10 Minute Hack To Be A Positive Thinker

Having the ability to think positively, makes you a happier person. And it makes you someone people want to be around. Positive people achieve their goals. Do you think anyone ever launched a successful business or got into office being negative? Hell, even Trump is a pretty positive guy in spite of all the negative shit he says. I think. I don’t follow him on twitter. But if you are struggling to keep a positive outlook, don’t worry, you CAN become a positive person. Work on it right now. Go ahead and tell yourself, honestly, that you can do this. Its possible. I’m, now, naturally a very positive and optimistic person. But I wasn’t always. It took work and growth. I’m hoping I can help you out with these tips!

1. Hear Yourself Talk Out Loud and to Yourself. Listen to yourself as you speak out loud. Listen to those inner words too. Reject negative self-talk. It gets you no-where. Analyze your thoughts. Why am I thinking this? How does this sound? Is this even really true in reality? Are my emotions controlling this negative thought more than I realize? And that inner talk. We wouldn’t talk to other people the way we talk to ourselves. And this needs to change. Tell yourself you love yourself right now damn it! Say it. You should love yourself. You are working on being a better person, and a lot of people don’t take time to do that. It’s an incredible thing.

2. Make a Conscious Effort to Catch Yourself Saying and Thinking Negative Things, and then Generate a Positive Counter. Tell yourself you aren’t a negative person. You might have bad habits. But you aren’t a negative person. When you hear yourself being negative, come up with something positive that cancels out that negative thing. “Wow, my dog pooped in the house twice today even though I walked him. He is a dumb idiot, and probably mentally handicapped.” NO. “My dog is so sweet to me, its sad he poops in the house because he came from a rough home.” YES. “That lady was such a bitch to me, I should call her manager so she gets fired.” NO. “Wow, that woman must have been having a really bad day. I’ll pray for her later.” YES.

3. Learn about Cognitive Distortions and Start Recognizing Them. This is what my friend calls “stinkin’ thinkin’”. Cognitive distortions are faulty thought patterns that are not based in fact. Cognitive-behavioral therapists teach their clients how to overcome these to change as a person.

a) Emotional Reasoning: We believe that what we feel, must automatically be true. I feel like my blog sucks. My blog must suck. Not true though! I feel like my friend doesn’t want to spend time with me. My friend must not want to spend time with me. Not true though! More Info.

b) Personalization. We tend to believe that everything others do or say, is somehow directly related to us in some way. In reality, we just aren’t that important. My friend and my other friend went out together and didn’t ask me to go. They don’t like me very much or like each other more. Not true! They are individual living creatures independent of you. The situation has nothing to do with you. It is also when we see ourselves as the cause of some external event that has nothing to do with you. I spoke in a meeting, and then some guy walked out. What I said was so dumb or bad it made him leave. Not true! He totally just had to tinkle.

Ok, this is sad. But I couldn't FIND other images. I tried.

c) Catastrophizing. Catastrophizing is two-fold. One, you predict a negative outcome. And two, you believe that if this negative outcome were to happen, it would be a catastrophe. You’re going on a first date and you are super pumped. But you are already so worried its going to fail though. He’s going to have to know I’m a college drop out, and he’s in graduate school, he’ll probably leave. And I like him so much already, if this doesn’t work out I don’t know what I’ll do! Even if it didn’t work out for some reason, it wouldn’t be the end of the world you are making it out to be. More Info.

See the harm catastrophizing can do!

d)Polarized or “black and white” Thinking. When something is either “all good” or all bad” or “all this” or “all that”. Terms like “Always," “impossible," “ruined,” “never," “perfect," “terrible” and “disastrous", are things you have to watch out for. Like that person you were driving behind for miles going 15 miles below the speed limit who wouldn’t let you pass. They were the worse driver in the world! Ever! Not just a bad driver, but the worst one ever! Not true! More info.

e) The word “Should”. GET RID OF IT! Should is when we tell ourselves we need to be someone we are not currently. Its not healthy. “I should lose weight” NO. “If I exercise and diet, I will lose weight.” YES. Good Info.

f) Filter Thinking. This is when we focus exclusively on the negative aspects of a situation or thing, and disregard all the positive. We went for a walk in the park, but thirty minutes in, it rained. So it was ruined. The whole experience is now a bad one. Because it rained. What about the conversation on the car ride there? How about the time before it rained, what good happened? OR. Wow, I got one low rating on my job evaluation. I’m lousy at my job. Its killing me to write these sentences. More Info.

So catch these. Examine the real evidence. Make positive talk. Think in shades of grey. And re-attribute responsibility.

4. Find Meaning in Your Life. Your passions. Do things you love. Get hobbies. Really. Get healthy. Set goals for yourself. Especially small ones. Set small goals for life and daily. This lets you be positive because you reach milestones and accomplish things, and you feel good, and think positive thoughts. Learn to love yourself.

5. Start Actively Trying to Say More Positive Things about Yourself, Others, and the World Around You. Start each day with something good about yourself, and end each day with something good about the day. Compliment people, genuinely. Make a conscious hard effort to do this now, and in a couple weeks, it will be a natural habit.

6. Minimalize negative people and find/stick to the positive ones. Stick with the winners as they say. Find people that add TRUE value to your life. People who help you with your goals, share your passions, keep you in good energy, motivate you. We become like the 5 people we are around most. Who is rubbing off on you? Who do you need to spend less time with? More time?

True dat.

7. Journal positively. Look up journal starters. Practice positive thinking in writing, and it will become a reality. Write daily affirmations. Write positive lists. Like "things I love" "my goals" or "10 things that went right today". Write about why you love yourself. Write about positive changes you are trying to make.

Beautiful!

Ok, these are kind of silly good thoughts, but you get the point.

8. Gratitude Lists. Daily. Write down ten things a day that you are grateful for. I did this for about 6 months, and it changed my mindset and attitude. Try to not repeat things, and come up with new ones. It can be silly things, like, I am grateful for fuzzy socks. Or more serious, like that I am grateful I have a nice space to live in. Try to make them honest, and have them reflect your day.

9. Consider Meditation and Practice Mindfulness. Just start off with two minutes of meditation a day. It will work wonders. There are lots of great apps for it. Mindfulness is about being present, and being aware of the present.

Here are some links.

Mediatation

https://zenhabits.net/meditation-guide/

https://theconsciouslife.com/how-to-meditate-a-guide-for-beginners.htm

Mindfulness

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/improve-your-life-7-reasons-and-5-ways-to-be-mindful/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/habits-mindful-people_n_5186510.html

10. Really take care and notice of the Mental Images and Words You Let In to Your Mind. Shows you watch. Blogs you follow. Tweets you follow. All of that. That effects how you think.

Or, what your mind consumes.

And prayer works miraculously for me. I always have someone to share my gratitude with, and when I can’t be positive anymore, I have this giant universal energy I can lean back on. If you don’t have spiritual faith and aren’t interested, have faith in yourself.