Believe it or not, you can literally recondition your brain to be positive. You can, ON A CHEMICAL LEVEL, change your genetic readout. (1). Our minds are way more capable than what we give them credit for.
Are you a “negative Nancy”? (no offense to any Nancy’s)
Are you always finding something to complain about?
Do you feel life is hopeless?
Are you quick to point out the problems instead of the solutions?
Do you struggle to find joy everyday?
Are you quick to get angry when things aren’t going your way?
Do you feel inadequate or lonely all the time?
Positivity and better living is the ability to take control of your life and focus on ONLY the positive which in turn increases your happiness and success! It’s the ability to push past all the negative and challenges in your life in order to be happy, love yourself, find yourself, and pursue your dreams.
a.k.a.
Living your BEST life.
In my younger years, I heard about how I could change my life for the better through positive thinking, but I discredited it as “not being for me” because “I’m stuck in my ways”, “I am the way I am”, and “that voodoo stuff doesn’t work on me!”
It seemed crazy! The idea that you could change your life, simply by thinking it so!
Well, our minds are powerful tools!
A perfect example of this is the placebo effect. Several studies show that if someone simply BELIEVES a medicine, treatment, or outcome will work for them, then it will. Without making any changes to what they are currently doing, they can see results in what they want simply by believing!
What about the little engine that could? “I think I can, I think I can!” He thought he could, and he did!
There are endless stories, sayings, and studies about how our minds control our outcomes, and this is because it’s true!
Before I started my positive journey, I was stuck in a place where I hated myself, I felt stuck in life, I felt lonely and overwhelmed by my depression and anxiety. I wasn’t taking time for myself or proper care of myself, and I wasn’t living my full potential. I was constantly feeling inadequate, guilty, and falling short. I felt like I was losing myself and there was no way back!
As I have implemented positivity in recent years, I have noticed the biggest changes and growth in 4 important categories, which helped me find the life I wanted to live. Mastering these categories can give you the courage to live! Live your dreams, live a happy life, and live to help others, which brings us true happiness!
4 Categories of Living Your Best Life
1. Positive Mindset
What do our minds control?
Well…Everything!
Everything revolves around what we think. Because we become what we think.
“What we think, we become.” -Buddha
If I am constantly putting myself down, making myself feel guilty, focusing on all my negative traits, then that’s all I’m ever going to feel and think!
I’m sure we’ve all heard countless stories about people who have defeated the odds, or overcame great adversity because they believed they could! They didn’t give up! They were positive when everything felt negative. They WILLED themselves to. Steve Harvey, Jim Carey, Helen Keller, Steven King, Temple Grandin, Thomas Edison.
You’ve probably, as I have, discredited this as something that you couldn’t possibly achieve because that “stuff” doesn’t work for you!
Well, you’re wrong, and I’m proof. Because I have thought those same things before and now I see positive thinking work in my life every day! I am able to shut out the negative, live a happy life, and pursue my dreams.
Create a Positive mindset by:
- Being grateful
Gratitude is addicting. When we experience gratitude it fills our brain with the chemical dopamine which results in a natural high. Because we enjoy this feeling so much, we want to recreate it, causing us to have the desire to be even more grateful. (2) Being grateful literally makes us happier!
- Accepting life
How often do you have it in your head that life has done you wrong, not giving you what you want, or owes you something. Create a mindset of accepting life and everything it throws at you! You can take it on.
- Choosing happiness
Happiness isn’t some far away concept that we hope to catch next time it’s in town. No, it’s a choice that we make every day no matter our circumstance, no matter our situation.
- Realizing You’re in Control
Create the mindset that you are in control of your own life, because you are! You have the power, you can make the changes, you have the power to choose!
- Creating happiness
You not only choose your happiness, but you can create it! You can choose to set yourself up for success every day by doing the little things that make a huge difference.
The more positive I think, the happier I am and the better my day goes. It naturally becomes harder for me to think negatively and focus on it because I’m reconditioning my brain to THINK differently.
You can recondition your mind to be happy, love yourself, and live life to the fullest.
You dictate your life. You can be in control of your emotions, feelings, and thoughts. DEFEAT feelings of doubt, insecurity, loneliness, fear, depression, and anxiety by reconditioning your brain.
2. Loving Yourself
Do you love yourself?
Are you confident? Are you constantly comparing yourself to others? Do you put yourself down all day? Are you overly critical? Do you think you are undeserving of love, happiness, and success?
So much of what we accomplish stems from what we think about ourselves. We don’t do “X” because we don’t think we’re smart enough, we can’t do “X” because we’ll just fail at it.
We think:
Nobody likes me
I have no friends
I’m never enough
…the list goes on.
And you’re WRONG.
You deserve happiness, you ARE enough, and you are LOVED!
YOU have to believe that.
It’s not something anybody can make you believe.
Love yourself by:
- Accepting who you are
Accept who you are, as you are. Own it! Be comfortable in your own skin. But also know that you can improve, become better, and change.
- Learning your strengths, talents, and weaknesses
Learn what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are, discover talents, skills, and character traits. How well do you know yourself?
