How To Change Your Mind To Change Your Life: A Guide To Positive Thinking

Have you ever met someone that was invulnerable to bad news? No matter what it is, they'll always find the bright side? You can be one of these people, and the effects this mindset will have on your life are endless.

Anyone can be an optimist, or at least maintain a positive perspective; it just takes some determination and know-how. Once you get started with a positive mindset, virtually anything is possible. A positive mindset alone is the key to success for many people.

Now I wasn't always a happy-go-lucky optimist. It came when I made the decision to try to always be happy, and to bring positivity into the lives of others. You can make this decision too, and you're in luck because I'm here to help you.

I'm about to give you my secrets to a positive mindset; the secrets I use everyday to be the best person I can be in my entrepreneurial work, and my personal life. So what are we waiting for? Let's move forward with changing our minds, and reaping the benefits that follow.

Free Yourself From the Negative Thoughts

Do you recognize when you have negative thoughts? Start to. The first step to a positive mind, is ridding yourself of the negatives. When you have negative thoughts, it will affect your mood and behavior.

You will never feel good about yourself when you think you can't do something. The same applies to when you're complaining about something. When negative thoughts do cross your mind, your goal should be to dismiss them, or understand why you feel that way and to move on.

It's easy to be hard on yourself, or to put yourself down mentally. Thinking negative thoughts will only extend into the other areas of your life. Author James Allen stated, "As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains". Mahatma Gandhi once said that "A man is the product of his thoughts." See? I'm certainly not the first to say this -- eliminating negative thoughts is the first step toward positive thinking.

When you stop thinking in a negative frame, you can begin to develop more positive thoughts. Now this isn't something you can achieve overnight -- you've got to work towards it. Over time, as you identify and dismiss the negatives in your mind, you'll find they come less often and are easier to recognize and disregard.

I've been a determined optimist for years now, but I still have negative thoughts about myself from time to time, about my situation, or about others. These days I am far better at immediately identifying these thoughts, and getting rid of them.

Start Thinking Anything is Possible

You might be familiar with the quote, "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!" Audrey Hepburn said this, and she couldn't be more right.

When you think something is impossible, that's what makes it impossible. The belief that nothing is impossible is what drives innovation and discovery in many fields. Scientists have proven time and time again over the course of history that what we perceive as impossible can, in fact, become possible before our very eyes.

When you begin to think anything is possible, it changes your whole outlook on life. It will begin to make anything doable. That book you've been trying to write? Possible. The song you've been looking for the perfect tune for? Possible. That business you always had the idea for? It's possible!

I have big dreams, dreams that drive me every day, and I never doubt them. I never think that continuing this blog, or writing my next post will be impossible. It's because I think like this, I approach my work with a fresh mindset and I stay motivated through hours of work. I know that through maintaining the idea that what I want to achieve is feasible it becomes just that. With the right amount of work and proper mindset, I can fulfill those dreams.

Stop Complaining and Criticizing

When you were a kid, did you ever hear, "If you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say it at all"? Well, it's true. When you complain or criticize someone, it's just rude, and usually a symptom of trying to make yourself feel better. A friend once said to me, "Your words reflect your feelings about yourself," and she was absolutely right.

Cut out the gossip, and focus on yourself. It's that simple. It's following a rule of life we learned early on and it goes hand-in-hand with treating others as you want to be treated. Not to mention, if you stick to saying good things about other people, they'll do the same for you. Rarely is someone going to complain about the nicest person in the room.

Now, nobody's a saint. I complain about people from time to time and even the nicest people I know will complain at some point or another. It's important, however, to keep in mind that what you say about others still affects you. If you're going to criticize someone, be brief and clear, be polite, get what you need off your chest, and move on.

Just the same as criticizing others, you need to quit complaining. There's usually no need to grumble if it's not going to help your predicament. It's not the easiest thing to do, but taking a step back and finding the best in every situation is a virtue and a skill. Not only will you help yourself stay positive, but by not complaining you also preserve the feelings of others involved in the situation and help keep everyone's mood elevated.

