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Being positive can be a lot more difficult than we think. We usually don’t give ourselves enough credit for remaining positive through difficult times; not realizing that it’s a difficult task for many. But it’s not something that everyone can’t do. Anyone can lift their spirits with a few positive thinking exercises.
To stay positive and not give yourself a hard time, you must make peace with the past. You must forgive yourself and move forward. Go easy on yourself because the world doesn’t have to be as difficult as you make it out to be. Sure, it can get difficult for the most part, but once you learn to give yourself a break, you’ll be a lot more optimistic.
These aren’t the only ways to remain positive throughout the day. It might not seem as important for some but believe me, once you know how to lift your spirits and be happy throughout the day, you will not be looking back. This is why I’ve put together a list of positive thinking exercises for you to get a better hold of your life.
Why Do We Have Negative Thoughts?
It’s quite often that we find ourselves dwelling on negative thoughts and emotions. You find yourself pessimistic instead of being optimistic at most times. And that’s perfectly normal. It’s just because there have been instances in our lives that are making us feel this way. It could be bad memory or childhood trauma that might cause us to feel that way.
In such cases, you might feel as if it’s impossible to think positively in most situations and that’s completely wrong. I know it’s never possible to just get rid of all the negative emotions. You will have negative thoughts that overwhelm you from time to time. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on being positive.
With great patience and practice, it’s possible to switch your mood as well as your mind into thinking positively. You can do this once you realize that the negative thoughts are seeping in out of nowhere. This will, in turn, have a significant impact on your life. You will be better off, feeling optimistic about the day and that will surely brighten up your mood in every way.
Why Is It Important to Stay Optimistic?
When you are in a state where all you can think about is negative thoughts, these emotions will affect how you interact with others throughout the day. We all know that we tend to behave rather rudely when we’re not in the best mood. This will have a devastating effect on our friendships, our relationships; both with parents and romantic partners.
All of this will come down to lowering our self-esteem. You’ll end up showing your negative emotions to others and they’ll feel bad; this will cause you even more painful knowing that you’ve somehow hurt the people that you love. And that will cause more problems than you’ll have to deal with later on. So, what’s the point?
We must work on ourselves to be more optimistic. If we stay positive about our lives, the result will be quite fruitful. And why not? Staying positive will help you to march for your goals and achieve them as well. You will receive the most out of life once you know about all the wonderful things it has to offer.
And speaking of self-esteem: being positive will help you to feel better about yourself in more ways than one. You will be able to give yourself a break and start enjoying the little things in life without feeling guilty. At the same time, you will be more open to planning your future and giving new things a try. Along with being more optimistic, you’ll also feel more energized.
Speaking of goals; the only way for us to achieve them while performing at the best of our abilities is consistency. Once you master the art of consistency, there will be nothing holding you back.
And when it comes to any form of relationship, your sense of optimism will show through your behavior. You will give off a positive vibe and be happy most of the day. And as they say, happiness tends to be contagious. So, it’ll be no surprise if you also see them giving off positive vibes as well.
And all of this can be achieved when you figure out all the positive thinking exercises that will work for you as an individual. You will find it a lot easier to stay positive in your everyday life.
Best Ways to Stay Positive
There is not just one way for us to stay positive throughout the day. In most cases, it can be a process that needs patience. But once you learn how to incorporate that in your daily life, you’ll feel amazing and not to mention optimistic.
Believe in your success
In order to be more positive, you must begin by believing in yourself. Once you achieve that, you will understand that you’re worth so much more than you give credit for. Self-care is essential in your journey to optimism. And that will only be possible once you start believing that you’re worth caring for.
Once you start to believe in yourself, you’ll understand that it’s okay even if you fail from time to time. All you need to do now is get yourself back up again and start moving forward no matter what. No matter how many mistakes you make, you can try and try again several times.
All you need to tell yourself is that you’re only human and you’re bound to make mistakes. But if that results in you having negative emotions, you need to believe that you will get over them. Treat those mistakes as lessons and just give your best in whatever you do. But believe in yourself first.
Positive Affirmations
This one is quite crucial. Once you start believing in yourself, practicing positive affirmations will help you to remember all the amazing things in your life. It will remind you of all the things that bring you happiness and thus help you remain more positive in your life.
These are words or sentences that you keep telling yourself that makes you feel great about your life. Let’s stay that you’re struggling with a basic task in your life. For you to pump yourself up, you could try repeatedly saying ‘I can do this!’
So, what happens is that, when you keep telling yourself that you can do a particular task, you will end up being successful in performing that task no matter how difficult it might seem to you at the moment. This is just the result of repeating positive affirmations. And the chances are high that if you keep repeating them, you’ll end up believing them.
Make Peace with Your Past
As I mentioned earlier, it’s no use being hung up on the past. More so if it brings your pain and suffering. When you’re trying to stay positive, it’s usually not a good idea to keep thinking about what you did or could have done in the past. It will just hamper your positive state of mind and cause you more harm than good.
