How To Be A More Positive Person

In 4 simple steps.

The world is falling apart. Racial struggles, coronavirus, global recession, climate change, world poverty, civil wars, and many more issues contaminate the world.

But these are all on a global scale. As you read this, local issues and personal issues may boil under the surface. Perhaps they’ve boiled over and that’s why you’re reading this.

Whatever the problem, maintaining a positive outlook in life is a precious skill only a few can master.

You can too.

A positive outlook in life is like a muscle. The more you exercise and train your positive muscle, the better you can navigate life’s curveballs.

1. Adjust your mindset.

The core philosophy of optimism is to accept what you can’t change. That means to adjust your mindset.

Hear, hear. I know that it’s easier said than done.

The most effective way to adjust your mindset is to focus on what you can change. This can be by reframing your mindset or by diverting your focus.

Maybe the piece you’ve carefully written got rejected from a big publication. You can’t change their decision, at least not straight after. So what do you do?

You step back. The publication didn’t reject you; they rejected your current piece of work.

If you choose to reframe your mindset, you must identify what went wrong.

• Perhaps the publication is not looking to publish the type of article you’ve written. That happens, and that’s okay.
• Maybe there were glaring editing goofs that you hastily overlooked when you sped to submit your work.

To reframe your mindset, you must see what went wrong and fix it. That way you can resubmit the same work or submit it at another publication. This mindset requires you to not give up with your current work.

If you choose to divert your focus, you accept that this piece of work is not good enough and you move on with a new piece.

• Write a new piece and try again in that particular publication or another one.
• Don’t give up!

James Altucher has a wonderful one-second positivity hack.

Happiness = Reality / Expectation

Because you can’t change your reality, change your expectations.

Perhaps your piece wasn’t published, because it would be a great learning curveball. You’ll learn to edit better or write a more compelling piece.

2. Savour the good.

We all have heard that gratitude makes you happier. It’s become part and parcel of the repetitive gimmick-like hacks.

But it seriously works. I have practised gratitude every day for the past year. I write three things I’m grateful for. Sometimes though, I repeat ‘being alive’ daily because I can’t think deep enough. But I guess being alive is deep gratitude, anyway.

Nonetheless, it could be as simple as that. Whatever you feel grateful for, write it done on your notes app on your phone. Appreciate the pleasant.

Our interpretation of events tends to influence the way we feel more than the actual events.

Imagine your boss, partner or teacher tells you 37 great things you’re doing. You’d be chuffed, right? Now what if they follow this with one negative thing that you can improve on, you’ll most likely dwell on this for longer.

We tend to focus on the negative and so we foolishly ignore the positives.

But when we stop and savour the good, we begin to cultivate a positive outlook in life.

3. Remind yourself of the good.

Your environment plays an important role in having a positive outlook.

You can easily change your environment to be more positive, more motivating and more peaceful.

Here are some suggestions.

• Change your phone’s lock screen and wallpaper to remind yourself to look at the positive.
• Change your laptop wallpaper to make you smile every day.
• Write a motivational fake cheque for yourself to remind yourself of your financial goal.
• Blu-Tack inspirational quotes, images of your role models, and reminders that will make you smile on your wall.

Each of the above suggestions is a way to cultivate a positive environment that would remind you to be more positive. They keep positivity front and centre in your life.

The above quote from Rupi Kaur motivates me to break personal boundaries, aim for higher goals, and drown oceans in fearless and fierce ways.

What will be your reminder of positivity?

4. Do something kind.

An act of kindness is a sure-fast way to feel happy.

A 2017 study by Oxford University suggested that performing acts of kindness for just 7 days provides measurable positive effects on a person’s wellbeing and positive social emotion.

It’s easy to get sucked into our own lives and our worries. But it’s harder to go out of our ways to do acts of kindness.

These acts of kindness could be to those you know already, or complete strangers.

Perhaps you’ll call a family member to check-in, compliment a stranger, or buy coffee for the person behind you in the queue at Starbucks.

Be positive, be kind.

Positivity is a much-needed philosophy. In times of adversity, adjust your mindset to see these current struggles as necessary events to change the course of humanity for the future.

Savour every positive aspect of your life, set reminders of the good that happens in your life and be kind to others.

Fatima Sultan is a writer, tutor and self-proclaimed nerd. She writes about life and its many excitements and disappointments. She also apparently likes referring to herself in the third person. You can read more of her writing by subscribing to her free newsletter.