If you’ve been told ‘just think positive’ you probably know how hard this advice can be to take. I’ve worked with thousands of people who want to be more confident and more positive. There are five things I know can help you ‘think positive’ in an easy and natural way.
When you hit problems, shift into solution-finding mode
I’m a big fan of being solution focussed. This means taking your attention away from the problem and looking for ways to solve it. There are five principles to keep in mind here:
- Resist asking ‘why’
- Ask ‘how can I solve this?’
- Focus on coming up with as many potential options as you can
- Be creative.
- Turn off logic while you brainstorm.
Taking this approach will program your unconscious mind to generate lots of ways of sorting out the problem. The more often you take a solution focussed approach, the easier it becomes to think this way.
List five things you are grateful for every day
Research in positive psychology has shown that people who experience gratitude every day are happier and more content with their lives. If you want to be a positive thinker, being content and grateful will help you to find positive ways of using your mind. Even you’re faced with lots of problems, it is possible to find things to be grateful for. So start to focus on these. Learn more in my free podcast Think Positive: 5 Steps You Can Take.
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Spend time with positive people
The people you spend time with greatly impact the way you feel. So quit having energy vampires around you and make sure you spend time with positive people each day.
Remember that it’s up to you to decide who you spend time with. If you find that negative people are dragging you down, take a break. Spend time by yourself or, even better, seek out people who have really good attitudes.
Exercise during your lunch break
Positive thinking is much easier when you feel energised and alive. This is why exercise plays such an important role in maintaining a positive mindset. If you find it hard to fit exercise into your busy schedule, make time during your lunch break to fit in a quick walk or even to go to the gym. Find out more in this month’s free podcast Think Positive: 5 Steps You Can Take.
Exercising three times a week will not only make you a more positive thinker, it will also improve your levels of fitness and wellbeing. So make a commitment to take up the exercise habit next week.
First thing each morning, mentally rehearse having a brilliant day
This technique is based on the NLP process ‘Future Pacing’. It works by setting up neurological pathways that your mind can follow on automatic pilot. As soon as you open your eyes, take a moment to think through how you would like your day to be. Let yourself imagine, in vivid detail, what the perfect day will look like, sound like and feel like. The more vivid the pictures, sounds and feelings that you create in your brain, the stronger the links will be for your mind to follow. To learn more about this powerful technique enrol in my workshop Creating Success with NLP. You can download course details here.
As you can see, thinking positive is just a matter of targetting your thinking process to be focussed on the things that make you feel good. Keep this list of tips in front of you, so you remember to use it each and every day. I guarantee you’ll think positively more automatically and more easily within a week.
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About the author of this article
A passionate advocate for women’s development, Eleanor Shakiba is known by her clients as ‘the glass ceiling smasher.’ She has been running training and coaching sessions for women in high intellect professions since 1994. Eleanor’s qualifications include degrees and diplomas in Social Anthropology, Applied Psychology, Adult Education and Neuro Linguistic Programming.