Practice
As with any skill, positive thinking is something that takes time and effort to develop. Human beings are undeniably creatures of habit, so nothing feels natural until we’ve done it several times in a row consistently. If you’re having trouble keeping your thoughts on the positive side at first, there’s no need to beat yourself up; your brain is still rewiring itself and it’s bound to get the positive and negative mixed up. There are plenty of positive thinking tips and tricks that can help keep you on track.
Journal
Writing in a journal is something that many people do already, but for others, sitting down every day and expressing your thoughts and feelings can feel like cruel and unusual punishment. This, again, is a matter of habit-forming. Once a person gets in the swing of journalizing, they naturally start to open up in ways they might’ve never thought possible. For most people, journal-writing sessions are a time for releasing undue mental and emotional burdens, which frees up the heart and mind for positivity.
A secondary benefit of your journal is once your thoughts are in ink, every positive or negative mental pattern that you’re learning your way around will become abundantly clear in the narrative you write yourself.
Gratitude
Most people reading this right now are in a life situation where they have plenty to be thankful for. If you’ve gotten as far as having Wi-Fi, as well as the time, energy, and ability to read this, life has already blessed you with many gifts. The problem is that no matter what your status is and how many luxuries you’ve been given, people tend to take their gifts for granted once they’re in the habit of receiving them. A key to finding your own personal positive way of thinking is to take a look at your life and find things to be grateful for. Once you’ve activated your inner gratitude, it’s usually easy to keep it turned on.
Learning to be Mindful
The difficulty for many people in changing their thought patterns is that they don’t even realize when these negative thoughts occur in the first place. Negativity tends to be such a knee-jerk reaction that most people can have several negative thoughts without even realizing that they’ve chosen to see things that way. Learning to pay attention to your thoughts is challenging but highly rewarding, as you’ll learn things about yourself you never knew were there.
The Best Medicine
Of all the positive thinking tips and tricks, laughter might be the most effective. As it turns out, having a good sense of humor is more beneficial than anyone ever thought. If you just open yourself up to a little humor, seeing things in a positive light becomes almost a natural reaction. It’s a lot easier to laugh it off when something bad happens if you’re able to think of a truly funny joke for the situation.