The Power of Positive Thinking: 5 Quick Tips To Align Your Mind

Is “The power of positivity” all just fluff?

Positive thinking

Positive thinking isn’t about standing outside in a tornado, forcing a smile and saying how beautiful the weather is. It is about finding the light on the other side of the storm. It’s training your mind to look for the good, rather than finding every single bad thing that could possibly happen. After some time, looking on the bright side becomes a habit. And guess what? People generally prefer to be around someone who is full of life and light, not a Debbie Downer! Do people leave you feeling happier, or bogged down with negativity?

Escape the cycle of negativity

Have you ever caught yourself in a cycle of negativity? One “bad” thing happens, and suddenly your mind goes downhill fast. Maybe you got a flat tire on the way to work, and your mind starts going down the list of what will happen next, beginning with being late to work, how you’ll miss that big meeting and then you’ll need to stay late to get everything done, etc. Your mind can go down the list of negative outcomes, or you can choose to see the first solution to your current problem, and the solution to the next one on the list. Are you making lists of negative outcomes or positive solutions? Sometimes it seems easier to keep walking in the dark, rather than figuring out how to light the path. Once you turn on the light though, life is so much easier to navigate!

Like attracts like

Negativity

Negative thinking is a breeding ground for attracting others to come on over and start dishing out their worst. It’s true, misery really does love company. Start complaining about something and watch how others start chiming in. This doesn’t mean that you can never be upset or complain, or just share in a difficult time with someone. We all need to vent sometimes. Life gets hard, and when all you can do is break down, have at it and let it all out. Grieving and venting in difficult times is natural and often so relieving. But please, don’t dwell in this place and make it your new home. Give yourself some time to process all the emotions during times of struggle, but also keep your eye aligned with the light. Difficult times won’t last forever. Focus on solutions to bring your mind to a place of positivity.

Positivity

Now like attracts like in the opposite way too! If you can grasp the key points of positive thinking, and make it a habit, you’ll start experiencing more positivity in every area of your life. Doors seem to start opening, you’ll meet the right people at the right time, you may start reading a book that happens to be speaking right to you, things just seem to start aligning in a way that almost feels “lucky”. It’s not luck though. When your mind is aligned in positivity, you create positive experiences, you open the door for positive outcomes effortlessly. Life just flows more freely when you’re connected in positivity with others. I’m always saying that positive thinking=positive results! Try it and see for yourself!

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”

-Wayne Dyer

What are you waiting for?

What do you have to lose? If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past year, it’s that our time here is limited, and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. So why not be happy? Why not seek joy rather than getting lost in a sea of negativity? Live today as fully as you would if you knew you had a limited amount of time left here, as we all do! Start working on these simple habits, add one a day or one a week, or all at once if you’re ready to dive all in. The way to change your life is to do something, change a daily habit. If you choose to change nothing, then nothing will change. Be the person you wish you were, the person you like to be around, the person that brings out the happiness in others. Don’t let people leave you without feeling a little lighter.

Follow these 5 tips to get started on your path to positivity:

1.) Replace negative talk with positive talk:

• Catch yourself, and redirect

Catch yourself when you’re thinking something negative or saying it out loud. If you’re constantly thinking about how horrible your coworker treats you, or how your kid is always behaving badly, or how you wish you looked different, then you need to refocus. You see, when you’re focusing on all the bad, that is all that you’ll see.

As an example, my 5-year-old will hit/pull her sister’s hair when she gets upset at something. Then I’ll think to myself, all this kid does is misbehave! Then I notice all the other ways she’s not behaving that day, focusing on all the bad. When I do that, I tend to overlook anything good that she does. I dismiss how sweet it was of her to comfort the dog when it started thundering, I’ll overlook how she brought us all our shoes when it was time to leave the house, and I won’t even see that hug she gave her sister for no reason. When you focus on negativity, you’ll see and get more negativity. It’s a self-fulfilling pathway.

• Practice makes perfect, and a habit

Practice replacing negative words with positive ones. Next time you’re running late for work, instead of saying “Sorry I’m late, I’ve had an awful morning” try saying, “Thanks for waiting for me and being so understanding.” Instead of talking about how bad your current situation is, find one good thing to focus on, and talk about that. Switch from commenting on every bad behavior you notice from your child (not that those shouldn’t be addressed, they should!) and start affirming every positive thing they do, and watch how they respond! When you start telling someone how great they do something, it makes them want to continue and do it more. We all crave praise and acceptance, and want to have people like us, whether you realize it or not! When you focus on positivity, you’ll see and get more positivity.

2.) Self-care:

This can mean a variety of different things to each person. For me, this is adequate sleep! I’ve learned that if I don’t get at least 7 hours of sleep at night, it can affect my mood and ability to think clearly and positively. For you, it may be making sure to eat healthy meals and snacks so you don’t get hangry! Ok, that’s also another of mine! Whatever “self-care” is to you, plan ahead so that you’re setting yourself up for success. If you need to take extra time to meal prep, get it done; if you need to get up early to get a workout in, make it happen; if you need to go to bed a little earlier, do it. Create time to care for yourself, and you’ll be primed to respond best to whatever life throws at you.

3.) Meditate:

Hear me out now! If you’ve never meditated before, check out a few simple meditation techniques. Even if you just start out with 5 minutes a day, try it for a month and see how it makes you feel! I practice transcendental meditation for 20 minutes twice daily, and it’s now a necessary part of my self-care. I highly recommend adding a time for meditation, or a time of prayer, quiet time, whichever you’d like to call it! Taking time to still and quiet the mind is essential.

4.) YOU control your thoughts:

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that others determine our happiness. Nobody has the power to control your thoughts, even though they may push all your buttons! Only you choose how you’ll respond to the outside world. Just because your significant other is in a bad mood, doesn’t mean that you have to be! You can choose to detach yourself from negative situations. It goes hand in hand that you also can’t change how someone else thinks. You only have control over your thoughts and how you respond to the negativity of others. Don’t let anyone pull you into their mud without your permission. You don’t have to argue back, you don’t have to agree with negative statements, and you definitely don’t have to internalize anything someone else says. Choose to find the light.

5.) Do something kind:

Go out of your way to do something kind for someone each day. You may be thinking, I do kind things all the time! I work, do dishes, laundry, take out the trash, cook, take care of kids, whatever it may be that you do each day! Those daily things you’re doing are important too, but I’m talking about doing something you wouldn’t normally do during your day. Go out of your way and give someone a compliment, buy coffee for the person behind you at Starbucks, give someone a hug that’s going through a hard time. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, just step slightly outside of your comfort zone to bring a smile to someone else. Bringing joy to someone else not only increases happiness in them but in you as well.