Change your life with one small, simple mind-shift
“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” Winston Churchill
I’ve always been a strong believer in the power of positivity and optimism. One of my first memories of leveraging the power of positive thinking was when I was little and first learning how to water ski. As I bobbed up and down in the water with my oversized life jacket hiked up to my ears, struggling with the huge wooden skis as they flopped from side to side, my dad swam in the water beside me giving me tips on what to do.
“Hold your legs straight, nice and strong, and keep the ski tips up above the water. Then grit your teeth, and say ‘I can do it!’- Let me hear it!” he would say.
…and then he’d wait until I did exactly as he instructed. But I couldn’t say “…I can do it” under my breath with little enthusiasm or oomph. I had to say it with determination, convinction, and confidence: “I CAN do it!!”
This was the routine every time before the boat started to pull me, and my dad never let me get away without doing as he asked. I remember thinking it was the silliest ritual and not wanting to cooperate, but I would always begrudgingly grit my teeth and yell “I can do it!” even if I didn’t necessarily believe it.
But you know what? It worked. I was up on the water skiing around as soon as I was old enough to be doing it- going as far as my older sisters and trying all of the tricks that they did.
Even if I didn’t fully believe in it at the time, just saying the positive mantra out loud had the effect that my dad wanted it to have on me: it gave me the boost that I needed to be successful at what I was trying to accomplish.
Since then, I’ve had countless experiences with the benefits of looking on the bright side of things; and I’m not the only one. Hundreds of studies have been done, and articles written on “the power of positive thinking,” optimism, and the benefits of using affirmative visualizations. What I find so interesting is that the end result is always the same. As Psychologist Michael F. Scheier puts the results of his studies on optimism:
“…optimism is clearly associated with better psychological health, as seen through lower levels of depressed mood, anxiety, and general distress, when facing difficult life circumstances, including situations involving recovery from illness and disease…optimism is connected to positive physical health outcomes, including decreases in the likelihood of re-hospitalization following surgery, the risk of developing heart disease, and mortality.” Source: (http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/04/how-the-power-of-positive-thinking-won-scientific-credibility/256223/)
Many other people have experienced this result as well: being positive doesn't only make things in your life much sunnier; it can also make you a happier, healthier person! I attribute this to the basic law of attraction: like things attract. If you put out positive vibes into the world, you’re going to get them in return.
Whether you have more pessimistic tendencies, or you already lean towards the optimist side, you can still focus on increasing the positive vibes in your life to reap the benefits. So why not give it a try?
Here are a few super-simple things to try that take no time and extremely minimal effort, but can completely change the trajectory of your day:
1. Smile. Even if you have to fake it- for the next few people that you come across today- give them a big ‘ol smile and see what happens. How’d you feel afterwards?
2. Turn it positive. The next time you catch yourself with something negative going through your head, stop that thought and reframe it into something positive. This could mean that you completely turn around your thought: “I’m terrible at public speaking” to “I totally rock at making presentations!” (and it doesn’t have to be something that you necessarily believe to be true yet- fake it until you make it!); or just rephrase something you were thinking: “My love life is such a mess!” can be changed to “I'm really happy with where I am in so many different aspects of my life, so that allows me more space to focus on this one area I'd like to improve.”
3. Try a Mantra or Affirmation (like my dad’s “I can do it!”). It’s surprising how just repeating something over and over can eventually make you start to believe it. Give it a whirl with something during your day: repeat “Light, happy, free!” during a difficult run; keep telling yourself “I’m calm, cool, and confident” as you prepare for a big meeting or interview; or try “I LOVE this!” (with extra enthusiasm) while you scrub the bathroom floors. You’ll likely feel a little silly, but if nothing else, laughing at yourself will help brighten up the situation!
4. Picture yourself talking to your son/daughter/niece/nephew. This one tends to really hit home, especially for women that are extra hard on themselves. Only let your mind think thoughts or say things to yourself that you would tell your son/daughter/niece/nephew. Would you ever tell your daughter that she would look cute in that dress if it wasn’t for her dimply thighs and veiny legs that show out of the bottom of it? Or would you tell your nephew that he can’t ever seem to do anything right and is a total failure? I sure hope the answer to those scenarios are both heck NO! So why do we feel like it is completely acceptable to have this type of inner dialogue with ourselves about ourselves? Well its not- so cut it out! One of my favorite quotes is “Be NICE to yourself! It’s hard to be happy when someone is mean to you all the time.”
So here’s your action item: Give at least one of the above items a try, with the aim of starting to turn your everyday thoughts and actions into more positive ones. Then in the comments below, let me know what you tried and how it impacted you! Bonus points if you take a picture and post your positive self or activity on instagram or twitter! Just be sure to tag me @kimberlyhoye and use the hashtag #healthandhappinessconnection so that we can all follow along to see what you’re up to.
I can’t wait to see how the power of positive thinking helps you bring amazing change into your life!
Smiles,
Kim
P.S. If this topic is something that you are interested in reading more about, you can get a FREE eBook written by Norman Peale, the author of the international bestseller “The Power of Positive Thinking” by accessing the following link: http://www.guideposts.org/free-ebooks/positive-thinking-2012-rediscover-power-positive-thinking-norman-vincent-peale Enjoy!