- Don’t limit yourself
Don’t limit yourself based on past failures, or the fear of failure. Don’t limit or suppress who you are due to fear of what others think.
- You are deserving of happiness
You, yes YOU! Deserve happiness. You deserve ALL good things. You are not the exception to happiness. God doesn’t have a list of people who deserve happiness and those who don’t. No matter your past sins, experiences, or challenges you deserve happiness.
- Be willing to change
Be okay with change. Take constructive criticisms and be okay with the idea that you might need to improve and change. Don’t let one downfall, mistake, or weakness keep you down. Look at it as an opportunity to change, to become better, to reach your full potential.
- Put yourself out there
Don’t be afraid to fly! You have a place in life, in the world, and in the lives of every single person you come in contact with. If you’re lonely, put yourself out there! If you want something, go after it!
- You don’t have to settle
Don’t settle for less than your best! #cliche’ #highschoolposter. You don’t have to settle for anything! ANYTHING!
When we love who we are we focus less on ourselves and are able to help others, we have the confidence to go after our dreams and to put ourselves out there, we feel less guilty and more sure of ourselves, and we’re able to reach our full potential.
3. Finding Yourself
One of the greatest questions of life is “Why am I here?” “What am I supposed to be doing with my life?” “What is my purpose?”
Do you feel like you’re losing yourself? Like you aren’t embracing life or life isn’t stimulating enough for you?
We all seek purpose and validation. We want to be of value, we want to be contributing, creating, and working toward a greater goal or purpose.
Once you are able to think positively and love yourself for you, then you can start implementing that positivity toward a goal, a dream, or a purpose.
Do you know who you are? What you want out of life?
What is your purpose? Take the time to find out who you are!
Find Yourself By:
- Discovering your purpose
Take the time to discover your purpose! We have so many purposes in different seasons of life. What is yours now? What can it be?
- Challenging yourself
Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Grab life by the horns #texanatheart.
- Living your dreams
What are your dreams? Are you still dreaming? Do you plaster them all over your room? #teenagegirlroom. Are you working toward living the life you’ve always dreamed of? If not, why?
- Discovering what makes you, YOU
We are always changing and evolving as people as individuals and as a world. How have you changed? What new talents, hobbies, and interests do you have? Take time to journal and discover who you are!
- Accomplishing your goals
Even though they seem impossible, go after your goals!
- Strengthening your relationship with God
Who knows you better than anyone? God! Let him guide and direct your life. With him ALL things are possible! He’s your biggest cheerleader, friend, confidant, and Counselor. Work on strengthening your relationship with Him every day!
4. Proper Self-Care and the Little Things
Are you taking care of yourself? Are you finding joy in the little things? Are you taking time to smell the roses? Are you getting adequate sleep? Are you doing something for you every day WITHOUT feeling guilty?
Taking proper care of yourself and finding the joy in the little things is what life’s all about! It’s what makes life great!
If we aren’t taking time to do the small things that matter, then what’s the point? Life is rarely full of big events, endless vacations, and honeymoons!
You have to make positive memories every day in the little things!
Take care of YOU By:
- Doing the little things #saylittlethingsonemoretime
We rarely take the time for ourselves. We’re either too busy, too tired, or too guilty. You have to make time to do the things that make you happy.
- Getting rid of Guilt
Are you living your whole life feeling guilty for everything? You didn’t do this, or you aren’t able to do that! Sometimes we have to slow down, set our priorities and then plan and schedule accordingly. Do that, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about a thang!
- Knowing when it’s OK to say no
You can’t please EVERYONE all. the. time. Again, set your priorities and then stick to them. Don’t feel guilty for not solving everyone’s problems, and definitely don’t get anxious about it. You’re just creating more guilt, more anxiety, and more exhaustion by always saying yes!
- Living every day to the fullest
Find joy in every day! Set yourself up every day for success. Create a morning or night time routine, count your blessings at the end or beginning of each day. Stop worrying about the future, and don’t dwell in the past. Just live.
- Serving others
We often discover who we are and find happiness in the service of others. Make service a priority. Slow down so that you can say yes to helping others. It doesn’t always have to be yes, but don’t get so lost in your own life that you forget to help those around you!
Once you are able to conquer your mindset, love yourself, find yourself, and find joy in the little things, then you are truly living a happy life! As we find positivity in our own lives then we are better able to bless the lives of others, which brings true joy!
Change your mind; Change your LIFE!
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You grabbed my attention when you said: You can, ON A CHEMICAL LEVEL, change your genetic readout (with the power of mindset). So cool! And so motivating.
I loved that you made this relatable by sharing your own story and showing that you’re not some magic unicorn butterfly of positivity but someone who worked for it and achieved it. “Well, you’re wrong, and I’m proof.” You outline simple yet effective tools like: accepting life, accepting yourself, and discovering more about yourself.
I feel like the more deliberate I’ve become, the more accepting I’ve become, the less anxious and less guilty I feel and the more my goals have become realities.
Basically you’re one heck of a writer and I love your input.
Thanks Erin! You never disappoint with your comments! 🙂