How to Cultivate a Positive Mindset – A Step by Step Guide
This step by step guide is just that, a guide of helpful ways that you can follow at your own pace on how to grow a positive mindset. Of course, all of these steps are simple to follow and the good news is they won’t cost you a penny!
I will show you how, within yourself, you have all the necessary tools to grow your positive mindset today, without delay.
Accepting your thoughts
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Take a moment to listen to the voice or voices inside your head. What do you hear? How much is positive and how much is negative?
Its human nature to experience both positive and negative thoughts, the trick is to acknowledge the negative thought and if it serves you no real purpose then as the song goes, “Let It Go”
If you notice mid-sentence that you’re talking negatively, stop and re-word your sentence, you will soon become so practised that you won’t need to do this.
Easier said than done perhaps, but what do you do when it comes to negative thoughts? Examine the negative dialogue in your head and reword it. Give yourself time and space and notice how you feel when you listen to the negative thoughts. Would you speak to your loved ones in that way?
Positive Mindset
However, it is unrealistic to think you can remain positive all the time. But rather than reacting to difficult situations that you find yourself in, you decide how you feel or want to react. You take back the power, you take control.
With practice, you can start to re-direct your thoughts and develop techniques on your verbal speech.
Building a positive mindset is not something that happens overnight. It takes practice and commitment but the rewards last a lifetime.
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Keep Positive Company
We all need to feel like we belong and are loved within our family, circle or tribe. It’s vitally important for the growth of your positive mindset that you surround yourself with like-minded individuals, those who enhance your environment and hold your interests at heart.
Sometimes these types of people are not naturally in your life and so you should actively look to fill your life with like-minded individuals who will lift you up, fill you with joy and help you to be the best of you that you can be.
When you have built this network of like-minded individuals and you feel connected to your tribe you will benefit enormously and you can truly be yourself, safe in the knowledge that you will be understood and inspired by those around you.
There will be individuals in your life who won’t “get you” and are not part of your tribe, they don’t lend anything to your life and are not truly concerned for you. These may be family members or simply friends from your past.
Sometimes it may be necessary to remove these people from your life, for your own development, growth or sanity…and that is allowed! You don’t need negative people in your life.
Practice Gratitude
This is such a simple exercise and can be done from the minute you open your eyes in the morning, right through the day, to when you climb into bed at night.
A simple act of gratitude every day will certainly bring you closer to growing a positive mindset leaving you with a sense of connection to your world and a more optimistic and positive outlook on life.
10 simple ways to practice gratitude during your day is outlined below;
- Keep a gratitude diary and add to it every day, this can be done first thing in the morning or just before you go to sleep,
- Tell someone you love them and how grateful you are to have them in your life,
- Cultivate the friendships you have, good friends are rare to find,
- Perform an act of kindness,
- Avoid engaging in or reading negative social media and news media
- Send a positive or complimentary message to someone you’ve not seen recently,
- If someone does something nice for you, return the favour,
- Send love to those who’ve done you wrong,
- Be thankful for the job you have which allows you to pay your bills,
- Say what you are grateful for with your family at mealtimes around the dinner table.
“Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy” ~ FRED DE WITT VAN AMBURGH
Pay it forward – Give back
The concept of “paying it forward” or giving back to society is not new and yet so few embark on this simple yet satisfying and rewarding deed. I guarantee you this simple step if implemented in your life will boost your positive mindset and fill your heart with love.
How we value ourselves and others impact our world and I’m not talking about the monetary value or the things we possess. It’s easy to get caught up in our own self-worth and what we own, so that is why it is so important to give back or pay it forward.
The art of giving back highlights and often beams a harsh light on the reality of the world we live in and makes us aware of how others around us struggle as they battle through life, whilst we, on the other hand, get caught up in minuscule problems that pale in insignificance. A lesson here in gratitude is automatically being learnt.
There are numerous ways in which you can make a significant contribution for example;
You can lend your time (valuable as it is) spending it with people, older parents or grandparents or younger members of the family who may see it as a great gift to have your attention.
Volunteer at the local homeless shelter or as a “grand pal” at the local nursing home.
You can use your money to donate and support a charity or purchase some food for the homeless person who sits outside your local shop.
Become an advocate and a voice for those who are disadvantaged, civil rights, minority groups, women’s rights whatever you are passionate about. Another opportunity to learn a lesson in gratitude as this make you grateful for your own life and raises your social awareness.
Putting it into practice
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By following the above step by step guide you will be well on your way to growing a much more positive mindset. Further growth and positive thinking mindset ideas can be found here.
Encouraging positive thoughts to form, is the key to success in most circumstances and will ensure a positive outcome to your day.
Positive thinking is a mental attitude that once practised and mastered is a lifelong gift you give yourself.
Remember you are responsible for yourself and your own happiness. Be careful what you tell yourself, how you treat yourself and how you react to the world.
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10 Comments
Henderson · August 30, 2019 at 12:54 pm
Hello Julie, this is highly inspirational.
Were zooming off to a new month and what better way to kick it off than having a good and positive mindset.
I believe that having an attitude of gratitude is really important. One thing I see is that the mindset is more than just thinking it, it’s all about doing it.
