“Mind over Matter”, an age old ode to the indisputable truth that – it is your mind which dictates you life and the outcome of any scenario.
Your mind feels, processes and reacts. It thinks and you act on those thoughts. So the main effort in bringing about any personality change is to alter your mind or more specifically your thoughts.
What is Positive Thinking?
It is not only the optimistic approach but rather the way you choose to look at the “brighter” side of a situation. This can be particularly challenging if you are facing a situation that has/had a negative impact on you or if you have been dealing with negative situations for a while now.
However, trying to point at the negative time and again only increases the feeling of remorse and proves to be of no help. Trying to look at a situation in a positive manner may seem unnatural but if done mindfully, over a course of time can alter the way in which you react to situations ultimately changing the outcomes of situations.
Positive thinking is simply to look at a situation not as grimly as you would normally do but try to look at it with an open mind. Largely defined by your self talk , this aspect can be influenced and manipulated to help you naturally be optimistic.
Over the course of time your brain will be wired to naturally be optimistic.
Why Positive Thinking is needed?
Being an endless cycle of negative thinking and negative outcomes will eventually drain you of all the energy and motivation you can hold. This is detrimental to your emotional and mental wellbeing, the two things that are crucial for grit and determination.
The only way to get out of a puddle is to think of How to Do It? For that you have to stop thinking about being stuck in a puddle and think forward to a point where you are not in puddle. This tricks your brain to focus on the outcome and develop ways in which the objective can be achieved.
Your brain will assess the situation and come up with a plan and eventually you will escape the puddle.
This is why optimism is an beneficial skill, it helps you shift your focus from the current scenario and make a plan to achieve a better reality. It brings about a shift in your mindset which dictates the actions you take to achieve your biggest goals.
How to cultivate Positive Thinking?
For this mindset shift, it is important for you to approach any situation mindfully and consciously. It is quite easy for your brain to always assume the worst, so it will take you a good amount of practice to wire your brain to think differently. A few ways of doing so would be:
Challenge negative thoughts:
This also includes challenging your negative self talk. Challenge it, question it and most importantly do not believe what your mind says when it is disturbed or agitated. Consciously and patiently, avoid these thoughts.
Be solution focused:
Forcing yourself to find solutions pushes you to get your mind running to achieve that solution and soon enough you would nit have the time to focus on the problem but would be determined to get to the solution. You wont have any time to sulk or complain.
Limit exposure to negativity:
This could arise from your peer group, your social media or someone close. The more you see and hear negative talk, the more your positive mindset gets hit. To void this limit your exposure to anything that brings you down externally.
Conclusion:
This is not one of the easier things to imbibe. However, with conscious efforts it will soon turn into an unconscious behaviour and the only way you would react to any situation is to focus on the silver lining.
After all, every situation either gives us joy or a learning!
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