Change Your Thinking. Change Your Life.

Have you changed your thinking to stay positive, avoid negativity, and find happiness?

We all know that staying positive has incredible benefits. It improves our health and happiness, saves us time and stress, reduces the risk for physical illnesses like heart disease and cancer, helps us build stronger relationships with others-and yet so many of us struggle. Why would we spend so much time feeling bad when our minds could be focused on greater things? In this blog post I will share why it's important to change your thoughts from negative ones to positive ones. I also offer a few ideas that might help you do just that!

Since our thoughts shape who we are, changing them can create a better life for ourselves. After all...

If you think you can, you're right.

-Henry Ford

If you think you can't, you're right.

-Henry Ford 

Change your thinking to Change Your Life

Positive thoughts lead to positive outcomes. Negative thoughts lead to negative ones. It's that simple.   If we want good things in our life, we need to focus on having good thoughts and using positive words to describe our feelings and action plans.   Take a moment and think about your current thoughts.   Are they bringing you happiness?   What if you changed them to focus on the things that do bring you happiness?  

We have the power to change our lives, not just for the present, but permanently. It's all in how we choose to think, so why not choose positive thoughts? If we change our way of thinking, it changes everything !!!

Here are some tips that might help.

1. Think about what makes you happy

What makes you happy? What do you love to do? What brings a smile to your face?   Do more of what makes you happy.   Find the things that bring you joy and eliminate those which bring you stress and make you unhappy.   You may have to adjust your schedule to make time for what's important.   If you love art, it may be hard to fit in your weekly painting class during the week, so perhaps sign up for Saturday morning classes instead.  

2. Get rid of negativity

There are a lot of people who are negative.   These people can drain away our positive thoughts like a sponge sucks up water (just replace water with good thoughts). When we're around these people, they can quickly change us from feeling positive and happy to negative and not wanting to be around them anymore.  

3. Make a list of things you like to do

Here's another way to make a positive list.   Write down ten favorite things.   Make sure they're things you enjoy doing and that bring you joy, not stress or frustration.   As soon as you feel good about the list, start doing the things on it.   This will make it easier for you to stay positive and happy.

4. Banish negative thoughts

There are many people who don't realize that their thoughts can change their lives for the better. They think that their lives are the way they are and there's nothing they can do about it.   This is usually the person who complains to everyone about everything.   If you want to be happy and have a positive outlook on life, you have to get rid of those negative thoughts.  

5. Make a conscious choice to change your thoughts

This one is easy: Just decide!   We all know that negative thoughts lead to negative outcomes, so why not 'choose' to have only positive thoughts? It's not easy, but with practice we can master it!

6. Use positive words

So many people use negative words in their lives.   Words like 'failure,' 'disappointment,' and 'defeat'  are so negative that they can change the way we feel.   Replace those negative words with positive words like 'success,' 'happiness,' and 'accomplishment.'   Make a conscious decision to replace these negative thoughts with positive ones.   It takes time, but it works !!!

7. Positive thinking can make you a happier person

This is not just about changing your thoughts, but also about changing your emotions. As you spend more time having pleasant thoughts that you want to carry over into your life, you will feel happier and happier with each day. That's a great feeling, isn't it?  

8. Change how you talk to yourself

Talking to ourselves positively can also change how we feel.  If we're constantly talking negative things to ourselves, we can start to believe that these things are true.   If we want a positive life, we need to be positive with our thoughts and our words.  And if you want to be happy, you need to be happy with the way you feel about yourself.   Get rid of your negative thoughts about yourself and replace them with positive ones!

9. Change how you think about things

This might sound strange, but it works!   Negative thoughts lead to negative outcomes.   Positive thoughts lead to positive outcomes.   If we change the way we think about things, we can change how we feel and the way our lives turn out.   It takes practice, but soon you'll be looking at the same thing and thinking about it in a new way that makes you feel better about life.

10. Adopt positive thinking

This is the best way to change what you think.   Take a few moments out of your day to think about something positive.   It could be as simple as taking a few steps forward in life and achieving some of your goals, or it could be to help someone else (giving or receiving help can work wonders for both sides).    It doesn't matter what you choose or how big or small the goal may seem. What's important is that you focus on something that makes you feel good about yourself and the world around you.

11. Stop thinking you're a victim

It's all too easy to fall into the victim mentality where we only see the negative things that happen in life.   If we think only of the bad things that happen, it can make us feel negative and unhappy.   But if we start to focus on all of the good things in our lives, it will change how we feel about everything.   We can't always choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we react.   That's one of the most important lessons in life.

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Conclusion

These are some ideas on how to change your thinking to become happier and more positive.   Although they may seem like small things, they really do work.  If you're feeling negative and unhappy, it's not too late to make a change.   Do your best to practice these techniques daily and see how much happier you can feel.   You'll soon see a difference in your life as you focus only on the positive and get rid of the negative.  You won't be able to argue with success!

13. Happiness is not for everyone

Some people find that happiness is impossible for them at times because of circumstances in their lives  (depression, sickness, job loss, loss of loved ones).