Modern living is becoming increasingly fast-paced, uncertain, and overwhelmed by emotions; therefore, it has become increasingly important to create opportunities for positive living. Many people deal with negative thinking daily that restricts the way they think, feel, and act and their overall emotional health. Developing and maintaining a positive mindset will assist individuals in responding in a calm manner to stressful situations rather than acting on impulse or emotion.
Various health organisations, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), have indicated that mental health and well-being are closely associated with the daily habits and thought patterns we create. By implementing basic positive living habits into one’s daily routine, an individual is able to create emotional strength without necessarily changing their lifestyle. Over time, small changes to your mindset allow for reduced levels of stress and increased levels of confidence in oneself.
The Core Focus of Positive Living
The primary focus of positive living is to create a way of developing habits that promote emotional balance and a clear mind. People will then be better at dealing with the setbacks of life without feeling overwhelmed.
Therefore, by understanding that a foundation of self-belief and emotional confidence will help them in the following section where they will learn how their negative thought processes are impacting the level of daily stress they experience.
Negative Thoughts That Cause Stress
The research of Cognitive Psychologists at the American Psychological Association has shown that when one continues to experience negative thinking over time, their emotional state will become weaker.
When an individual becomes aware of negative thought patterns, then they can begin to take back their ability to control how they react to the information coming into their thoughts. When the individual has become aware of their negative thought process, they will have created the opportunity to respond to situations in a positive manner, thus developing a positive mindset.
By being aware of their negative thoughts, individuals will naturally progress into the next section where they will learn how to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts on a daily basis.
Creating a Positive Mindset Through Awareness of Daily Thinking
The first step in creating a positive mindset is to be aware of the nature of one’s daily thinking. Most people may not recognize or acknowledge their negative thoughts until they exhibit an emotional response; however, those who live positively will start to become aware of their negative thoughts before those that will lead to a negative emotional response or behaviour.
Creating simple pauses at various points will provide an opportunity for one to determine when they are moving into self-criticism or fear-based thinking. Mindful mindfulness practices, often quoted by mental health teachers, are effective methodologies useful for generating awareness that results in decreased levels of stress.
Replacing negative thought processes with a presence of false positivity does not have to be an option to replace negativity.
Building Confidence Through Presence and Emotional Awareness
Having an increased daily presence helps develop confidence regarding our management of emotional situations. When we develop an increased daily presence, we learn to trust our ability to react calmly in circumstances of stress. This increased self-belief enables us to continue to live positively and develop habits that allow us to manage stress more effectively.
The physical, psychological and emotional benefits of positive living habits can be realised through consistent, simple daily habits.
Long-Term Benefits of Positive Living Habits
The process of developing new habits or healthy behaviours will typically take years to create. Over time, this type of response will lessen the amount of emotional buildup that an individual has to deal with on a long-term basis.
Positive living practice habits provide an opportunity for an individual to create a stable inner environment. By allowing for time to mentally examine feelings that arise from difficult circumstances, an individual can prevent a backlog of unprocessed feelings, which contributes to one’s ability to be resilient.
Mental health specialists at the National Institute of Mental Health believe that being aware of one’s feelings and having the ability to look at them from an objective point of view increases emotional resilience.
Developing Self-Belief to Combat Negativity and Stress
A positive mindset assists individuals in looking at effort and growth rather than focusing on limitations. Self-belief is also one of the most critical factors contributing to overall emotional well-being according to mental health researchers at Psychology Today. Therefore, the cultivation of self-belief helps reduce fear-based thinking.
Positive Approach to Manage Daily Stressful Situations
Stressful events or thoughts become stressful or negative by simply taking a re-active approach to life. A pro- active lifestyle is a better approach to managing stress than simply being re-active to changes and challenges that may occur. Proactive living assists individuals in managing their stress levels more effectively and helps them not become fatigued or overwhelmed by too many tasks.
A positive approach to life allows the individual to experience the challenges, instead of simply experiencing stress.
A person with a positive approach to life will focus their efforts on what they can control within a stress-full situation. When facing difficult times, the individual should look to find a solution rather than resist the problem.
The Cleveland Clinic has reported on the importance of a person’s perception of control and how it significantly affects the individual’s emotional response to stress. The perception of one’s ability to handle situations will greatly reduce the amount of anxiety felt by the individual.
