A positive attitude is seen in several ways: People experience pleasant and happy feelings. This further brings brightness to the eyes, more energy, and happiness. Thus, your whole being broadcasts good will, happiness and success.

Even your health is affected in a beneficial way. You will walk tall, your voice will be more powerful, and your body language will show the way you feel.

Are you like this? If not, why aren’t you like this?

In positive thinking, beliefs and values matter and drive your behaviour. The most successful individuals are therefore those who hold positive beliefs and values about themselves and the people around them.

Positive Thinking As a Way of Life

A great deal has been said about positive thinking. Some folks allege that:

Positive and negative thinking are contagious.

The power of positive thinking is a popular concept, and sometimes it can feel a little cliché. There are many achievable things one can get from thinking positively.

Among the many, positive thinking can . . .

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

Despite all this, positive thinking is not a concept that everyone believes and follows. Some, consider it as nonsense, and scoff at people who follow it. However, there is a growing number of people, who accept positive thinking as a fact, and believe in its effectiveness.

So, is it any wonder that we want to be around positive people, and prefer to avoid negative ones?

In all essence, to use it in your life, you need more than just to be aware of its existence. You need to adopt the attitude of positive thinking in everything you do. Generally speaking, we affect, and are affected by the people we meet, in one way or another. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through words, thoughts and feelings, and through body language.

A positive person anticipates happiness, health and success, and believes he or she can overcome any obstacles and difficulties.

Have you ever noticed that . . .

• people are more disposed to help us, if we are positive, and they dislike and avoid anyone broadcasting negativity?
• negative thoughts, words and attitude, create negative and unhappy feelings, moods and behavior in you?

A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results – Wade Boggs

When the mind is negative, poisons are released into the blood, which cause more unhappiness and negativity. This is the way to failure, frustration and disappointment.

Values and Beliefs

Our attitude in life impinge upon our values and beliefs; and how useful and positive they are, give perception to our outlook.

It is important for us to consider our values and beliefs once in a while so that we set parameters and challenge ourselves resulting in changes in our behavior – in a positive way.

If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges – Pat Riley

The value statements below are about you; they are about us. Try to take ownership of these empowering values and beliefs statements and use the ideas as a means of furthering your personal development, be it at work or at home. It is like a personal reflection exercise:

Value Statements

• I enjoy trying to persuade or influence people.
• The development of others is my main priority.
• Communication is important to me – I like to be able to express ideas well in writing or in speech.
• I enjoy supervising others and being responsible for the work that they do.
• I like to think that my work is producing something worthwhile and is benefiting society.
• I like being known as an expert, with special knowledge or skills.
• I believe that everyone is capable of learning new things.
• It is important to me to help other people in my work.
• It is important for me to learn new things.
• I enjoy doing tasks that are physically demanding.
• I like to have the opportunity to be creative and think up new ideas.
• I like to take risks.
• I enjoy working at a fast pace.
• I enjoy having a variety of different things to do.
• It is important for me to have a lot of excitement in my work.
• I enjoy working under pressure and to guidelines.
• Having a balance between work and home life is important to me.
• I like to receive recognition and be appreciated for the work that I do.
• I prefer to have flexible working hours and to be able to work when I want to.
• My career is important to me and I am always looking for opportunities to progress.
• I like to have a predictable routine.
• I prefer to have few pressures or uncomfortable demands.
• I enjoy challenges and given new problems to work on.
• I like having the responsibility to make decisions.
• I like being able to work independently, without others telling me what to do.
• I like to have good friendships with people at work.

Our beliefs and values condition the way we behave, and we make value judgments in everything we do. People with limiting beliefs and values about themselves are therefore less likely to be able to realise their full potential than those who hold a positive, empowering set of beliefs and values. Likewise, people with an empowering set of beliefs and values about the people around them are more likely to be able to help others to achieve success.

As Buddha wisely said: You become what you believe.

Having a positive mindset is one of the hallmarks of a successful person. All folks who adopt a positive mindset are also more likely to achieve success in their goals.

18 IDEAS: HOW TO ADOPT A POSITIVE MINDSET

A positive attitude is something everyone can work on, and everyone can learn how to employ it – Joan Lunden

1. Start with Positive Affirmations

How you start the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. How many of us have waken up late, panicked, and then felt like nothing good happened the rest of the day? It is likely because you started out the day with a negative emotion and a pessimistic view that dragged into other events you experienced for the rest of the day.

Instead of letting this dominate you, start your day with positive affirmations. Take a moment talking to yourself in the mirror, even if you feel silly, with statements like, “Today will be a good day” or “I’m going to be awesome today,” or “I have all that I need to make this a great day of my life” As a result, you’ll be amazed at how much your day improves.

    2. Identify Areas To Change

If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it’s work, your daily commute or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way.

   3. Just Love Yourself

Growing up, we were always thinking that it was wrong to love yourself. Unfortunately, people were confusing selfishness and self-centredness. Selfish people care only about themselves and may appear as if they have a great love of themselves. In truth, selfish people are more driven by fear than love.

