Quick, long-lasting lifestyle tips for a positive mindset.

Despite my best efforts, life sure has a way of picking up its pace, and just when I think I have a handle on what my day will bring, something inevitably happens, causing me to shift my plans.

Add to that we live in a modern world where we are constantly peppered with requests, information, overbooked schedules, social expectations, and an increasingly difficult task of balancing our work and personal lives.

With all that going on, it’s not uncommon to feel stressed and overwhelmed by the ensuing chaos and uncertainty, and maintaining a positive mindset becomes not just a luxury but a necessity.

And don’t underestimate what a powerful tool a positive mindset can be.

It can help us navigate the complexities of our lives with resilience optimism, and even provide a sense of purpose.

If you have your doubts, here are several thoughts to consider.

First, a positive mindset can significantly impact our overall well-being, as a positive outlook on life helps to reduce the symptoms and effects of stress, anxiety, and depression, which promotes mental and emotional health.

As someone who has clinical depression and has battled with stress and anxiety in the past, I can certainly attest to this, but I think we can all relate.

We’ve all woken up on the wrong side of the world before, and it doesn’t take long to realize, as we start going through our day, that we are in a bad mood (and have a negative mindset).

During these times, even the most superficial inconvenience, like waiting in line for coffee at Starbucks while going to work, can set off stressful feelings and promote a negative outlook on the day by saying things to ourselves like “I don’t know why it takes them so long to make a cup of coffee, now I’m going to hit traffic and be late for work.”

Whereas if you had a positive mindset, you’d realize that it’s probably a typical wait time, or even if it wasn’t, you’re not going to blame the barista for your potential delay at work.

Second, a positive mindset fosters resilience and helps us bounce back from setbacks and challenges; we have a sense of adaptability.

In the Starbucks example, when we have a negative mindset, we often choose to think we have no options (playing the victim card) and continue to stand in line sulking (or fuming).

Whereas if we were more positive in our approach, we’d either choose to leave the line and opt for a coffee at work or use the time for standing in line as an opportunity to see if there is something to buy for lunch (to make up time later) or use your phone to check emails (which is what you were probably going to do first thing at work anyways).

Third, being positive will almost always enhance any relationship; people are just naturally drawn to positivity, making it much easier to connect and collaborate with others.

For example, while in that Starbucks line, you’d make instant (coffee line) friends with the people closest to you if you said, “You know, this line may be a little slow today, but their coffee is just so good it’s worth it, I just love their (fill in the type of coffee drink) they make.”

My guess is they would respond in kind, and a small talk session would develop, which not only builds a social bond but also passes the time.

Additionally, a positive mindset can even improve productivity and creativity by allowing us to approach tasks and problems with enthusiasm and open-mindedness.

We’ve all had issues we’ve tried to address when in a negative mood, but maybe after taking a walk (or screaming into a pillow), we took another look at it after a break, and suddenly a solution presented itself.

Whether we knew it or not at the time, we turned our negative mindset into a positive one. With that in mind, here are some simple daily actions you can try to help spark (or maintain) a positive mindset throughout the day.

Think positivity into existence

Have you ever noticed how bobsledders and pro golfers (or most any athlete) tend to close their eyes before taking their run down the course or hitting their golf shot? They are visualizing their actions before they perform because it’s possible to make something happen by thinking positivity into existence.

Now, this positive visualization is probably not tampering with the quantum mechanics that govern existence; nonetheless, there is something to be said that performing with confidence (not cockiness) does lead to better results. And there is no better friend of confidence than a positive mindset; it helps to maintain an optimistic perspective, and it encourages us to focus on the possibilities and opportunities ahead instead of the negativities and what could go wrong.

Practice thinking positivity into existence before you start your next big task. Instead of rushing to start, take a pause and just mentally think about the desired outcome (the closing of your eyes that the athletes do is optional) and go through what you need to do at a high level, including the steps you’ll be taking. Not only may it lead to better results, but this process can also highlight things you’ll need before you start (that you may have forgotten about).

Use the internet for good

When you stop and think about all the good the internet has provided the world, it’s truly a remarkable technology. Yet, despite its great potential for good, it certainly has a toxic element to some of it, so guard against its negativity. It really boils down to how you use it and your content decisions.

