How to Be a Happier, More Positive Person

What is a positive outlook? It takes work to develop the positive outlook, but it has both short term and long-term benefits. 

Optimistic, positive people have better health outcomes, career success, and with higher motivation and performance. 

It’s not true that we’re either optimistic or pessimistic person. Positivity is a learned behavior, and it’s not just something we’re born with. 

Learning To Be Positivity

Positivity is an outlook you can learn to do and build a habit for it.

The first thing you need to do is monitor your thoughts and determine when you’re being positive and the times, you’re less positive. Knowing how to you react to things and determining if they are the reaction, you want or not. It will help you pinpoint the areas you struggle with. 

The second thing is a mindset shift. You retrain your brain to respond differently. This involves taking ownership of your thoughts and knowing that not every thought that is something you have to believe or act on.

5 Ways to activate a Positive Attitude

1. Say three things you’re grateful for – gratitude immediately makes us feel happier. Focus on a few things that you love and are grateful for. Say them out loud and say thank you for them. 
2. Spend time outside or move your body – starting the day with a morning walk or just stretching your body will give you an immediate boost. 
3. Say some positive affirmations – hype yourself up and work on your self-worth at the same time. 
4. Focus on your breathing or meditate – allow yourself some quiet time will help you still your mind and have a centered attitude for the day.
5. Ask yourself what great/exciting/amazing things you’ll do today – get excited for the day! What great things do you want to do? What fun is there to be had today? Allow yourself to feel excited even about the small things. 

Do any and all of these things on a daily basis; before checking your phone, email, or social media. 

What to Do When You Don’t Feel Positive

We all have times we’ll struggle with feeling positive. Here are some methods to help you through these times. 

1. Remember it’s not you – it’s so easy to feel like we’re frauds or big failures when that’s just not true! You are not the cause of everything going wrong. Try to remember that it’s the circumstances and not you. 
2. Remember it’s not as big as it seems – we often blow things out of proportion and feel like everything is ruined. Try to remember that what you’re dealing with is probably not as big as it seems. 
3. Remember it won’t last forever – very few things in our lives, and especially things that go wrong, are permanent. Remind yourself that even if it’s bad now, it will get better.