Why escape your intended purpose by copying and trying to be someone else? You will discover who you were meant to be only after you have shown confidence being yourself ― Suzy Kassem

Self-centred people place themselves at the centre of their lives. They know that they must first love themselves and only then will they be in a position to love and help others. If you have no love for yourself, how can you have love to give to others?

4. Motivation Needs Regular Reinforcement

Now that you have decided what you want from life with a set of clear goals, you must now develop a habit of taking them at small amounts at a time. Otherwise, you will quickly lose motivation. Self-motivation is a power that drives us to keep moving ahead. It encourages continuous learning and success, whatever be the scenario.

Self-motivation is a primary means of realizing our goals and progressing. It is basically related to our inventiveness in setting dynamic goals for ourselves, and our faith that we possess the required skills and competencies for achieving those challenging goals.

When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life – Jean Shinoda Bolen

We often feel the need for self-motivation. Let us not forget that motivation and personal growth are not one-time actions. They need to be reinforced daily. Therefore, remind yourself everyday of what you are trying to achieve and why you are trying to achieve it.

    5. Good Things Matter Most, However Small

Almost invariably, you’re 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. For example, if you get stuck in traffic, think about how you now have time to listen to the rest of your favorite podcast. If the store is out of the food you want to prepare, think about the thrill of trying something new.

    6. Transform Negative Self-Talk Into Positive Self-Talk

Negative self-talking  can creep up easily and is often hard to notice. Start by following one simple rule: Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you’re thankful for in your life.

You might think I’m so bad at this or I shouldn’t have tried that. But these thoughts turn into internalized feelings and might cement your conceptions of yourself. When you catch yourself doing this, stop and replace those negative messages with positive ones. For example, I’m so bad at this becomes Once I get more practice, I’ll be way better at this. I shouldn’t have tried becomes That didn’t work out as planned—maybe next time.

You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens – Louise L. Hay

    7. Dreams Make Life Interesting

There is nothing new, or great, in life that was ever created without somebody having a dream or a vision. Dreams give you something to chase and pursue. Even if you don’t make it all the way, the very act of pursuing your dreams will bring great joy and a sense of fulfilment to your life. Once you are prepared to take action in pursuit of your dreams, dreams become not only acceptable but an essential part of life. Don’t be afraid to make time for a little dreaming.

A positive mindset does not happen by accident. If you wish to have a positive mindset, you have to work on your confidence and self-belief.

   8. Failure Builds Character

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing – Denis Waitley

 They say, nothing ventured nothing gained. This means you have to take a risk in order to get something good. Surely, it is also important to realize it’s not always about winning. There is a lot we can learn from failure and it can build character. As a result, I have saluted all of those who have risked it all and won, as well as those who have risked it all and failed as:

Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable – Coco Chanel

Failure is only a temporary thing. As long as you learn something from it and you commit yourself to improving the situation; you haven’t really failed at all. When you learn from your  failures, you grow as a person. Your knowledge, skills and character can all improve and that’s not a bad end result.

    9. People Are Not Against You

When you have conflicting views, it is easy to believe that others are against you or out to get you but it is rarely, if ever, true.  Everybody is trying to make the most of their own life and sometimes that requires you to cross paths with people who want different things. They are not trying to make your life worse; they are trying to improve their own circumstances.

So, stand still and be firm with your beliefs.

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage – Ralph Waldo Emerson

    10. Find Humor In Bad Situations

One of the hardest part of life is learning how to deal with heartache. No matter how well you plan or how much effort you put in, bad things happen, even to good people. Often life will give you more than you think you can handle, and you may get sad, mad, or just disgusted with everything and everyone. But life goes on – this is where those made of nails soldier on.

Allow yourself to experience humor 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. Remember all the positive things in your life, and concentrate on them. Look to your friends and family for support.

Focusing on the good will help you build yourself back up again. And eventually your wounds will heal, and you will be glad that you didn’t let your troubles weigh you down too greatly.

A sense of humor is the best indicator that you will recover; it is often the best indicator that people will love you. Sustain that and you have hope ― Andrew Solomon

   11. What Is The Greatest Risk? Doing Nothing!

The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that [is] changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks – Mark Zuckerberg

Life is a series of calculated risks – nothing more. Everything that you decide to do has a margin of risk. Just imagine – there’s a chance that we’ll never make it to our destination, a chance we won’t get to see our loved ones again, a chance that tomorrow will never come. Life is all about risks – you take some and you avoid others.

When you are unhappy with your life, you need to change something. You may be afraid to change something for fear of what might go wrong. In truth, if you change something, having considered your options carefully, you have a reasonable chance of improving things. If you do not get the result you desire then you can make another change until you find what you are looking for.

If you choose to maintain the status quo, there is no chance of improvement. In fact, choosing the status quo usually leads to things getting progressively worse. So, the greatest risk you can ever take is to do nothing – just watching the sun go by.

Many positive thinkers feel that the road less traveled has much richer plunders. You risk never getting there, but once you do, it’s well worth your trouble.