And even though we should all know better by now, spending hours upon hours online checking social feeds and getting news updates for fear of missing out on something negatively impacts our mental health. Social media can be filled with exaggerated (and highly edited) highlights of someone’s life intended to make you envious, and the news is almost always designed to create doubt and spread fear. And I can’t even believe that the conspiracy theorists are so successful in attracting so many followers; maybe we are all doomed after all. (Oh, well, we humans had a solid run as a species, I think).

But there are positive areas of the internet, too, including information on almost any topic you can think of from neutral sources, videos, and images of the most amazing things. After spending fifteen minutes watching funny/cute/adorable pet videos on YouTube, that’s enough to put me in a positive mindset for the rest of the day.

So just be mindful when you are online because, like anything else, there is good and bad out there; we won’t be able to avoid all the negativity, but we can at least try just to surf the positive waves.

Engage people and do nice things

You know that feeling when you give a few bucks to that charity as you enter the grocery store? Kinda feels good, right? It should; we did something we didn’t have to in order to help someone else out. That’s an easy example of what I mean by being engaging and doing something nice for someone. But it goes further.

Whether we pay someone a compliment, hold a door open, or just say hello to a stranger we pass on the street, those seemingly simple gestures enable complex and meaningful emotions for everyone involved. These sparks of human interaction stack upon themselves and build a positive foundation; it puts us in a good mood.

Sometimes, even making a simple comment while standing in line can bring joy and positivity to your day (and the people you talk to). Try introducing yourself to someone and see the magic happen; that small act of chit-chat can put us in a positive state of mind for hours and will even impact how we feel about ourselves and others (at least in the short term).

These often random acts of kindness and social engagement will noticeably add up to one powerfully optimistic and positive mindset.

Take shorter breaks more often

I take longer breaks between tasks when I want to accomplish other things, like taking a break to eat or a fifteen-minute coffee break to daydream or take a brief walk. But over the years, I started incorporating shorter breaks between each task, too; nothing more than a minute or two (or maybe three or four).

And I’ve found that taking these shorter breaks between tasks improves my positive mindset because my mind and body have a window to reboot, collect myself, and prepare for what’s coming next. I also don’t feel like I’m always rushed and seldom get overwhelmed. Also, these breaks are nothing formal; I usually close my eyes, take ten or fifteen full breaths, and try to calm my thoughts, and I feel all the benefits, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

It also works when I’m out in public. When I am in traffic, standing in line, or just out somewhere and start feeling a little stressed or sense I’m starting to get in a bad mood, I’ll just try not to think about anything and take ten full breaths and try to relax my neck and shoulders (I usually tense those areas during these times). And again, just this simple exercise starts the process of creating positive vibes, and I start feeling better about things. So take shorter breaks more often; it works!

Practice being grateful and thankful

I think practicing gratitude goes beyond simply observing a stunning sunset. Practicing being thankful involves actually making a conscious effort to share how that sunset made you feel, even if it’s with just yourself, solidifying your appreciation of something. In that way, keeping gratitude to ourselves does not amount to practicing it; instead, it almost signifies we are shying away from it.

To truly practice gratitude, we need to express it outwardly, such as telling a friend how much we value their companionship or noting how grateful we are for our family. For example, I have literally written down my gratitude on the back of grocery receipts, mentioning how thankful I feel to be able to provide myself with what I need when there are less fortunate people in the world. In the end, I would throw out the receipt because practicing gratitude is the act of writing down my feelings (to make them real), not keeping the scrap of paper itself.

Taking just a few moments every day to reflect on what we are thankful for can transform our mindset for the better; a positive mindset is a grateful one.

Closing thought

Our lives can run at a fast pace, and it’s easy to succumb to the negativity that we are repeatedly exposed to. That said, we can be proactive and work to create (or maintain) a positive mindset even when the world seems resolved to challenge our good intentions.

And you know what? It doesn’t take much of an effort. What it does take is a mindful approach to our day and a conscious effort to try and implement some of the ideas suggested in this article because I feel it will help lead to a positive mindset.