I love your post and I have learnt from it. I hope to see more!
Julie Anne Byrne · August 30, 2019 at 4:47 pm
Delighted you loved my post, I aim to inspire!
New month, new opportunity to incorporate some new positive and awe inspiring thoughts into your life, I love it.
I firmly believe the more gratitude you practice the more the universe gives you reasons to be grateful for, and what’s not to like about that.
I hope to continue to inspire you…
grea8J · August 30, 2019 at 1:03 pm
Thanks Julie, great article.
All these are very important ways to keep a positive mindset. It takes much discipline to cultivate. For instance, when I listened to the thoughts in my head, most of them are positive but negative thoughts also creep in sometimes.
Putting these exercises into practice will go a long way. Also by nourishing our spirit and soul through meditation, affirmation and visualisation, we can easily improve in our mindset.
Julie Anne Byrne · August 31, 2019 at 10:50 am
Delighted you enjoyed this read. You are right of course it takes discipline to put into practice the act of cultivating a good mindset. Some deeply ingrained thoughts can take a long time to change, but as the saying goes “practice makes progress”!
I find it’s important to acknowledge all of our thoughts whether they are good or not. Cultivate the good positive thoughts, acknowledge and “let go” of all others that do not serve you.
I like your idea to nourish, it’s vitally important that all aspect of our being and body is nurtured in the right way.
jessetoikkanen · August 30, 2019 at 1:05 pm
Very nice article and I found these tips quite interesting! This 10 steps practice gratitude sounds like a routine/practice I will test tomorrow. Most of the time I have been doing most of these routines but there are also some I have missed or done pretty bad way. Especially avoiding to engage in negative social media threads and news is something I should start to avoid.
Most of the time when taking part in some negative stuff on social media, I don’t only get in a bad mood myself but also hurt someone else. However, if most of us would follow these pretty simple routines, the world would be much better place to all of us, I would say! 🙂
Julie Anne Byrne · August 31, 2019 at 8:52 pm
I am pleased that you liked my article and found some tips that you can implement on the practice gratitude section. I’m a firm believer that the more we practice being grateful in our lives the more the universe will provide us with reasons to be grateful.
It’s easy to get sucked into other peoples negative views on social media it might be best to start by eliminating these types of people from your news feed and avoid engaging in negative comments, take a deep breath and count to 20 or just move on. A good motto to implement “if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all”
Wishing you well in reaching your goals.
Edward · August 30, 2019 at 1:06 pm
Thanks for this guide to cultivating a positive mindset. I like what you said about keeping positive company. Being around people who are supportive and encouraging is one of the main things that helped me become more positive. A good influence from other people can have a really big effect.
I like what you said about accepting your thoughts. So often I was trying to fight my thoughts or change my thoughts but I realized that it would bring me more peace just to accept all my thoughts. So that’s what I practice now, allowing my thoughts to be and not judging them one way or another.
Another big thing that’s helped me is just over the course of time realizing that time heals all wounds and this too shall pass. I’ve been in touch with those concepts for about 10 years now and the more I go through things the more I realize they are true. When I think about every wound I’ve ever had, time has healed that wound at least to some degree. So just gaining perspective as I’ve gone through life has helped a lot with stability and things like that.
I don’t actually do a formal gratitude list anymore but I did a ton of gratitude list when I was just learning about the whole concept of being “positive”. Now there will be moments when I feel very genuine gratitude about one thing or another so instead of trying to force those moments in a formal writing session, I just allow them to come up through the day and I greet them with openness like any other feeling. But I think gratitude lists are great for as long as you like to do them because they help to cultivate and get you more familiar with the gratitude feeling.
Julie Anne Byrne · August 31, 2019 at 9:02 pm
Most welcome Edward, yes you are right, the more you engage with like minded positive people the more enriched your life experience is.
I like your idea of allowing your thoughts good and bad, they are a part of you, acknowledge each and every one and then move on.
Gratitude is different for us all based upon our own experiences, the more grateful you are the more the universe gives you reasons to be grateful, and whats not to like about that…to my mind the feeling you get from being grateful is like no other 🙂
Stefanie Taylor · September 2, 2019 at 2:24 pm
Hi Julie, I really love this post as it’s so inspiring. I do understand a lot of what you’re saying as I meditate a lot and that tends to clear any negative vibrations.
In fact, I realise how far I’ve come when I am around negative speaking people. I literally feel repelled by their words and naturally have to put a positive slant on things for them, but some time people just wanna moan.
Also, love the gratitude list idea and I am going to try this for myself
Thanks so much!
Julie Anne Byrne · September 2, 2019 at 5:09 pm
Hi Stephanie, thanks for stopping by and thrilled you were inspired by my post, job done!
The ability to meditate is such an important skill and as you know holds lifelong benefits.
I find it difficult to be around negative people as they drain me, I try to keep my distance where possible or limit my time in their company, if I feel I cannot sway them into positive dialogue.
Best of luck with the gratitude list, and remember we have so much each day to be grateful for once we become attuned to it.
Wishing you the best of luck, Julie Anne