Attitude Part 2 - How to develop a Positive Attitude?

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”  Winston Churchill. 

If you are reading this, I would like to congratulate you for having the will to work on yourself. The following points would take you in your desired direction of developing a positive attitude.

Accept yourself. The first step is to accept yourself the way you are. Only then would you be able to make yourself more positive as a person. The first thing we do on visiting the doctor is to accept that we have an illness and then we follow his prescribed medicine. Right? Now, make a commitment to yourself that you are going to follow the next steps.  

Be aware. Be aware of your own thoughts before you take any action. Take a deep breath. Be aware of your own thoughts. You can do this by observing your thoughts and feelings. Ask yourself, what am I thinking now? How is it making me feel? If you think it is negative, combat the thought with thinking exactly the opposite positive thought persistently. Visualize your own positive thought. Again ask yourself, how am I feeling now? If you feel better and more positive you are on the right track. Do this exercise time and again. You can even use a diary to record your feelings initially. Slowly you will develop a habit of thinking positive.

Act Judiciously. An attitude is most visible through the words we speak and the actions we take. Once you have followed step one, you are aware of your feelings and you have tried converting them into more positive ones. You would feel calmed down. Now, when you are in a more positive state, take a judicious action. Use your ‘Brain as a Filter’ between the stimulus you receive and the reaction you show. Always remember, you have the choice to react the way you want. Once you have mastered the art, you be able to chose your actions and transform your life. Read Emotional Freedom.

Act Now. Most of us indulge in procrastination. Each day we keep postponing things and assure ourselves that we’ll do it later. Sadly, that ‘later’ never arrives and we are overwhelmed by a sense of guilt. Unknowingly we are draining our positive energies by procrastinating. Read more about Overcoming Procrastination.  Have a ‘do it now’ attitude and you will infuse positive energies in your day and this will make it a lot more easy for you to develop and sustain a positive attitude.

Positive Affirmations. This is a powerful tool to change one’s thinking pattern. Use it to your advantage. Write down positive statements about yourself and tell them frequently to yourself many times a day for 21 days. E.g.; I always see the brighter side in all situations. I am a peaceful person. I always think before I take an action. You would see a change. Read Positive Affirmations: Positive words that will improve your life!

Replacement. This involves replacing negative words or phrases with their positive counterparts. The technique is a verbal counterpart of the mindset change that we have spoken before. Try to be a more positive speaker – both when you are speaking to yourself and when you are speaking to others. For instance, instead of saying “I will not be tense”, say “I will be relaxed”. It has been seen that the human mind is prone to get attracted to and to think about things which it explicitly is instructed to avoid. Try this – say “I will not think of a white elephant”, and see what image crops up in your mind! It may seem childish or naive, but this technique has been proved by research to work wonders.

Practice. It takes practice to learn to develop a positive attitude like any other skill. May be this would take longer than the others, but persevere. But once you have mastered it, you feel more in control of your life. Positive energies begin to flow and each day becomes brighter no matter what is happening around you, because you start looking at the brighter side of life. Also, read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to make lasting changes in your personal and professional life.  

Lastly, have confidence in yourself that you can face the challenges of life and emerge as winner. Read about people who have achieved success and mimic their behaviors  Have the belief that things are in your control and you have the power to choose.

 “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”  Anthony J. D'Angelo. 

Read more quotes on Positive Attitude.

Cheers!