You've probably had a friend or family member get you a gift or bring you somewhere that wasn't exactly what you wanted. We all have that aunt who will send us a sweater for the holidays, or strange ugly socks when you've got plenty. But take a step back, appreciate the fact that she gave you a gift at all. You can complain that you didn't want a sweater, or you can wear it when you visit and tell her it's nice and cozy. At least wearing it once will make your aunt feel great and show her that you appreciate her gift.

So practice being grateful and positive, and if you've got nothing nice to say, make sure you zip your lips.

Practice Gratitude

Last week, I posted my longest post to date. Thanksgiving is a holiday of gratitude ,so I posted "24 Things I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving." This post was an exercise in recording what I'm grateful for. I wrote that list for Thanksgiving, but you can do this any time of the year.

On my social media I thank each person for leaving a like, sharing, following or retweeting. It's my way of showing gratitude, and it takes just a few minutes every day. These are both just two examples of showing gratitude regularly.

Start with a list. It doesn't take long to write down ten things. You can do it in bed when you wake up, or when you're about to go to sleep. This exercise keeps you engaged in positivity, and forces you to be aware of the good things in life. When you're always thinking about the good on a daily basis, the bad things will seem unimportant and less stressful.

You can also make other people's days better by expressing gratitude for things they do, for their presence in your life. Now you don't have to tell everyone you're grateful for them to be grateful for them, it can also be an internal gratitude -- but simply telling a friend that you love them or they mean a lot to you can be a good emotional boost for both you and them. On top of this, being kind to someone and showing gratitude is something I deem important, because you never know what kind of day someone is having. Thankfulness and positivity are contagious, so leave an air of gratitude anywhere you go.

Practice The 3 Ps

In his book Bullseye, Brian Tracy coins the 3 Ps of positive thinking. They break down into: be personal, be positive, and be present.

When he states "be personal," Tracy explains you've got to use action verbs, as if it already is. Because if you speak like something already is the way you'd like it to be, then it seems more realistic and tangible, therefore more achievable.

When he states "be positive," he means that you need to stop using words like "not" or "can't."

When he states "be present," he is saying that you have to act as if it has already happened. Live in the moment, focus not on the past, but on what you can do and what is real now.

When put this into practice, you will change your thoughts and make goals easier to reach. With this method you affect your subconscious, motivating you to take action until your thoughts reach fruition. We can see it in action when you take the sentence "I'm going to quit smoking." When you apply the first P, to be personal, the sentence changes to "I will not smoke". You want to apply the second P, to be positive, as well so you get rid of the not and make it "I will be a non-smoker." Last is the third P, be present, so you finalize the goal to "I am a non-smoker."

You just watched a thought go from something someone was going to do, to a state of being what they aim to achieve. Thinking this way can make your aspirations more seem more doable. When you think to yourself, "I am a writer" or "I am an entrepreneur," it helps your mind believe that you are just that.

So practice your 3 Ps whenever you can, and not only will you take on a stronger positive mindset, but you will also find reaching goals to be simpler.

Smile

The last secret I've got for you today is the most simple: smile. Science has shown that smiling will help improve your mood. It's quite simple: making yourself smile is a good way to get away from negative thoughts because it self-enforces the idea that you are happy -- the smile will soon go from forced to genuine.

I smile almost anywhere I go -- I even won an award for it at summer camp once upon a time. I don't have a pearly-white perfect smile, but that doesn't matter because I'm going to smile anyway.

Smiling will also affect others, as humans we pick up on the subtle signals from each other. If you smile, people who look at you are likely to catch your glowing vibe and smile back. A little smile is just as contagious as any form of positivity, and it costs nothing.

Thanks for reading and good luck on becoming a positive thinker! Every day you can work toward changing the way you think, and when you do, you can change the way you live your life. If you liked this post, be sure to share it with your friends on social media who could use a little positive thinking.

Before I go, I want to share with you a poem by Shel Silverstein that has always resonated with me and summarizes the need for positive thinking. Remember, Keep it Creative!