What is the effect of positive thinking? How do you turn a negative thought into a positive one and how can you learn to think positively? These are all questions that will be addressed in this article.
The Effect of Positive Thinking
Positive thinking makes you feel happier, more cheerful and enjoy everything around you more. You see solutions faster, it makes you more creative and it also attracts others.
Anxiety, negative thoughts, and worries have the opposite effect. In the current time, we see many target groups and many people who often have negative thoughts. Students who are sitting behind the screen at home, entrepreneurs who are not allowed to work, and people who are anxious because they can get COVID-19, for example.
Turning these thoughts around and making them positive has a huge effect on your well-being.
It also seems that positive thinking influences your constitution and faster recovery from illnesses.
Should I Always Think Positively?
No definitely not. Everyone is bummed about something or has a bad mood or enormous worries. Precisely addressing these concerns and dwelling on them helps to get back to positive thoughts faster. And sometimes complaining and figuratively kicking something is also nice, isn’t it?
Positive Thinking and Our Brain
Our brain always wants to get rid of the pain. That is why we often want to hide negative thoughts, for example. We also regularly see in our daily practice during the time management course that people are quickly inclined to express negative thoughts. Faster than the positive.
In daily practice, we often come across people who have told their managers that they are far too busy. Recognizable? Then you immediately share a negative thought. And what is the chance that the work situation will improve after this remark? Exactly, it’s very small.
Because our brain wants to get rid of the pain, negative thoughts are put away, or they are expressed. Expressing it often has a negative effect on others and hiding it only makes the thoughts bigger and worse.
Tips for Positive Thinking
Below you will find some tips to start or keep positive thinking going. It should be noted that each tip also depends on the person and situation. Your character, beliefs, behavior, environment, and stage of life directly influence your thoughts. It is always good to see which thoughts you influence and the more positive the better.
01. Turn your negative thought into a positive one
Think very simply about this. Something you don’t want always has something you do want. You want to like something stupid. Every negative thought, every problem has a positive other side. Think about that positive other side.
Example:
- I am too busy -> I would really like to have more time
- I am not productive at all -> I would really like to be more productive
How simple. And yet it is sometimes difficult to formulate in practice. So keep that in mind for a moment. And suppose you are really too busy, and you share the positive other side with your manager, then you have an immediate effect.
In this way, you can learn to think positively and change negative thinking.
02. Give negative thoughts a chance
By not putting thoughts away but entering into them, you notice that afterward, you are more open to other thoughts. The worrying quarter was devised for this purpose. Take 15 minutes to completely reflect on your thought or concern and you will notice that you can distance yourself from it more afterwards. Don’t put it away.
03. Think about the now
We always want to go from A to B, always on, always the next step. Stare out the window for 5 minutes. Enjoy a beautiful view or experience a funny moment. Just here and now. Apart from your positive thoughts, it also recharges your brain.
So very effective. So enjoy your holiday, and don’t discuss where you want to go next year during your holiday.
This thought can also be very helpful in the present time. Everything is uncertain, fear is created and the rules change every day (lockdowns, jabs, boosters, curfews, and so on). In that uncertain time, you know for sure that they can’t take the Now moment away from you. Tomorrow there will be another press conference…but not now.
04. Organize your thoughts
Provide an empty head, so that there is room for initiative and positive thoughts. Our heads are often full of all kinds of small things (groceries, work, preparing the garden, sending emails, calling customers, etc.).
When these things are well organized and stored in a reliable system, you don’t have to think about them. Mind dumping can help you with this.
Write down your thoughts and empty your whole head. This gives peacefulness, and therefore there is more space for positive thoughts. When your head is empty, you can really learn to think positively.
05. Keep thinking sober
Once I read the search article that says happiness is a negative experience. For example, there are many happiness coaches, the only question is what it adds to positivity. In practice, it rather contributes to the opposite. So don’t look for something that isn’t there, but enjoy the little things that are there.
06. Avoid the negative outside influence
News sites, talk shows, negative stories. They all contribute to our thoughts. Sometimes it is not good to know everything or think about everything. Delete that news app from your phone, or watch a comedy instead of the news. Every bit helps.
07. Learn from difficult and painful situations
Very often you hear that people come out stronger after an extremely negative experience. People who have experienced something bad or serious situations often make even more conscious choices and are able to put things into a positive perspective more quickly. When you find yourself in a difficult situation, ask yourself what you can learn from it. Don’t linger too long in a victim role.
When you get fired you can think for a long time about the unfairness, the injustice, and how they treated you. Of course, you have to make room for this, and then the trick is to learn from it. What will you do with this experience and how will it make you stronger?
08. Consciously choose moments for yourself
Enjoying sports, a movie night, visiting friends. It doesn’t matter, but choose for example 1 evening a week for yourself. And do what gives you energy. The word selfishness often has a negative connotation. While selfishness keeps us alive and brings and keeps us together. When you feel good about yourself, you are not only more fun for yourself, but also for others.
