How to Think Positive Every Day
Many of us may have heard of the importance of positivity but
few can really tell why it’s important.
Barbara Fredrickson, a university professor in Psychology,
discovered how negative emotions affect our minds.
In the experiment, participants were asked to
tally some objects they listed. Results showed that participants with negative emotions named
remarkably fewer than those with positive or neutral emotions. The
conclusion is, negative emotions do narrow our mind, forcing us to pick
from limited options. This phenomenon is especially observable
when we are in life-threatening situation, where we have to take immediate
action.
When we are trapped with a reduced number of choices as a result
of emotions coming into play, we make wrong regretful decisions.
So it’s really important to think positive. But… how?
Thousands of articles online teach us how to think positive in
the most clichéd ways possible. You should cheer up, crack a smile, look
on the bright side of life…blah…blah..blah…
Don’t worry! The tips you are going to see below are
nothing like those. We aim to offer some practical and specific tips for you to
start making REAL changes.
Start with your
posture: sit up straight! It’s more than etiquette
While one may think cultivation of positivity always requires
conscious effort, indeed it doesn’t.
Sitting up straight may appear irrelevant to positivity. But a
study reveals the association between posture and positive thoughts.
The result shows that people are more likely to generate
positive thoughts and recall positive memories when they are sitting up
straight.
So, sit up straight right now! Sometimes tiny things in life all
contribute to our well-being without us noticing.
Instead of
news, read something uplifting in the morning
It is common to watch morning news reports. For the sake of
keeping abreast of the latest news. This is definitely good not to block
ourselves off the outside world. But, what news is mostly about?
Car crash. Terrorist attack. Natural disaster. All sorts of
disheartening incidents.
I am not suggesting us not read any news but a trade off. Devote
part of your morning on something more uplifting.
Start our daily confidence programming habit. Instead of news
update, begin our day by reading a chapter of an empowering book. We can also
go for our favorite spiritually boosting and inspirational materials.
List 3 things
you’re grateful for every day
It is simple and easy to do. Try to list at least 3 things we
are grateful for every day. In the end, we won’t realize how much it helps us.
Researches reveal a multitude of benefits in
expressing gratitude on a daily basis. Being grateful is associated with our
well-being. It can also improve relationships and help with emotional maturity.
Gratitude can simply promote happiness.
It’s true that we can always find dissatisfaction in life. Same
to satisfaction. Half-filled and half-empty glass.
It’s actually a piece of cake to find things we can express
gratitude on.
Start of weekend. Cats and dogs outside. Hiking trip cancelled.
Meh!
Well, at least we have a home sheltering us. We even have
Netflix to entertain ourselves.
Or, year review.. NO pay raise. Can it be worse?
You are not sacked, aren’t you? You still have a stable job.
Or even, back to very basic. We are still alive, right? We are
still living in this world of mystery and amazement. We still have lots to
explore. There’s nothing to mourn on.
There are always angels and devils in our brains. While we are
usually the devil’s advocate, try to stand on the angel’s side now.
Use the app “Happify” to cultivate
positivity scientifically
Ever imagined an app to ‘happify’ ourselves. An app to delight
ourselves and brighten our day?
Then try Happify, an app designed specially for us to handle our
negative emotions. It provides us with scientifically-proven tools and
techniques to promote our emotional well-being.
It consists of short activities and games for us to relearn
situations and be more aware of the subtle little things we should be grateful
for.
While we usually the gadgets are taking a toll out of us, it is
now possible to cultivate positivity right back from it.
Celebrate your
small wins every day
One easy way to start cultivating our positivity is to write
down our small wins on a daily basis. And research has reassured the
potential benefits of doing so.
Progress is a lot more than just a step closer to success, as
Amabile and Kramer suggest. In fact, if we properly record our progress, no
matter how small it is, we instantly receive a confidence boost!
Teresa Amabile from Harvard Business School and Steven Kramer
read through approximately 12,000 diary entries written by 238 individuals from
7 different companies. The employees were asked to write about their emotions
and moods, motivation levels, and perceptions of the work environment as well
as what work they did and what events stood out in their minds on a daily basis
for 4 months. [5]
The result showed that any accomplishment, regardless of its
size, activates the reward circuitry of our brains. Once activated, a chemical
dopamine is released and this chemical is associated to the feeling of pride
and achievement.
More importantly, the chemical also motivates us to continue on
with the taking challenges and to attempt to repeat the same achievement next
time. This forms a positive reinforcement loop that makes us more likely
to be successful.
So pay close attention to what you achieved. Ran for 400m? Got
up 10 minutes earlier? Mark these down and recognize yourself! It’s never too
much.
http://www.lifehack.org/570501/think-positive?ref=mail&mtype=daily_newsletter&mid=20170404&uid=687414&hash=707e797f7e757e6d794c856d747b7b3a6f7b79&action=click
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