One of the very first things I started to work on consciously with my own personal development was to improve my outlook on life. It was over 20 years ago that I started to delve into this topic and while sometimes tumbling backwards – build a more optimistic outlook. An attitude that would over time become more and more stable so that I could not only look at the world in a positive way during good days but all have that same mindset during the tougher days.
I hope you will find something helpful here.
Find the optimistic viewpoint in a negative situation.
One of the simplest but most effective ways to build a more positive outlook has in my experience been to ask more helpful questions as often as possible. When I am in what seems like a negative situation – maybe I have been lazy, made a mistake, failed or stumbled in some kind of way – then I like to ask myself questions like:
• What is one thing that is positive or good about this situation?
Who you choose to spend your time with and the input you get from further away like the TV, the internet and magazines will have a huge effect on your outlook. To be able to stay positive it is essential to have influences in your life that support you and lift you up instead of dragging you down.Mindfully move through your day.
When you spend your time in the present moment then it becomes so much easier to access positive emotions and to stay practical about what you can actually do about something in your life.When you get lost in the past or future like so many of us have spent a lot of time doing then worries very easily become bigger and failures and mistakes from the past being replayed over and over in your mind drag you down into pessimism. By moving slowly through your morning and hopefully through much of the rest of your day it becomes easier to mindfully stay in the moment you are in.
Another simple way to reconnect with the moment in you are in and to put your full attention there again is to focus just on what is going on around you right now for a minute or two with all your senses. See it. Hear it. Smell it. Feel the sun, rain or cold wind on your skin.
These may sound like a small and insignificant things to do. But this reconnection with the moments of your life during stressful times can have a very positive effect on the rest of your day.
Peace and Love, Jim
