Over the last two years I have read a book entitled The Positive Dog with students I mentor. It's a book that emphasizes which dog are you feeding, the positive dog or the negative one. One of the strategies recommended in the book was to take a daily gratitude walk and reflect on what you are grateful for in life. Starting each day in this manner fills your mind and soul with positive thoughts.
One of the next steps to creating a positive mental attitude to practice daily gratitude. You can take a gratitude walk or keep a gratitude journal to reinforce your thinking. For this to be effective, it must be intentional and become part of our daily routine. We are creatures of habit and creating a habit of positive thinking can have a tremendous positive effect over time.
Another step is to stop reacting. Small negative events may occur during your day and can cause feelings of frustration or anger.Someone may something rude to you or cut you off in traffic. Don't let that ruin your day. You still own your actions to the thoughts you have. Teach yourself how to control your reactions and find other ways to respond to minimize the negativity. One strategy is to find humor in those situations and chalk it up to experience.
Another strategy is to associate with positive people. We tend to take in and reflect on the emotions and attitudes of those we spend the most time with. Surround yourself with people who will lift you up, who are confident, who find the silver lining. and who support you.
Next week's post will complete this series on creating a positive mental attitude.