   12. Raise Your Standards so that Others Follow

Never apologize for having high standards. People who really want to be in your life will rise up to meet them – Anonymous

The most important standards are the ones in which successful and unsuccessful people differ greatly are work ethic, commitment, focus, ambition, determination, aspirations, action, consistency, persistence, vision, courage, motivation, personal responsibility, humbleness, passion and integrity.

The people at the top excel in most of the above mentioned areas, as they have developed these skills to a higher standard. They have raised their standards in these areas so that they can go from where they were, to where they want to be. As for you, dear folks, you need to start demanding more from yourself, observing the masses and see what they do, and doing the opposite.

This is one of the fundamentals of leadership. You must go first. If you want others to raise their game, set the standard. Demonstrate the standards that you wish to see. Somebody must go first, so why not you? When you refuse to accept low standards, those around you soon get the message.

Work hard, work smart, set goals, make plans, plan your days and use your time effectively. Be known for your hard work and be smart with your time. Be committed to success, learn everything that is relevant, and do what needs to be done. Focus on one task at a time, and do not try to do a million things at once.

   13. Live At This Moment – The Present Matters!

Everyone agrees it’s important to live in the moment, but the problem is how – Ellen Langer

Mindfulness is at the root of Buddhism, Taoism, and many Native-American traditions, not to mention yoga. It is paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you so that you can improve your mental wellbeing.

The present matters – don’t cry over spilt milk nor should you anticipate what tomorrow brings. Just focus on this one, individual moment. In most situations, you’ll find it’s not as bad as you imagine it to be. 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 please, and you will find yourself reacting accordingly.

It doesn’t matter what your circumstances are at the present moment. Think positively, expect only favorable results and situations, and circumstances will change accordingly. If you persevere, you will transform the way your mind thinks. It might take some time for the changes to take place, but eventually they will.

   14. Colleagues Matter – Find Positive Friends, Mentors And Co-Workers

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with – Jim Rohn.

People have a huge impact on your life. With this in mind, you should think about the people you’re spending time with in the same way you think about what you eat and how you exercise.

Some people can be parasites. They suck out your happiness, energy and maybe some of your tangible resources as well. Therefore when we surround ourselves with positive people, we tend to hear positive outlooks, positive stories and positive affirmations. It is important to make sure those people whom we interact with in our lives are positive and supportive people we can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase our stress level and make us doubt our ability to manage stress in healthy ways.

Their positive words will sink in and affect our own line of thinking, which then affects our words and similarly contributes to the group. Finding positive people to fill up your life can be difficult, but you need to eliminate the negativity in your life before it consumes you. Do what you can to improve the positivity of others, and let their positivity affect you the same way.

Almost anybody in any situation can apply these lessons to their own lives and increase their positive attitude. As you might imagine, positive thinking offers compounding returns, so the more often you practice it, the greater benefits you’ll realize.

    15. Use Positive Words In Your Inner Dialogues, Or When Talking With Others

An internal dialogue is an automatic activity, which goes on whether you are aware of it or not. If you learn to become aware of it, you gain the ability to control it. You can turn it into a positive dialogue by being aware of your thoughts. Calmly watch what is going in your mind, even if after a few moments.

Once a negative thought enters your mind, you have to be aware of it, and endeavor to replace it with a constructive one. If the negative thought returns, replace it again with a positive one. It is as if there are two pictures in front of you, and you have to choose to look at one of them, and disregard the other. Persistence will eventually teach your mind to think positively, and to ignore negative thoughts.

   16. Monitor And Record Your Success

Maintain a success bar for the assignments you are currently working on. When you observe any progress, you will obviously want to foster it. There is no greater success than being aware of what you have achieved and planning where you are going. It is PRICELSS yet the hallmark of gaining strength, willpower and being mindful of yourself.

  17. Read About It & Think About Its Benefits

The power of your thoughts is a mighty power that is always shaping your life. This shaping is usually done subconsciously, but it is possible to make the process a conscious one. Even if the idea seems strange, give it a try. You have nothing to lose, but only to gain.

Encourage learning: Always encourage learning. Read and grasp the logic and jist of the reading. Learning makes an individual more confident in commencing new assignments.

    18. Follow A Healthy Lifestyle

I have a very positive attitude in life. My insecurity, fear and need to know about tomorrow has fortunately eased. What is going to happen will happen anyway. So why break my head over it? – Katrina Kaif

Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You can also break it up into 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. And learn techniques to manage yourself.

Thus, positive mindset for life will enable you to produce better results and enjoy greater happiness and fulfilment. Your beliefs play a large role in developing your mindset. If you choose to adopt negative beliefs, you will live a life shrouded in suspicion and even the most positive experience will prove difficult to enjoy.

Alternatively, a positive mindset will make even the most painful moment bearable. A positive mindset is not about pretending that everything is wonderful; it is about believing that whatever position you find yourself in, you have the ability to cope and improve your situation.

As of old: Be EMPOWERED and EXCEL