Additionally, a pro-active approach includes setting realistic expectations on busy or non-busy days. Acceptance of limitations will decrease the amount of frustration an individual has in their life. The development of confidence and faith will enable individuals to maintain a positive mindset through long periods of stress.
How to Maintain a Proactive Lifestyle When Under Long-Term Stress
The establishment of routine is very important to maintain a proactive mindset throughout the period of stress. The establishment of a daily routine provides a level of predictability to the daily life of an individual which promotes an increase in the feelings of emotional safety.
A proactive approach to living in stressful environments also includes the notion of flexibility. Lowering expectations and changing priorities often lead to lower levels of mental fatigue.
Supportive Social Connections and Positive Living
Social connections have a great deal to do with positive living, as well as supporting our emotional balance.
Strong social connections promote a lower level of negativity in thinking and provide individuals with a calm state of mind.
Establishing Consistency Is the Key to Sustaining Positive Living Habits
Daily repetition of small habits develops emotional patterning and propensity towards positive thought patterns. Without consistency even very good habits have a diminished benefit and become much more difficult to sustain over time.
The development of a routine ultimately makes it possible for individuals to develop these naturally occurring types of positive choices.
An individual develops a greater degree of emotional strength when a habit is perceived as predictable and manageable. A simple daily practice such as expressing gratitude or movement, and reflection are all examples of developing daily habits, which have many benefits when they are consistently performed.
Experts in the field of emotional health and wellness at Johns Hopkins Medicine suggest routine is very important to creating stability in one’s emotional and mental health.
When positive habits become automatic the negative thinking patterns have a reduced influence. Subsequently, the degree of emotional strength will become significantly increased; as an individual learns to remain calm and emotionally balanced in response to stressful situations.
In addition, the ability to experience a calm and effective response to high levels of stress will develop with time. These levels of steady self-belief are critical in order to support sustained positive living. Finally, over time these commitments will enhance an individual’s preparedness for the final evaluation of how to establish a more effective way of reducing stress and negativity.
The Role of Gratitude in Positive Living
The act of gratitude is designed to create a mental shift away from negative thinking and generate focus on moments of positive experience. In turn, creating gratitude in an individual’s daily life reduces stress and tension associated with an individual’s state of being.
The practice of gratitude teaches the brain to become more aware of the positive during the course of a day in an individual’s life. Acknowledging small aspects of support or appreciation, progress or efforts made, and the ability to rest or relax promote an individual’s capacity for gratitude.
An example might be the development of the mental patterning of gratitude being the foundation for emotional resilience and improved well-being. Continued repetition of practices associated with gratitude strengthens the emotional foundation for the practice.
Practising gratitude does not deny the difficulties associated with daily life. By introducing a balance that highlights the positive experiences in tandem with the negative experiences, an individual will experience less emotional distress. This will enable an individual to become better able to manage and sort through the stress levels they are experiencing in their life.
With continued practice, developing an attitude of gratitude promotes growth in self-confidence and hope. The continual support of the attitude of gratitude will promote continued positive living and continual reduction of negativity in one’s daily life.
Final Thoughts
Positive Living provides individuals with an opportunity to develop a number of practical techniques through which they can continue to reduce stress and develop positive thought processes, and eliminate unnecessary stress in their lives without making drastic changes to their business, professional or personal life.
By consistently focusing on their daily lives and increasing their emotional awareness and regard for caring for their emotions positively impact the way in which they relate to the challenges that present themselves every day.
An increase in emotional resilience allows an individual to have a calmer and more effective response to their challenges and stressors.
It takes repeated effort to build an individual’s emotional strength and self-belief. However, creating simple and consistent daily habits can promote continued emotional stability, strengthen the emotional foundation for the development of emotional resilience and ultimately allows individuals to create an emotionally stable, supportive and healthy lifestyle for their life as they promote their positive living attitude.
The concept of positive living is not to create a state of perfection. Rather, it is to create a pattern of long term, gradual changes through small, consistent efforts in relation to the development of an individual’s mindset and thought processes with the goal of reducing stress, increasing emotional well-being and creating a calmer more positive lifestyle through continued emotional balance over time.
