Sometimes life gets you down. You’re feeling sad, stressed out, or just not up to par. It can be difficult to think positively and feel good about yourself and your situation in these times. This blog post is full of positive thinking exercises that will help keep your head up!
Start your day with a positive attitude.
Start your day with a positive attitude. You may not feel all that great as you arise from sleep, but it is important to remember that if you start the morning in an upbeat mood, then more likely than not, you will continue throughout the day feeling positive and confident about yourself. It can be tough at times to get into a good frame of mind even when things are going well for us; however, it becomes easier when we make the decision right away upon waking up to turn our thoughts toward something happy and wonderful instead of dwelling on negative feelings or stressful circumstances.
Keep a gratitude journal to write down three things you are grateful for each day.
By keeping a gratitude journal, you can take a few minutes out of your day to reflect on the positive things in your life.
- Reminding yourself about what’s going well for you helps combat negative thoughts and feelings that might otherwise get stuck in your head.
- When we are grateful for something or someone in our lives, this creates an upward spiral where good things continue happening to us.
- Gratitude slows the heart rate and lowers blood pressure, which promotes health and wellness.
Think about what you want, not what you don’t have
One of the positive thinking exercises I love to do is think about what I want, not what I don’t have. For example, if you’re looking for a new job and it’s taking longer than expected, focus on the type of company that would be perfect for your skillset or that values employees as people and not just employees. It may seem like focusing on the positive will only make things worse in the short term while waiting around for an opportunity to present itself. Still, this exercise does help me stay motivated during tough times because I’m thinking about something different instead of kicking myself over missed opportunities.
I also use positive thinking exercises such as writing down everything good that happened each day when my mood starts dipping or meditating before bed every night. Meditation helps clear out any negativity from my mind.
Survey your surroundings and find something that makes you happy
You have some happy memories and positive associations with people who are important to you. The good things about your life will come back around again, although it may not be the same or in the way that you expected.
If something is bothering you right now, take a break for five minutes before making any decisions so that you can let go of some of your anxiety and regain clarity about what’s best for yourself–and don’t forget: even though this situation might feel like one big mess at first glance, there’s always a silver lining waiting to emerge from the dark clouds if we keep our heads up!
Practice self-compassion by telling yourself it’s ok to make mistakes and be imperfect.
Practice self-compassion is one of the best positive thinking exercises you can do to help yourself feel better.
Acknowledge that it’s ok to make mistakes and be imperfect. Better yet, embrace your shortcomings! That way, when they come up again in the future, you’ll know how to deal with them more constructively because you’re not going to beat yourself up about it anymore.
Find ways to help others – volunteer at a homeless shelter, donate clothes or food, give money to charity, etc.
If you keep your head up and focus on helping others, you’ll find it easier to keep positive in your own life.
- Volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen – donate clothes, food, money (or other goods) to those who need them.
- Plant trees for Earth Day – take care of the environment by doing something positive every day.
- Learn a new skill that will bring you joy – cooking for yourself can be therapeutic if done often enough! Plus, eating healthy is proven to boost moods.
- Keep an open mind about everything happening around you and understand that where there’s good, there’s also bad – nothing has just one side. That way, when things go wrong – whether they’re minor inconveniences.
Make a list of all the things you’re grateful for
Make a list of all the things you’re grateful for. You will be so surprised at how many positive, kind and wonderful things happen to you that it’s easy to forget about them. But when we take a moment to reflect on what those are — they make us feel good!
- A loving family
- The ability to go outside and enjoy nature or time with friends
- Freedom of speech
- Clean water
Write down ten things that make you happy.
Positive thinking exercises also can be done by writing down ten things that make you happy. When we feel blue, it is a good idea to remind ourselves of the positive aspects of our life and list them out on paper. Even if some days all your positive thoughts seem like they’re underwater (and perhaps not even visible), when you go through this exercise again at a later time, these positives should feel more apparent
- my favorite restaurant
- smiling children
- being with family
- a walk along the beach
All those might have been there before, but now I can see them clearer than ever!
Keep your head up and look forward to what’s next
By keeping your head up and looking forward, you’ll be able to see the opportunities that come your way and appreciate what’s in front of you.
Practice positive self-talk by speaking out loud about how good life is going for you or using affirmations like “I’m doing great,” “today will be awesome,” and “life is amazing.” This can help boost confidence and keep negativity at bay.
