Week 17 Challenge – Think Positive to Look & Feel Positive

 

Negative thinking – self doubt – pity – bad thoughts…

… we’ve all been there before.

Most of us don’t even realize when it pops up in our head or how often we do it. Even the seemingly happiest of people struggle with staying positive every single step of the way. It’s almost impossible to be happy every single minute of every day – and I’m not asking that from you. Sometimes we don’t even realize all the chattering that is going on upstairs and how it’s making us feel.

This weeks challenge, Think Positive to Feel & Be Positive, is to make you more aware of your thoughts – good or bad, and how they make you feel. This time around, it’s all about exercising your mind.

Constantly thinking about the guilt from your past and worrying about your future is exhausting and can rob you of the present moment and future success. It is in our nature to seek personal growth; whether it be spiritually, emotionally, financially or physically. The first step is one of self awareness.

When I first started soul searching only a few years back I was amazed at how much negative self chatter was in my head. I think a lot of it was linked to my eating disorder, failed attempts to lose weight  and being truly happy.

I researched different techniques and used every resource available to me: Books, the internet, journals, etc. At first it seemed like work having to consciously turn inwards and monitor my thoughts, especially when I was alone. I still find myself doing it, but I catch myself a lot quicker now and almost immediately turn my thoughts around in a positive direction.

Back when I originally studied for my NASM Certification, I came across a great explanation of why some people fail at losing weight or becoming more fit – it all had to do with mindset. It’s called F.U.D.

ELIMINATING “F.U.D” – Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt from your life.

This is something more easily said (or read) than done. But you must know this one thing before you can even set out to accomplish this: your mindset is everything.

Fear undermines every human attempt of learning – and to change anything, including your thought process, this change involves some sort of learning. To put it simply, you must conquer fear and understand that it is a normal, healthy human emotion – if you know when to NOT let it overcome you. Acknowledge fear, but DO NOT let it control and conquer you. It is uncontrolled fear (usually of failure) that can feed uncertainty and doubt.

Failing is healthy – to know and experience the feeling of failure is to know and experience success. Do not fear failure. Muhammad Ali lost 5 fights. Donald Trump has gone broke after becoming a billionaire… and look where they’re at now?

Instead, conquer fear itself by understanding how mindset works. Your mindset is literally the most important part of being successful in anything and in eliminating Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. .

Mindset, in my opinion, is defined as: What you are certain of.

Through your mindset, you set a belief. “I BELIEVE I can *do this.” This belief, if real, fuels your POTENTIAL. Your potential then turns into ACTION. And through action, you produce RESULTS. What do results do? Fuels a more firm belief that you can DO IT. Imagine that? It is an endless cyclic system, continually feeding your mindset, that spirals upward into greatness. 🙂

Here are some great quotes to inspire belief in yourself:

“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” ~ Muhammad Ali

“You must begin to think of yourself as the person that you want to be.” ~ David Viscott

“Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.” ~ Ralph Marston

“Everyone makes mistakes. The only people who never fail are those that never try.” ~ Unknown

“Choice is a gift given to everyone. It is a powerful gift that can change your life.” ~ Unknown

Tips To Live a More Harmonious Life:

  1. Surround yourself with positive people who have similar likes and goals. Avoid people who suck out all the energy out of you and leave you mentally and emotionally drained. If you can’t avoid them, learn how to detach yourself from them while you are in their presence.
  2. Smile more often, even when you really don’t want to. The mere act of smiling causes you to feel happy, even when you aren’t.
  3. Make a list of all the things you like about yourself, your looks and your life. When you look in the mirror I want you to not go immediately to your “flaws”, but to pick out your good qualities.
  4. Start having faith in yourself and your abilities. Stop doubting yourself and all that you are capable of.
  5. Don’t allow peoples opinions or what they think of you affect your happiness and mood.
  6. Learn how to de-stress. A good book, a funny movie, taking a walk, hanging out with a good friend, a soothing bubble bath and getting pampered are all positive ways to calm down when stress happens.
  7. Workout and eat right.

This week I want you to take note of your thoughts and mindset. Keep track of what you are doing, the time of day or who you are with when they happen. Maybe you’ll start seeing a pattern and learn ways to work around it.

A few funny things I stumbled across to hush up the background noise is to wear a rubber band on your wrist and as soon as that voice comes in – SNAP! The minor sting will divert your attention.

Another way to interrupt the negative thought pattern is to visualize a big red stop sign as soon as a bad thought shows up. Then, visualize the happiness that you imagine impossible to feel at the moment.

Has there been times where you’ve been successful at turning around your negative mindset? I’d love to hear about it over on my Facebook Page. Also, your feedback on this article is always welcomed and appreciated. 🙂