THINK THAT THE GLASS IS HALF FULL, AND NOT HALF EMPTY
Life is like a rollercoaster ride, with ups and downs. Life is not going to always be a bed of roses.
Sometimes it will be a bed of thorns! But whatever happens in your life, you have to always think that all of these have a purpose, too. You may not be able to see the bigger picture now, but some day you will realize that each and every experience you have gone through is for the better, not for the worse. If you are having a bad day, then force yourself to think instead of the good things that have happened that day.
For instance, if you got mugged, be thankful instead that only material things were taken from you and not your life. If your business has gone bankrupt, be thankful that you only lost money, because that can be earned back. The bottomline is that it is all about focusing on the brighter side of life and not on the darker side.
Life is all about seasons: sometimes you get rain, sometimes you get sunshine, while other times you get wind. Whatever season it is, remember that it will soon pass.
TIP #3: SET ASIDE A ‘ME’ TIME
Maybe we just need to relax and slow down. Whenever we are stressed and busy, this is most often the time when we are not able to see the good side of life. Try to take a leisurely walk in the park, take up biking to the mountainside, listen to your favorites, go fishing, sit in a cozy corner and reflect and other things you can do to relax. We all can benefit from some time to escape from reality and become lost within our own train of thoughts.
THINK. REFLECT. APPLY.
So, are you a negative thinker or a positive thinker?
What do you plan to do to become more positive?
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