Keep a gratitude journal where every day writes down three things that went well today as well as one thing they’re grateful for – anything from feeling healthy to having a roof over their head. Practicing this simple exercise can make it easier to notice when negative thoughts arise to be countered with new perspectives on what’s going right now instead of dwelling on.
Don’t compare yourself to others – everyone has their journey
When you compare yourself to others, you are setting yourself up for failure. You could then end up feeling like a total loser and give up because what’s the point anyways?
We can’t all be millionaires by 30 or have been on Oprah five times. It is important to focus on your own goals instead of comparing them to someone else’s.
Your journey will still lead to happiness – just in a different way than somebody who has accomplished more than you at this stage in their life might enjoy now.
Be mindful when thinking about people who have hurt you in the past
You should be mindful when thinking about people who have hurt you in the past.
This is because while it’s sometimes helpful to reflect on your traumas and how they may be contributing to your current mood, ruminating too much can cause a cycle of negative thoughts that are hard to break out of.
Instead, take time each day for positive self-talk. This means engaging with positive affirmations or statements like “I am enough! I deserve love!” as well as visualizations (which we will cover more below). Seek reassurance from friends or family members if necessary when listening to their perspective, which could provide an external influence on your thinking process. The important thing here is to remind yourself what you already know.
Stop judging other people and replace negative thoughts with more positive ones.
One of the best ways to stay positive or positive thinking exercise is to stop judging other people and replace negative thoughts with more positive ones. This means not looking at the world through your beliefs but instead noticing things you admire about others. You can also do this by thinking of a few good things from your day before going to bed each night or when you wake up in the morning. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a moment without any judgmental feelings.
This is one way that could help promote positive thinking exercise because it requires putting yourself in someone else’s perspective and feeling whatever they are feeling without making judgments on what would be best for them or their decisions. It may sound difficult, but it will cause your heart to grow bigger as you try harder to understand their situation better.
Keep a gratitude journal to write down your favorite things each day
A gratitude journal helps you to do positive thinking exercises all the time. It’s a journal where you write down your favorite things every day, and there are three ways to do this:
- Put everything that you’re grateful for in your head on paper each morning as soon as possible, so it becomes part of a routine
- Write about one positive experience from each day before going to bed at night
- Find or create images with inspirational quotes and post them throughout the week to help keep you inspired (i.e., “You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice,” by Bob Marley)
Practice mindfulness by focusing on the present moment and putting your worries aside
To remain positive, you should practice mindfulness by focusing on the present moment and putting your worries aside. Mindfulness is an exercise for the body, mind, and soul that helps you live in the here-and-now with a positive attitude.
Practicing mindfulness can reduce stress levels by lowering blood pressure while improving immune function and reducing anxiety and depression symptoms. This mental state has also been shown to improve physical health through decreased muscle tension; pain relief from headaches and chronic conditions like a migraine; improved sleep quality; weight management support by decreasing emotional eating patterns; reduced inflammation throughout the body due to less cortisol production which combats high cholesterol, heart disease risk factors such as diabetes mellitus type II or hypertension (high blood pressure); increased endorphin levels which help manage mood disorders such as major.
Make an effort to smile more often, even if it’s just for a few seconds
Smiling is a cutting-edged weapon for positive thinking exercises. It can make others feel good, and it is a mood booster for you! So try to smile more often throughout the day, even if it’s just for a few seconds.
Smiling will make other people happy around you, which makes them want to help or interact with you. Plus, when your face muscles are made of tension, they constrict your breathing passages which do not lead to an upbeat mood.
This great exercise promotes positive thinking because it changes the way we look at things from negative to positive by simply changing one facial muscle position (the mouth).
Try something new – going outside of your comfort zone can be refreshing!
Try something new – going outside of your comfort zone can be refreshing! Doing something a little out there, like taking up ballroom dancing or signing up for cooking classes, will not only feed the soul but might even give you some downtime from high-level thinking.
When you fall behind, you can stand out by positive thinking exercises and work with what’s already in front of you to create an opportunity no one else has noticed yet.
Summing up,
Our brains are powerful and can be used to our advantage. By practicing positive thinking, you will see happiness in your life and increase productivity! Try these tips for a week – they might seem small, but the difference is amazing! What other techniques have you tried?
