There is always a method of achieving every goal you set for yourself.
For a fit and healthy body, you would improve your diet, get enough sleep, and follow a workout program. To start a business, you would study the market, develop your business plan, and look to raise funds.
However, the one common ingredient that will raise your chances of achieving your goals in every area of your life and make your journey more enjoyable is a positive mental attitude.
Regardless of the obstacles you might face on your way, your attitude can be your shield to protect you from giving in along the way.
In this article, you will learn:
- What a positive mental attitude is
- Why it is important to have a positive mental attitude
- How to develop a positive mindset
- How to fast forward to installing your positive mental attitude
What Is A Positive Mental Attitude?
A positive mental attitude is a mindset where you focus on viewing the upside in all situations. It encourages you to think of solutions when facing a problem rather than feeling discouraged.
This concept was first developed in 1937 by Napoleon Hill. In his book “Think and Grow Rich” he established that harnessing a positive mental attitude is one of the essential keys to success.
People who adopt a positive mental attitude are continuously looking for ways to reach their goals and can usually achieve favorable results.
However, don’t mistake this concept for toxic positivity—where you would deny your negative emotions in a difficult situation and pretend to be happy all the time.
People who adopt a positive mental attitude acknowledge their negative emotions along with the positive ones. The key difference, however, is that they consciously choose to focus on the upside of difficult situations. Going by the proverb, “Every cloud has a silver lining.”
Why Is It Important To Have A Positive Mindset?
A positive mental attitude has benefits on both mental and physical levels. Here are two of the major benefits of having a positive mental attitude.
1. Better resilience
Adopting a positive mental attitude teaches you to better handle any challenge that might appear on your way. It pushes you to advance in spite of the adversities.
Having a positive outlook, you would continuously be looking for the solutions and the learnings in any given situation.
2. Increased immunity
Your immune system is one of the things that can be influenced by your state of mind.
A study was conducted to compare two groups of people; positive optimistic thinkers and pessimistic thinkers. The findings showed that the group that had a positive attitude had a stronger immune response.
How To Develop A Positive Mental Attitude With Six Powerful Practices
The first and most important thing to know about having a positive mental attitude is that it is completely up to you to decide whether you want to adopt it or not.
Your attitude is how you choose to react to people and events around you. It has nothing to do with anything external to you.
Here, we put together six powerful practices that will help you become more positive.
1. Know the power of your words
If you pay close attention, you can differentiate between a positive person and a negative person from their choice of words.
Someone who is often using words such as, “I can’t,” “This is a disaster,” “It’s impossible” is probably someone who does not really have a positive attitude.
You might think, “These are just words,” but in fact, the words you say have an enormous effect on your life.
Marisa Peer, a world-renowned expert therapist, shares her expertise on the rules of the mind and states: “Your every thought and word form a blueprint that your mind and body work to make your reality.”
Regardless of whether they are positive or negative, the things you say will manifest in your life sooner or later.
Take advantage of this knowledge starting today by consciously choosing to minimize negative words in your speech.
Ask your friends to remind you when they hear you using negative and discouraging words.
Instead, make it a point to use strong, positive words often during your day.
Make a list of empowering words and phrases—the way you want to be or feel. Practice using them in your everyday life. Make these words and phrases become natural to you.
Here are a few examples of powerful positive phrases you can adopt:
- “I am capable of overcoming any challenge that comes my way.”
- “Today, I am brimming with energy and overflowing with joy.”
- “My body is healthy, strong, and intelligent.”
2. Learn from the adversities
Staying positive might feel natural when you are having a good day—when you are in a great mood and everything is going your way without you even trying.
However, you might wonder how someone can be positive when facing a challenging situation. For example, if you received bad news, made a loss in your business, or had a fight with your spouse.
The answer is, always look for the silver lining and make the best out of any situation you find yourself in.
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”― Dr. Wayne Dyer
What might seem to you to be a crisis, can be a necessary redirection of the course of events.
For example, instead of thinking of your business loss as a catastrophe, think of it as a lesson. Untangle the problem and try to understand what went wrong and how can you do things differently next time.
A good place to start practicing changing your perspective and thinking positively is in daily situations that would usually set you off.
For example, think of the time you spend waiting in traffic as a chance to relax and enjoy music on your way to work. If you get sick and you can’t go to work, think of it as taking time off and resting your body so that you go back stronger.
3. Love yourself
Self-love is important and fundamental to cultivating a positive mental attitude. The easiest way to know if you are loving yourself is by noticing what you say to yourself all the time—your inner dialogue.
Like we mentioned earlier: the words we say matter—especially the ones we say in our heads.
“The words you hear shape you, but the most important words you hear in your entire life are the words you say to yourself.”—Marisa Peer
If you pay attention to your inner dialogue and find that you tend to harshly criticize and doubt yourself, know that that is the voice of your inner critic.
The inner critic is a voice that seeks to draw your attention to your flaws and puts you down. It would tell you things such as, “You are not smart enough to do this,” “You don’t know what you’re doing,” “You are not competent enough to get that promotion.”
