Are you a worrywart? Maybe you can’t see the brighter side of life, complain a lot, things don’t go your way, or hesitate to experiment outside of your comfort zone? These are attributes of negative thinking.
Negative thinking can lead to depression and weaken your attention and memory, as well as the way you process and make decisions. It can also limit your cognitive flexibility (the ability to adapt your goals and strategies to changing situations) and select functioning (the ability to take all the steps to get something done). There have been many studies conducted correlating repetitive negative thinking and depression.
Positive thinking is the practice or inclination to be positive or optimistic in life. When you are positive, you engage in positive thinking, have positive emotions and engage in positive behaviors like gratefulness and generosity. The challenge with positive thinking is that it performs at the surface level of conscious thoughts. It does nothing to assert with the subconscious mind where negative self-talk and limiting beliefs really live. If you’ve tried thinking positively, you know that it can be a difficult habit to maintain.
However, you can develop positive thinking by retraining your brain to curtail negative thoughts. You can do this by being aware of your thoughts, starting a journal, understanding your triggers, creating a personal mantra, practicing daily gratitude, switching your environment if necessary and implementing a morning routine.
Positive thoughts can change your brain.
Positive thinking changes the chemistry of the brain affecting genetic markers and can change brain cells. The change in genetic traits is a catalyst for our well-being and future generations. Positive thinking is also associated with an increase in cells that boost your immune system.
Positive people have more energy and are more self-confident and have hope. Because of this, they tend to set higher goals and expend more effort to reach their goals. They are also more resilient, which helps them bounce back and persevere despite setbacks.
A positive mindset leads to success for many reasons. It relieves stress and helps you to relax and stay on top of difficult situations. It also helps to manage stress, build resilience and cope with challenges more easily. The first thought to overcoming a challenge is to believe you can. Our mind is powerful, and we can use it to persuade ourselves to give up, or we can use it to motivate ourselves to keep going regardless to whatever obstacles are in our way.
Self-confidence is the most positive emotion for success. Positive vibes are contagious; it spreads optimism everywhere it goes so people feel comfortable around you. Positive feelings expand your repertoire of thoughts and actions, which makes it easier to make decisions.
There are different types of positive thinking
- Self-encouragement thinking
- Self-assertive thinking
- Self-instructive and control thinking
- Self-affirmative thinking
Lastly, but certainly not least, it is very important to mind the company you keep. You want to surround yourself with positive-thinking people. You should remove yourself from people who are unsupportive, toxic communicators, envious or jealous, have controlling behaviors, are dishonest and so on.
You will find that the more positivity you exert, negative people will begin to disassociate themselves from you or those who are inclined to be positive will stick to you like glue. Don’t fret about what could go wrong. Expect all to go right.
Words by Kaba Abdul-Fattaah.
