Having a positive attitude defines how you feel about yourself.
It is at the heart of most psychology practices and an essential for good emotional health.
A positive mental attitude can
- help you cope with stress,
- give you greater personal resources,
- help you develop your coping skills in whatever situations you need to face,
- it increases the control you have over whatever comes your way
- It is empowering, and
- positive thoughts are an investment in yourself.
Great, I hear you say, so how do I go about this?
What if thing don’t go right and I don’t feel at all positive. How do I master this thing called PMA that is so important.
Well, positivity is far more than smiling and looking happy.
It is about approaching life from a positive point of view and focussing on the good and better things in life rather than negative events.
You will have heard the term positive mindset. How our mind and brain think impacts on our thoughts and feelings.
So how should we define PMA or positive mindset.
I like this simple definition by R Sasson,
‘Positive thinking is a mental and emotional attitude that focusses on the bright side of life and expects positive results’
Of course, thinking positively does not mean ignoring or avoiding every bad or negative thing that happens.
It does mean that when those life challenges happen, as they surely will, we tackle them with a positive outlook.
It means we look for the best in other people, for the best possible outcomes to bad events and experiences.
Importantly, we see ourselves and our abilities and values with a positive mindset.
To master this, and responsibly adopt that positive mindset we need to adopt positive thinking as our default thought pattern.
In turn that will help us make the best of every situation we face.
A positive mindset goes deep, but we can start to adopt habits which will help our mind learn to acquire a more positive mental attitude.
It means when you find yourself in a situation you will be able to face it without giving in to helplessness or negativity.
Positivity does not sit alone, it is linked to characteristics which make up your overall attitude.
You will find a range of resources, articles, short guides and courses which deal with many of these and can support you toward an overall positive outlook.
Areas such as integrity, gratitude, resilience, acceptance (and self-acceptance), mindfulness and optimism are all traits which support a positive mindset.
Let’s look at some examples of positive outlook which may resonate with you.
A later post will provide some of the tips and tricks to help you develop a more positive attitude.
Here are some examples which all demonstrate positive thinking in day to day life.
- Being friendly to people you don’t know
- Making someone’s day perhaps with a compliment or by giving praise for something
- Not allowing negative or miserable people drag you into their ‘black hole’
- Giving without expecting anything in return
- Being genuinely happy for someone else’s good news
- Even in things are bad at the moment, holding on to a positive future goal or vision
There are of course, many more and you can probably add to this list as an exercise in positivity. You could also practice some of these.
In my next post I will provide some quick tips to help you on your way.
If you would like to explore the topic further, or to take a short course in Positivity, then I will be producing a short guide very soon.
‘Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunshine.’
Benjamin Franklin