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Mindset literally means the state of your mind. It is the thing that influences your actions and behavior. Mindset is how you perceive the world. When we put the word positive in front of it, then everything changes. Having a positive mindset means that you are able to keep your state of mind happy throughout your day no matter what happens.
If you are struggling with having a positive mindset, or want to improve your mindset I am here to tell you that it’s possible! Our brains can literally be “rewired” so to speak, and we can start thinking differently. Mel Robbins mentions this in the video I will link, but for some people who have a negative outlook on life it will feel like writing with their opposite hand when they try to think positively.
People who think on the positive side tend to take care of themselves better than their pessimistic counterparts. They even tend to LOVE themselves more which I feel like is a key to living your best life. The confidence you have in yourself to achieve your dreams, love yourself, and love others in return is a recipe for the best life possible that you can live. If you want to scroll down to find some books on positivity go for it, but I’m just going to provide some quick things that will hopefully help you identify when you are going down a negative path.
The first step is to IDENTIFY the negative thinking, and common forms of negative self-talk include:
- Filtering. You first think about ALL the negative aspects of a situation and filter out the positive ones.
- Personalizing. You blame yourself whenever something bad happens.
- Catastrophizing. You think about the WORST possible thing that could happen. It’s like worrying ALL the time.
- Blaming. You say someone else is responsible for what happened instead of taking ownership of the situation. You avoid taking responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings.
- Saying you “should” do something. Guilt that hits your because you think of all the things you should do and blame yourself for not doing them.
- Magnifying. You make a big deal out of little problems.
- Perfectionism. You keep impossible standards for yourself which sets you up for failure and makes you SUPER critical of yourself and others.
- Polarizing. You only see things as if they are good or bad. There is no middle ground.
The next step is to just focus on positive thinking.
- Identify areas to change. It may be who you hang out with or what you do when you’re alone, but it definitely makes a difference when you stop drinking large amounts of alcohol or eating a bunch of junk food. It is crazy what that alone can do for your brain.
- Check Yourself. Stop throughout the day and evaluate your thoughts and feelings. If they are good then keep them, if not replace them with happy thoughts.
- Be open to humor. Teaching kindergarteners has opened me to this piece of advice. Give yourself permission to laugh. Seek humor in everyday happenings.
- Follow a healthy lifestyle. I get it, the last thing people who are depressed want to do is exercise. Heck, people who aren’t clinically depressed don’t want to exercise either, but 30 minutes for 4 days a week is all you need! Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. Sleep enough, and learn breathing techniques or pray continually to help manage stress. Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28-30.
- Surround yourself with positive people. This is HUGE! Make sure they give helpful advice and feedback. Bitter and negative people can suck the life right out of you, so it’s best not to stay with them for very long.
- Practice positive self-talk. Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else.
Here is a list of positive affirmations you can use…
- I am loved by the right people.
- God created me for a purpose.
- I am beautifully and wonderfully made.
- I am a daughter of the most high King.
- I am beautiful just the way I am.
- I am strong.
- I am smart.
- I am amazing.
- I am a beautiful woman of God.
- Jesus loves me.
Literally anytime you are being attacked by the enemy with destructive and depressive thoughts, just keep thanking God for who you are and who He created you to be. Submit God and the devil will flee. I truly believe it is the devil that attacks people’s minds and tries to get them to be much less than their created purpose on this earth. That is why I’m recommending secular and spiritual books on positivity.
- Pound The Stone – Joshua Mecalf
- The Mountain Is You – Brianna Wiest
- The 5 Second Rule – Mel Robbins
- The Science of Positivity – Loretta Graziano Breuning
- Habits of a Happy Brain – Loretta Graziano Breunning
- The Power of Positive Thinking – Norman Vincent Peale
- I heard Good Laugh – Matthew Kelly
- Develop a Beautiful Mind God’s Way – Eunice Onode
The bottum line is this, if you do not have a positive outlook on life and no one in your friend group or family ever has either, there is still hope for you! It is never too late to retrain your brain. The fact that you’re looking at this says that there is still hope. God wants you to live the life He created you to live. Christian’s are supposed to be the most optimistic people, but the devil wants to do everything to prevent this from happening. The war is not with you and it isn’t with other people. It is with the devil, and every time you choose to think a different way or choose a different path he runs away to come back at a different time. He hates us, but God is WAY more powerful than the devil is. Use your alone time to pray and get to know God even better in order to get used to His voice and what He actually says about you. He loves you more than you can imagine. He is the best antidote to depression that I personally can think of.