Positive thinking has a ton of benefits, from expanding your creativity to boosting your health, but if you're prone to a more negative outlook, it can be hard to see the glass as half full. Here's how you can retrain your brain to become a more positive thinker.
ust like any life skill, learning to become positive takes practice and effort. You're not going to transform into someone who always sees everything as good overnight, but you can focus your effort in a couple ways to move towards a more positive mindset.
- Do something nice for someone else. When we help others, even strangers, it feels good. Open a door for the person after you, offer to take a tourist's photo so their whole group can be in the shot, or ask someone who looks lost if they need directions.
- Celebrate small victories. Look for little joys or wins in your day-to-day life. Maybe the sun was shining just right on your walk to work or you finished a project the moment before your boss messaged you about it.
- Practice compassion meditation. As the New York Times lays out, this type of meditation helps your health overall. It can rewire your brain to make positive connections, strengthen your heart, and impact your social relationships. Even just a few minutes a day can make a difference.
- Be kind to yourself. Negative thoughts about our own insecurities or perceived failures can be especially tough to deal with, so make an effort to be kind to yourself instead of beating yourself up over a mistake. Think about things you are good at or that you do well as a reminder of who you are as a whole.
Your goal to become more positive doesn't have to end in you seeing the silver lining in every situation, especially if that's just not your personality. But you can work towards being a bit more positive, which leads to enjoying life more each day.
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