Think positive – we’ve all heard it being said but what does it mean and can it be developed? The answer is yes. Positive thinking can bring you success in almost anything you can think of and it is something that can be gained through practice over time.
Positive thinking is not really about the absence of negative thoughts, it is the power to manage those negative thoughts. Life is quite challenging and the effects of daily struggles can have a huge bearing on the brain. You stand to gain a lot when you change your mental outlook. Most people want to think less negatively but they just don’t know how to do it. Here are a few ideas you can use to train your brain to think more positively.
Give Yourself Positive Affirmations
Little things like appreciating yourself for doing tasks can have immensely positive ramifications on the brain. The brain is full of receptors that receive chemical signals. The signals sent to the brain thus determine the response that will come from the brain. By embracing a habit of affirming positive thoughts, we are practically strengthening the brain to do that by itself in future. This is indeed the first and most important step when you want to think less negative thoughts. When it comes to training your brain to respond better, everything starts and ends with you. If you can have a positive idea of you, then all other things will fall into place. Believe you are strong and tell yourself so. Think of times when you were able to overcome a challenge and embrace the same energy into your current tasks.[bctt tweet=”If you want to have positive responses, you need to feed your brain with positive thoughts.” username=”JerryKennard”]
Embrace Positive Actions
In addition to positive affirmations, actively embracing positive actions can go a long way in helping you think more positively. This step is the second most important on the journey you need to take in order to wire your brain towards positivity. Giving yourself positive affirmations is merely a step which must be followed by action. Actions make the difference between potential and success. You might have the capability to do something but without trying it you can never really achieve it. A positive action, like reacting with calm in a difficult situation, is important as it can help you figure out a solution. Your brain gets positive signals every time you take the time to compose yourself and think about a plan. Even if you might not get the solution to a problem immediately, the mere act of trying to engage your brain is good enough to steer your thoughts into the right direction. In addition to this, you need to also embrace positive speech. If you keep diaries, try to note down your successes more than your shortcomings.
Face Your Problems
Problems can bring us down. Because of that facing some problems is difficult and it becomes easy to skirt around the issue or avoid it altogether. The secret to avoiding negative thoughts is to face an impending issue as soon as possible. When you do that, you eliminate the time that would have spent worrying about it. Sometimes, it is better to stop thinking and get into action especially when you know that overthinking might lead to negativity. You also need to be proactive if you find yourself constantly facing problems and thinking negatively as a result. Try to get to the root causes of your problem and you will find a solution to your negative thoughts. Solutions are only possible when you have an idea of the problem.
Stick To a Cause
Whether it’s exercising, food, or reading, ensure that you get your mind to have discipline. If you can be able to follow through with a routine the first time, then subsequent times become much easier. A routine soon becomes a habit and within no time, your brain adapts to your new life. An uncommitted brain can harbour all sorts of negative thoughts. Having something exciting to look up to keeps your mind engaged and in a positive mood. Physical discipline has been proven to be essential to developing mental discipline. You can try to do things differently each time in order to keep your routines more lively and bearable. By embracing exciting routines, you are able to train your mind to focus on deeds and thus eliminate any chance of negative thoughts.
Stop Fearing Failure
Finally, you need to have a different view of failure. Most times, we fall into negative thoughts because of our failures. While failing is in no way a good thing, it is a normal thing. In order to move on and think more positively you need to learn to accept failure. Acceptance is a critical step to encouraging growth. Negative thoughts can quickly become entrenched in your mind and keep you from moving forward. It is easy to see point out the specific mishaps in your actions that could have led to your failure. You can send the right signals to your brain by encouraging yourself that you will avoid such mistakes in future. Recognizing that failure is sometimes unavoidable can thus help your mind cope more easily with it.
There are indeed many more strategies you can use to train your mind to think more positively. Positive strategies like seeing challenges as opportunities to improve yourself can have a great impact on your growth. All in all, your growth and success are determined by the amount of effort you are willing to commit to the self-improvement program. You should, therefore, ensure that you do not take too much time focusing on the negative things. Positive thinking is all about readjusting your focus to the more meaningful and dependable aspects of your life. The more you tune into this direction, the more your brain learns to eliminate negative thoughts from your mind.
This is a Guest Article by David M