It is one thing to hear about the benefits of being positive, but how does one go about getting positive? What does it take to make a shift towards a positive mental attitude? Let’s look into it!

Getting positive

Some people are born with a positive outlook, but with a little bit of work anyone can start to live a more positive life. Here’s some sure fired ways to get on the right path.

Smile

There’s a saying that “When you smile, the whole world smiles with you”. There’s a lot of truth to this, smiles are contagious. Think about it: how often do you look at someone frowning and feel happy? Compare that to when you look at someone with a smile. I’m willing to bet that you smiled the last time you saw someone else smiling. 🙂

Does this mean you should walk around with a smile plastered to your face all the time? No! A constantly forced smile can be seen a mile away. BUT… if you try to smile a few more times a day, just for a few minutes, you will start to notice an impact.

Pro-tip: Try to smile when you first enter a room and when you make eye contact with someone. These are very quick moments in time, but they make a huge impression. Bonus tip: cashiers are the perfect people to try this out on: they deal with all kinds of unhappy people all day along and a smiling face is always welcomed.

Read something inspiring

One sure fire way to get positive is to read something inspiring. Hearing stories of others who have done great things reminds us that we too can be great, if we will only try.

Personally when I read something really inspiring I try and write down a key phrase or quote so that one day I can flip through my notebook and recapture that feeling of awe that I had. Getting positive input like that at the right moment can have such a monumental effect on our attitude.

Be around positive people

Jim Rohn once famously said that “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”.

Think about it. If you are around 5 people who are negative and gloomy, what are the chances that you will walk away from them feeling happy and upbeat? Probably pretty unlikely.

But, if you hang around 5 upbeat positive people… there’s a good chance you are going to be in a pretty good mood and mindset after talking to them. Try to spend more time with them!

Sometimes this is easier said than done: If someone close to you (a family member or spouse) isn’t exactly positive it can be hard to get away from that. What you need to do is try to find other positive influences that you can include in your life to help offset any latent negativity.

Look for positive people on Facebook, Twitter, or any where you hang out online. Try to avoid any place that is overly negative.

Getting positive: hard work, but possible!

To sum it all up: even if you have to fake it at first adopting positive actions will result in you becoming a more positive person.

It will take a little bit of time and effort, but it is so worth it. Good luck!

Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/electricnude/505740041/