Weeds or flowers?
When you wander through a garden, do you find yourself
focusing on the weeds or flowers? Your choice in thoughts is your choice, which do you choose?
A positive mindset makes you happier and more resilient, it improves your relationships, and it even increases your chances of success in any endeavor. In addition, having a positive mindset makes you more creative and it can help you to make better decisions. To top it all off, studies show that people with a positive mindset live longer.
Maintaining your positive mindset is critical when you want to achieve anything… or just to improve the quality of your life. The first step towards a positive mindset is to determine your reality by realizing the way you react to the outside world. When something happens how do you respond? If you find yourself in a negative mindset, hit the ‘pause’ button and choose some of the following tips to cultivate a positive mindset.
- Start your day strong. Create a positive morning ritual that reinforces how great life is and how happy you are to be alive.
- Have a Purpose. Having a purpose in life gives you a fixed point on the horizon to focus on. Bringing meaning and purpose into your life—knowing why you are here—will do wonders for your mindset.
- Why wait? Instead of waiting for external things to make you happy, be happy and then watch how that influences the things that go on around you.
- Be curious. Curiosity gives you a present-moment orientation which is similar to mindfulness. Being curious about a situation allows you to experience it more fully. In addition, curiosity will help you to approach uncertainty in your daily life with a positive mindset.
- Your language shapes your thoughts. Take responsibility for your thoughts and actions. How do you respond when someone asks how you’re doing? What are the messages you are sending to others and yourself?
- Exercise. Exercise is the natural feel good drug because it releases positive chemicals (endorphins and serotonin) into the blood stream.
- Upload positivity to your brain. Use books, music and videos to overload your brain with positivity and to tap into positive emotions and experiences of others.
- Hang out with positive people. A positive mindset is contagious.
- Be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm and humor are powerful tools to lift your mood and enhance your emotional state at any time.
- Smile more and show your appreciation for others. Start a positive change reaction. Watch what happens when you give out what you want to receive. Smiling releases those feel good chemicals. It’s a lot easier to adopt a positive mindset when the chemicals being released by your body are conducive to well-being.
- Live with gratitude. Relish small pleasures, find things to be grateful for. Focus on the good in yourself, the good in your life, and the good in others.
- Have a Zen mindset. Think of life not as something that’s happening to you, but as something that’s happening for you. Look at any challenging situation, person, or event as a teacher that’s been brought into your life to teach you something. Ask yourself, “What am I supposed to learn or gain from this”? or “How will this help me grow and become a better, more enlightened being?”
- Recharge your batteries. Find time to switch off the outside world to spend time doing things you love.
- Stop Expecting Life to Be Easy. Life gets tough at times. You’re brave and resourceful, and you can take it. Sometimes things won’t be easy, adopting a positive mindset will help you deal with anything that life throws at you.
Next time you’re wandering through the garden, ask yourself – “Am I focusing on the weeds or the flowers?” 
Aull About U, LLC 