You might think, “Why would anyone do that to themselves?” The truth is, this voice is not your voice. Your inner critic is a voice that you adopted based on a negative experience that caused you emotional distress.
Unfortunately, because of the emotional reaction you had to the experience and the constant repetition of the idea in your head, the voice turns into a belief. In fact, a limiting belief, because it is hindering you from progressing in life and attaining the things you want.
The good news is that you can talk back to your inner critic, and you can tell your mind what you choose to believe instead.
“What you present to your mind, your mind will present back to you.”—Marisa Peer
How to be kinder to yourself
Now that you understand how this voice came about, you can use the same method to consciously create your positive empowering and loving beliefs.
When you catch yourself saying discouraging statements to yourself, recognize that this is your inner critic and change the inner dialogue to a positive, encouraging one.
You can say things such as, “I might have never done this before, but I will try,” “I am good enough,” and, “I can overcome any challenge that comes my way.”
4. Be grateful
Gratitude not only strengthens your immune system and lowers stress levels, it also helps you to have a positive mindset.
Practicing gratitude teaches you to focus on the positive things in your life.
Try listing three things that you are grateful for every evening. It could be something as simple as having a bed to sleep on or having hot water in your shower in the morning.
Another exercise that will help you strengthen your gratitude muscle is to find things to appreciate throughout your day.
When something good happens during your day, no matter how small, take a moment to acknowledge it and remind yourself to be grateful for it.
Take any small positive incident that crosses your path as an opportunity to let positivity fill your moment. It could be as simple as finding a free parking spot right in front of the door of your destination. Or accidentally finding a five-dollar bill on the floor.
If you’re thinking:
“What if nothing is going my way right now? I can’t think of anything to be grateful for.”
That is a good reason for you to start practicing gratitude; because you may be unknowingly taking things for granted.
Rest assured, if you give your practice of gratitude a little nudge, you will find that there is plenty to be grateful for.
5. Practice mindfulness
Given the busy and fast-paced lives we live, it is difficult to be aware of the many thoughts that go through our minds throughout the day.
However, in practicing mindfulness, you learn to separate yourself from your thoughts.
As a result, you become better at catching negative ideas when they pop up. Then you can consciously choose to shift your focus away from negativity and towards what is positive.
One way of practicing mindfulness is through meditation. Marisa Peer, celebrity therapist and the founder of Rapid Transformation Therapy®, has created a free powerful meditation that you can try now.
Another way to practice mindfulness is by trying to solely focus on one single task at any given time. For example, eating, walking, or speaking with somebody. Be present and try to give the moment your complete attention and full awareness.
Use your senses to connect to the present moment by asking yourself any of these questions:
- What am I hearing right now?
Someone talking, a song on the radio, street noise, etc…
- What am I seeing?
The window, my computer, a table, a sign, etc…
- What/How am I feeling?
Cold, warm, perhaps even uncomfortable in my seat, etc…
- What am I smelling?
My perfume, the soap on my hands, the flowers in the room, etc…
- What am I tasting?
Tea, coffee, a fruit, the snack I just ate, etc…
6. Surround yourself with positive people
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”— Jim Rohn
We are all influenced—positively or negatively—by our friends and the people we spend most of our time with. Therefore, it is essential to surround yourself with friends who will support your goal of embracing a positive mental attitude.
When you are having a conversation or sharing your thoughts with positive people, they will probably respond by sharing their positive thoughts and perspectives. This can help you reaffirm your positive mental attitude.
In addition, if you were facing a difficult situation and were at risk of being dragged down by negative thoughts, positive people around you could help lift you up and get you back on track.
Surrounding yourself with positive people creates an encouraging environment for you to exercise all the practices shared previously.
So, list the people you spend most of your time with, and try to assess the influence each one has on you.
Avoid people who put you down, whine and complain all the time, and always find something negative to point out in every story.
Instead, seek out people who show positivity in their speech and actions.
Fast Forward To Your Positive Mindset
By now, you should have a good idea of the practices that will shift your mental attitude to a more positive one.
After adopting these practices for some time, you will gradually begin to feel the change in your attitude and be well on your way to achieving the success you always wanted.
There is a faster and shorter route to changing your attitude and reaping the benefits of adopting a positive mental attitude.
From her extended three-decade experience as a therapist, Marisa Peer has created a fast and effective way to help people shift their beliefs and mindsets through self-hypnosis audio programs.
Everything we do, including the way we behave, is a direct output of our beliefs. This is true whether we are conscious of the belief or not.
Marisa’s hypnosis audios are designed to change the conscious and subconscious limiting beliefs that are weighing you down so you can thrive and flourish.
In Marisa’s Hypnosis Abundance Bundle, she includes hypnosis audios to cover the three most important areas to help you be more positive and live the life you want.
You can boost your confidence and self-esteem, feel more lovable than you ever did, and attract and keep wealth.
Listening to the hypnosis audios in the Abundance Bundle will attract limitless abundance into your life.
Dissolve all the negative beliefs in your mind now and see the world in a new light.
You can also consider listening to a podcast. Why not check out Marisa Peer’s Top Ten list for self-help podcasts, and find something great to settle in to listen to.
