Everyone knows that positive thinking is good for your outlook. But did you know it’s also good for your mental and physical health? Once you know the benefits, you’ll be ready to learn how to practice positive thinking every day.
How to Practice Positive Thinking
When trying to create an intentionally peaceful life for yourself, most people will advise you to focus on developing a positive mindset. Changing your perspective might not feel like the right priority, but believe it or not, being a positive thinker can have a natural effect on your mental and physical health. Research shows that those who actively practice positive thinking are better at navigating stressful situations, tend to have fewer issues with depression and anxiety, and even have better overall physical health.
Focusing on the bright side of things can improve your life, but sometimes that’s easier said than done. Can you learn how to practice positive thinking? Follow these tips from the experts, and you’ll be on your way before you know it.
Reduce Your Negative Thoughts
Unsurprisingly, the first step to thinking more positively is looking for ways to reduce your negative thinking patterns. Approaching life from a negative mindset tends to warp our actions and expectations toward pessimism. You may not think you’re a pessimist, but if any of these thinking patterns sound familiar, it’s time for a reset:
- If you frequently catastrophize situations by assuming the worst will happen, no matter what
- If you internalize bad events and blame yourself for them, even when that is illogical or demonstrably untrue
- If you’re a black-and-white thinker who sees events as positive or negative without a middle ground
- If you “should” yourself after events and interactions by focusing on what you could have, or should have, done instead
If reading this list made you realize that you may have a negative mindset problem, don’t be hard on yourself. Negative thinking is a self-protective mindset many develop to avoid difficult situations and conflict. The problem is that if you can’t turn it off, it will affect your life negatively. So, how can you learn to turn it off?
Challenge Yourself to Think Positively
Learning to practice positive thinking may sound challenging, but it’s like building any other good habit. Once you’re able to identify your negative thoughts, you can practice replacing them with positive thinking:
- Practice positive self-talk. If you notice yourself blaming yourself or being hard on yourself for a particular situation, stop and reflect. Take some time to affirm your good intentions and remind yourself of the good things about yourself.
- Identify areas of life that you tend to be negative about, and challenge yourself to think positively about them. If you look hard, you can find an upside to every negative situation. You don’t have to ignore the bad parts, but looking for the good parts will help you avoid all-or-nothing thinking.
- Seek humor in difficult situations. Humor can help us reframe adverse events and process them without feeling stressed.
- Go out of your way to spend time with positive people. If you know someone who always has a smile, the odds are good they’re experienced at cultivating positivity. The more time you spend with positive people, the more you learn from them.
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It may sound odd, but positive thinking is one of the keys to a healthy body and mind. Are you ready to start practicing positive thinking in your everyday life?
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