Did you know that you can actually use positive thinking to transform your life?
It’s true, researchers have conducted over 200 studies on 275,000 people worldwide.
They found that positive thinking leads to success in nearly every discipline, including work, health, friendship, sociability, creativity, and success.
It turns out that your brain is literally hardwired to perform at its best not when it’s negative or even neutral, but when it’s positive and happy.
You become more successful when you are happier and more positive.
So, how can you use positive thinking to transform your life? Here are my top tips on how to make it work for you.
Do What Makes You Happy
Because positive brains have a biological advantage over brains that are neutral or negative training your brain to capitalize on happiness will transform your live.
So, how do you accomplish that?
You do the things that make you happy.
For you, that might be keeping a gratitude journal to keep track of what you are thankful for. It might be spending time with friends and family. It might be even be spending time serving others.
Here are some other things that you can do to be happy…
It’s crucial do what makes you happy today.
Taking your life too seriously rarely breeds the kind of success that you want out of it.
It doesn’t matter where you are in your life — take some time today to step back, and do something that will make you happy.
If you can’t find the time to do the things that truly make you happy today, you will regret it later.
Develop A Positive Mindset
How you experience the world, and your ability to succeed in it, constantly changes based on your mindset.
Henry Ford said that what you think determines your results,
If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.
What you think about yourself determines everything.
Your mood…
Your attitude…
Your perspective…
Your success…
Whether you believe that you will succeed, or believe that you will fail, you will be completely right.
It is all based on what you believe.
We all deal with the back-and-forth battle between Limiting Beliefs andEmpowering Beliefs.
You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights. ―Brian Tracy
So, how can you win the battle?
Replace your Limiting Beliefs with Empowering Beliefs.
Instead of saying, “If I try that I’ll probably fail and look stupid.” Tell yourself, “If I fail I can use it as a learning experience.”
You get the idea.
The cool thing is that you get to choose.
Choosing to have a positive mindset will transform your life.
Focus on What Is Most Important To You
If you know what you want in the future, you will know what matters most right now.
What do you want most in life?
If you’re not focused on what matters most it’s not because you are lazy or unfocused — it’s because you don’t know what matters most.
Here’s how you can get clear on what matters most and use it to align your time:
1. Start In The Evening
A successful day to starts the night before. For a few moments before you go to sleep, imagine waking up, and having the day of your wildest dreams.
Visualize how it will go, what you want to achieve, and how you will feel about what you have accomplished.
You may even want to write down 3 actions that will make this day a reality.
2. Have A Morning Routine
Create a morning routine that works for you. One that will get you out of bed and moving in the right direction.
Notice, I didn’t say that you need to get up at 4:30, meditate for 30-minutes, make your bed, and take an ice cold shower.
I said to create a routine that works for you.
3. Know Your Why
You have probably heard a lot about the power of knowing your why, and that’s because it’s extremely powerful.
Knowing and constantly reminding yourself of your why will help you focus on what matters most throughout.
4. Know Your Most Important Task
Every day, schedule a key block of time to complete your most important task.
Brian Tracey calls this Eating Your Frog, Gary Keller calls it your One Thing, and Leo Babauta calls it your Most Important Task.
It doesn’t matter what you call it. What is important it that you know what it is, and you make sure that you get it done every day.
Use Failure to Stimulate Success
When your brain gets stuck in a pattern that focuses on stress, negativity, and failure, you set yourself up to fail.
The secret to success is finding the path that not only leads you up out of failure and negativity but teaches you to be happier and more successful because of it.
We all know how hard it can be to fail at something and you may instinctively want to give up after a failure.
But, if you give up each time something goes wrong, you will encourage having a low sense of self-worth and may become too scared to ever try again.
However, it is important to remember each time you fail at something it teaches you a valuable lesson.
You can learn from your mistakes, and use what you learned to do better next time.
Instead of becoming miserable when you fail at something, learn to use each failure to help transform your life!
Cultivate Positive Relationships
In the midst of challenges and stress, some of us choose to hunker down and retreat within ourselves. But the most successful people invest in their friends, peers, and family members to propel themselves forward.
Surround yourself with your family, and other positive people who will give you a greater sense of well being.
Take the time out of your busy schedule to socialize with them.
Get out and try new things.
Have fun!
Being appreciated, loved, and supported by your family and friends will help improve your mental health and help you become the best version of yourself possible.
In Conclusion
What you spend your time and mental energy focusing on can indeed become your reality.
“If we continue to do what average people do you will continue to be average.”
If you want to be successful you need to do something different.
These tips will help you do what makes you happy, develop a positive mindset, focus on what is important, and cultivate positive relationships.
They will help you overcome obstacles, become more efficient and productive, conquer your most ambitious goals, and reach your fullest potential.
In essence, they will transform your life.
Originally published on Medium
Photo—JD Hancock/Flickr