10 Steps to Start Thinking Positively
by Greg Mee
Ever find yourself dwelling on "what is going wrong ...?" Thinking about the bad stuff, what we did wrong, the mistakes that we made... all of those thoughts are habits. It's too easy for many of us to fall into that habit of negative thinking. It becomes easy to dwell of what we said or did wrong, instead of what we did right.
On the other hand, when we "do it right" how often to we give ourselves a pat on the back? We are our own worst critics, but the only value in that is the headache we get, that we think we deserve, from constantly whacking ourselves. Other people will tell us "good job," why can't we tell ourselves that? Heck, we'll tell THEM "good job," but say that to ourselves? It just doesn't feel right, right?
In the interest of starting down that path of "learning to think in a positive manner" here are ten steps to thinking positively.
1 - Focus on where you want to go, not where you've been. We've all made mistakes. Now it's time to think about what we want to do to take the next step forward. Set small, positive goals, think about them, and accomplish them.
2 - Learn to forgive yourself and others. Most of us are wherever we are in life because we put ourselves there. We all make bad choices from time to time, and now it's time to let that go. It's called forgiveness and we really can forgive ourselves for bad choices. The next step is to move forward and consistently work to make better choices.
3 - If the glass is half full, then fill it. Optimists are right at least as often as pessimists and have a lot more fun. There's nothing wrong with taking that half-full glass and filling it the rest of the way.
4 - Look for positive role models. We all need to find someone who inspires us. Maybe that person is someone who overcame a major handicap or maybe it's just someone who put one foot in front of the other, year after year, and came out very nicely in the end. Or maybe it's someone who just worked his or her pants off and won the big prize. Let that person be an inspiration.
5 - Change your atmosphere. Instead of listening to the news all the time put on a CD with a good motivational speaker or uplifting music. Most of the news is repeated many times a day and it's not intended to make us feel good.
6 - Headlines (including news stories) are designed to surprise, shock, and otherwise yank you into a story. Disaster and scandal sell, or so the publishers think. Read something uplifting instead. Visit your bookstore or library and make note of all the motivational type books they have available. Get one that feels right and read it.
7 - Read something positive everyday, preferably when you get up and right before you go to bed. Then think about it, in a positive way. Grab that book you picked up in step 6 and read it for 15 minutes morning and evening for 30 days.
8 - Visualize good things happening. It's too easy to visualize bad things happening. Bills, what the other person will say, "what if this happens..." and so on. Visualize the good thing happening. Visualize the project going well (whether it's homework or that next presentation) and people telling you that it was "good stuff!"
9 - Mistakes are something to learn from, not a bat to whack ourselves with. We all make mistakes, it's how we use them to move on that makes us better. So what if we "blew it" on the last effort, there is always a next time and we can always learn from what happened and do things differently the next time. That's how we improve.
10 - Dreamboarding is the practice of placing images of "what you want out of life" on a piece of poster-board and placing it where you can see it. Clip quotes and photos that resonate with you and where you want to be and place them on your board. Only use the images that you want, not what anyone else wants. As a reminder of where you want to take yourself and what you want to have. Some people have found dream-boarding to be very powerful.
Thinking in a positive manner is as much a habit as is thinking in a negative manner. The reason negative thinking is so easy is because we've had so much practice with it. Practice the positive thinking tips to overcome the bad habits and replace them with new ones.
On the other hand, when we "do it right" how often to we give ourselves a pat on the back? We are our own worst critics, but the only value in that is the headache we get, that we think we deserve, from constantly whacking ourselves. Other people will tell us "good job," why can't we tell ourselves that? Heck, we'll tell THEM "good job," but say that to ourselves? It just doesn't feel right, right?
In the interest of starting down that path of "learning to think in a positive manner" here are ten steps to thinking positively.
1 - Focus on where you want to go, not where you've been. We've all made mistakes. Now it's time to think about what we want to do to take the next step forward. Set small, positive goals, think about them, and accomplish them.
2 - Learn to forgive yourself and others. Most of us are wherever we are in life because we put ourselves there. We all make bad choices from time to time, and now it's time to let that go. It's called forgiveness and we really can forgive ourselves for bad choices. The next step is to move forward and consistently work to make better choices.
3 - If the glass is half full, then fill it. Optimists are right at least as often as pessimists and have a lot more fun. There's nothing wrong with taking that half-full glass and filling it the rest of the way.
4 - Look for positive role models. We all need to find someone who inspires us. Maybe that person is someone who overcame a major handicap or maybe it's just someone who put one foot in front of the other, year after year, and came out very nicely in the end. Or maybe it's someone who just worked his or her pants off and won the big prize. Let that person be an inspiration.
5 - Change your atmosphere. Instead of listening to the news all the time put on a CD with a good motivational speaker or uplifting music. Most of the news is repeated many times a day and it's not intended to make us feel good.
6 - Headlines (including news stories) are designed to surprise, shock, and otherwise yank you into a story. Disaster and scandal sell, or so the publishers think. Read something uplifting instead. Visit your bookstore or library and make note of all the motivational type books they have available. Get one that feels right and read it.
7 - Read something positive everyday, preferably when you get up and right before you go to bed. Then think about it, in a positive way. Grab that book you picked up in step 6 and read it for 15 minutes morning and evening for 30 days.
8 - Visualize good things happening. It's too easy to visualize bad things happening. Bills, what the other person will say, "what if this happens..." and so on. Visualize the good thing happening. Visualize the project going well (whether it's homework or that next presentation) and people telling you that it was "good stuff!"
9 - Mistakes are something to learn from, not a bat to whack ourselves with. We all make mistakes, it's how we use them to move on that makes us better. So what if we "blew it" on the last effort, there is always a next time and we can always learn from what happened and do things differently the next time. That's how we improve.
10 - Dreamboarding is the practice of placing images of "what you want out of life" on a piece of poster-board and placing it where you can see it. Clip quotes and photos that resonate with you and where you want to be and place them on your board. Only use the images that you want, not what anyone else wants. As a reminder of where you want to take yourself and what you want to have. Some people have found dream-boarding to be very powerful.
Thinking in a positive manner is as much a habit as is thinking in a negative manner. The reason negative thinking is so easy is because we've had so much practice with it. Practice the positive thinking tips to overcome the bad habits and replace them with new ones.
Everyone, from you and me to those awesome Olympic athletes, has a set of habits and these habits either move us forward or hold us back. If we can learn the habits or the successful people, and practice them, then we also will move forward. Here's more on the habit training of successful people, the Olympic athletes.
10 Steps to Start Thinking Positively
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Greg_Mee/10894 10 Steps to Start Thinking Positively
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