We often think about the things we had done in the past that will not align with how we see ourselves as a person. It could be something that you said to a friend while being upset. Or it could be something that happened to you that left you devastated. Whatever it was, thinking about it will just make you feel angry. Or you can even feel embarrassed about what you did.
So why do through such emotions when you can try to shift your focus on something more positive?
I know it’s a lot easier when we talk about it. But try thinking about it like this: you’re no longer in your past cage. You’ve freed yourself and come this far. Why hurt yourself with the same emotions even though you’re no longer in the same situation?
What you have to do is let go. Let go of it all. Let go of the past, the emotions associated with it, and as well as your current feelings towards it.
You need to tell yourself that there is no way for you to change what has already taken place in your life. At the same time, it’s futile for you to assume that you can somehow change what’s going to happen in the future. What you can do is start living in the present so that you get to enjoy your life to the fullest.
The Mirror
Now, this is a great technique. It might seem silly and you might even be reluctant to do that at first, but why not give it a try? At first, you won’t find it that helpful but once you think about giving it a try, you’ll understand just how easy and helpful it can be.
It’s very simple. All you need to do is get up in the morning and before you do anything else, stand in front of the mirror and look at yourself. Yes, look at yourself thoroughly. Now just imagine that it’s someone that you love. If you already love yourself, then that’s fantastic.
But if you’re someone who struggles with self-love, then you must see yourself as someone you can love selflessly.
Now that we have that out of the way, all you have to do is look at yourself and start saying things that you like about yourself.
It can be anything. Your fashion sense, your taste in music, or even the dress that you’re wearing right then and there. Compliment yourself and make yourself feel good. Tell yourself how great you are and how praiseworthy you can be once you start believing in yourself more.
Confidence is key and you need to put it to use to the best of your abilities. This will boost your self-esteem and how you generally look at yourself as a person. Your mindset will change for the better and you’ll no longer belittle yourself for the littlest things.
And once you achieve doing that, you’ll feel so much more optimistic about your life and will end up doing things that make you feel like you’re at the top of the world.
Take a Breath
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for you to breathe. It may seem like the easiest thing in the world. I mean, of course, we do it every day right? But you may be surprised to know that many of us forget to breathe properly during times of stress.
When we are stressed with negative emotions, we end up forgetting to take a breath and think things through. Proper breathing will help you to stay positive and focused.
So, the next time you feel stressed, take a deep breath. Deeply inhale and exhale. You need to focus on your breathing to clear your head and think properly. you mustn’t let the negative thoughts consume you.
Think rationally during times of stress and negativity. You need to think of positive things that make you feel better. If you find yourself going back to the negative emotions, stop and take a breath. Then come back to the present moment and think about all the wonderful things you have in life. This method is great for shifting your mind to more positivity.
Go easy on yourself
Everyone has their versions and interpretations of a song. When Adele sang ‘Go easy on me I interpreted that as her saying it to herself. So yeah, we should all go easy on ourselves.
There are numerous occasions when we put ourselves down for the simplest of mistakes. We judge ourselves based on the standards created by others. What you need to realize is that there will always be room for improvement. You just need to enter it the moment you fall back down.
You will make mistakes; countless of them to say the least. But that shouldn’t stop you from trying again and again. And most importantly, don’t overexert yourself. Go easy and forgive your mistakes and failures. You can always learn from your mistakes. That itself should be reassuring enough.
Accumulate positive thoughts
We all have things we’re not happy with. Things that make us sad. But on the other hand, we will find things which bring us joy and happiness in our lives. And that’s exactly what you have to do to fill your mind with positive thoughts.
You can always find things in your life that give you peace. Things you can be positive about. Beautiful memories or something tangible that will remind you how amazing your life is. If you tend to forget them often, just take a pen and paper and write them down for your benefit.
If you’re willing to do this every single day, you will feel better and prouder of all yourself for being consistent. So, get that piece of paper and ink and write about all the things that happened that made you proud or happy about your day.
Then go over them again and again. Those positive thoughts will stay with you the entire day and slowly but surely, you’ll start thinking more positively every day.
Gratitude is important
Being grateful and showing gratitude for all the things you have is another step towards positivity. This helps your mind to remember the things that you are grateful for more and hence changes your negative thoughts into something more optimistic.
You can practice gratitude by setting up a time to write down all the things in your life that you’re grateful for. You can be thankful for several things in your amazing life. Be it as simple as the sunset that you experience at the end of the day. It can even be a great day at work or a simple gift that you received from your friend or a family member. Whatever it is that you’re thankful for, write them down at the end of the day.
And then, whenever you’re feeling lost, you can go over them and be thankful for all the amazing things that are going on in your life. Just don’t let the negative thoughts make you feel like it’s the end of the road. Once you realize that you have so much to be grateful for, you’ll learn to act and be more positive in everything you do.
Conclusion
All these might seem like a lot for you to handle right now. But the chances are that once you understand how important it is to be positive in your life, you’ll slowly get to the practice of exercising these positive thoughts.
So that’s all for the positive thinking exercises. I hope this article helped in your journey of finding an optimistic mindset. Thank you for giving it a read. Hope you have an amazing day ahead!