The “power of positive thinking” can have a huge impact on your life – easy to say but sometimes difficult to firstly acknowledge and then to achieve.

The physical and mental benefit of positive thinking have been demonstrated by multiple scientific studies. A positive mindset can give you:

• more confidence
• improve your mood
• even reduce the likelihood of developing conditions such as hypertension, depression and other stress-related disorders

 

All this sounds great, but what does the “power of positive thinking” really mean?

You can define positive thinking as positive imagery, positive self talk or general optimism, but these are all still general, ambiguous concepts. If you want to be effective in thinking and being more positive, here are a few examples to help you with the process.

1 – Start each day with a positive affirmation

The way in which you start the morning will set the tone for the rest of the day. Start your day with positive affirmations. Talk to yourself in the mirror (even if you feel silly), with statements like, “Today will be a good day” or “Today I choose to be happy.” You will be amazed how much your day improves.

2 – Focus on the good things, however small

Almost invariably, you are going to encounter obstacles throughout the day—there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect day’. When you encounter such a challenge, focus on the benefits, no matter how slight or unimportant they seem.

3 – Find humour in bad situations

Allow yourself to experience humour in even the darkest or most trying situations. Remind yourself that this situation will probably make for a good story later and try to crack a joke about it.

4. Turn failures into lessons

None of us are perfect. We are going to make mistakes and experience failure in multiple contexts, at multiple jobs and with multiple people. Instead of focusing on how you failed, think about what you are going to do next time—turn your failure into a lesson. Conceptualize this in concrete rules.

5. Transform negative self-talk into positive self-talk

Negative self-talk can creep up easily and is often hard to notice. You might think I am so bad at this or I should not have tried that. But these thoughts turn into negative feelings and might cement your perception of yourself. When you catch yourself doing this, stop and replace those negative messages with positive ones.

6. Focus on the present

I am talking about the present—not today, not this hour, only this exact moment. Most sources of negativity stem from a memory of a recent event or the exaggerated imagination of a potential future event. Stay in the present moment.

7. Find positive friends, mentors and co-workers

When you surround yourself with positive people, you will hear positive outlooks, positive stories and positive affirmations. Their positive words will affect your own line of thinking, which then affects your words. Remove negativity in your life before it takes over., Positive thinking offers compounding returns, so the more often you practice it, the greater benefits you will realize.