This is a well-known truth that positive people can experience an increased life span, lower rates of depression, lower levels of stress, greater resistance to common diseases, reduced risk of death. Positive people can better handle their hard times of stress. People with a positive attitude usually live longer, happier, healthier, and more successful lives, and everybody wants that.
Attitude:
Attitude is defined as the mental position that represents an individual’s degree of like or dislike for an item – a generally positive or negative view of a person for a place, thing, or event. However, attitude can be changed with experience. So a person with a negative attitude can change!
Positive attitude:
Overall, people with a positive attitude are optimistic and believe they are accountable for good things and those good things will generally come their way. If something bad comes, optimists write it off as an isolated incident or something which is out of their control. They continue to believe that things will be better in the future and live hopefully.
Negative attitude:
Negative attitude is the behaviour of a pessimist person who consistently expects the worst of people and of situations. This outlook of pessimists can persist regardless of facts or circumstances that might indicate a more balanced or positive reality.
It is just your attitude which determines the things around you are positive or negative. All you need is just skills to adopt that positive attitude and you can learn those skills. In fact, a positive attitude will make it much more likely that you can learn the necessary skills for your success.
Unfortunately, it is not always easy to stay positive all the time and keep a good attitude. When things go wrong around you, then it is very easy that you start thinking negative thoughts. But thankfully, there are so many things that you can do to maintain a positive attitude. However, your way of thinking, whether positive or negative, is a habit and habits can be changed! But it takes practice! Thoughts are always under your control and can be changed! The following steps can help you to create a more positive attitude:
- Remember that you can control your attitude: Attitude does not emerge from what happens to you, but instead from how you decide to interpret what happens to you. In each case, the person is deciding how to interpret the event and therefore controlling how he or she feels about it.
- Adopt beliefs that frame events in a positive way: Your beliefs and rules about life and work determine how you interpret events and therefore your attitude. So you always decide to choose “strong” beliefs that create a good attitude rather than those beliefs that create a bad attitude.
- Create a “library” of positive thoughts: Spend at least 15 minutes every morning to read, view, or listen to something inspirational or motivational. If you do this regularly, you’ll have those thoughts and feelings ready at hand (or rather, ready to mind) when events don’t go exactly the way you’d prefer.
- Avoid angry or negative media: Unfortunately, the media is full of hateful people who make money by provoking listeners to be unhappy, and frightened. It results in a flood of negativity that doesn’t just destroy your ability to maintain a positive attitude but it actively inserts you into a state of misery, anger, and annoyance. So you should rather limit your “informational” media consumption to business and industry news.
- Use a more positive vocabulary: The words that come out of your mouth aren’t just a reflection of what’s in your brain, they’re programming your brain how to think. Therefore, to have a positive attitude, your vocabulary must be full of positive words. Stop using negative phrases such as “I can’t,” “It’s impossible,” or “This won’t work.” These statements program you for negative results. Whenever anyone asks “How are you?” respond with “Terrific!” or “Never felt better!” And mean it. When you’re feeling angry or upset, substitute neutral words for emotionally loaded ones. Rather than saying “I’m enraged!” say “I’m a bit annoyed…”
- Be thankful: Take some time and be thankful. Be thankful for what you have, who you are, and what your life is like. Think through all of the things that you can be thankful for. Even if you are in a tough time in life there are many things you have that you can be thankful for. You need to look for them and recognize them. By focusing on the things that you can be thankful for will always help you maintain a positive attitude.
- Surround yourself with positive people: The people around you have a big impact on you. Your surroundings always impact who you are, what you value, and how much money you will make. They also impact how you think. So, if you will be in an environment with negative people then you will be negative as well. You can’t help it. Hearing negativity all day leads you to negativity. The opposite is also true. Surround yourself with positive people and you will be more positive.
- Smile: It has been proved that even a forced smile can also lift one’s mood! It also spreads positivity to others when we flash them with a brilliant smile. Smiling is a reward, not a risk. The only thing we risk when smiling is giving ourselves a little more happiness.
- Understand that we all need and deserve time to recharge: If we just got out of a bad relationship, or we simply need a break from the hustle and bustle of your life, we mustn’t be afraid to take some time off and recharge. It can be stressful being with other people, even people that we really like. Being independent can help us regain our perspective. One simple thing to do to recharge is to take a short trip somewhere. Have you always meant to climb to the top of that mountain outside the city? Do you want to explore the river-valley that feeds into the lake? Communicating a little bit with nature if we can, provides a wonderful tonic! Positive Attitude Change Life Journal of Chittagong University Teachers’ Association 58 No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. If you tend to have a negative outlook, don’t expect to become an optimist overnight. But you can minimize it with practice and eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and you will have more self-acceptance. Plus, by sharing your positive mood and positive experience with others, both you and those around you will feel good and enjoy an emotional boost. Practising positive self-talk will improve your outlook. When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you’re able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. You can learn how to turn those negative thoughts into positive thoughts. The process is simple, but it does take time and practice – you’re creating a new habit, after all.
Here are some common forms of negative self-talk.
- Filtering: You just think about the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all of the positive ones. For example, say you had a great day at work. You completed your tasks before due time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. But you just forgot one minor step. And that evening, you just focus only on that minor mistake and forget about the compliments you received.
- Personalizing: When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you got the news that an evening out with friends is cancelled, and you have assumed that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.
- Catastrophizing: You automatically anticipate the worst. Suppose you order for some domestic items but the shop gets your order wrong and you automatically think that the rest of your day will be a disaster.
Here are some ways to think and behave in a more positive and optimistic way:
- Check yourself: Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you’re thinking. If you find that your thoughts are negative then try to find a way to change them into positive ones.
- Be open to humor: Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
- Follow a healthy lifestyle: Exercise at least three times a week to positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to nourish your mind and body and learn to manage stress.
- Practice positive self-talk: Start by following one simple rule: Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. Even if any negative thought tries to enter your mind, evaluate it, and speak some affirmations of what is good about you.
- Believe that you create your own destiny: No one can decide and create your future except you. You are responsible for your own life. There is no end to how much you can accomplish in a lifetime.
- Keep your sense of humor: Laugh at and with yourself when possible. It will entertain you and your mind will be clearer and can finally make your thought more possible.
- Be grateful or have gratitude for what you have today. Learn to utilize what you have in your hands and make use of it in the most constructive way.
- Try not to worry. If something bad happens or everything doesn’t go well, do not worry. By adopting this attitude, you are going to believe that everything will be OK and fine.
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