Be Optimistic for Happier Life!

A Positive Outlook for a Positive Life

Our outlook and attitude on life in general plays a huge part in how happy we are in life and how successful we become. Someone who thinks positively about everything will be more relaxed, calm and smile more than someone who is always looking on the bad side, who lets stress get to them and who constantly wear a frown.

Not only does how you think and feel affect you, but it also affects those around you, in short, our mood affects our day. Developing and keeping a positive outlook is essential if you wish to lead a positive and fulfilling life.

There are many ways in which you can develop a more positive outlook and begin to change how you think and feel about many situations that you encounter in day-to-day living. Changing your attitude and not slipping back into negative thinking will take time but eventually the new outlook will become second nature. The five main key points to remember when changing your outlook are

1. Turn your way of thinking into positive thinking and practice on a daily basis thinking positively. You should set your mind on completing one task at a time and think only of a positive outcome and how good you will feel when you have completed the task. Never give in to doubt and let yourself believe that you have taken too much on and just keep going.
2. Don’t let your conversations turn negative, when in a conversation it is easy to let others discourage you, particularly if they have a negative outlook on life. Don’t be tempted to fall back into your old ways, turn negative talk into positive and look for the good in everything and any situation.
3. Look for the positive in those around you and point it out, this way you can encourage a positive attitude all around you.
4. Whatever you are doing in your day-to-day life always look for the good in it, although it might be a boring task which you usually hate doing and one which leaves you feeling negatively, try to find something about it that turns it into a more positive situation.
5. Never let yourself become distracted or hoodwinked into going back to negativity, it takes time to change the way you feel and think and if you have been down on yourself and the world for a long time then your new outlook will take a while to register and stay around.

You will find over time that many areas of your life can be changed just by changing your outlook from a negative one to a more positive. You will find that your self-esteem improves, you become more liked, you feel happier and are more confident than before, you are able to tackle the tasks you once hated without them causing you stress and anxiety and your relationships improve. These are just a few of the areas where you can self-improve and gain a more positive outlook and thus lead a more positive life.

Know your self-worth

Realizing your self-worth has nothing to do with checking your bank balance, it is about you, the person you are in life. We give others respect, love and consideration but how often do we give ourselves what is due? How you value yourself is based on the self-esteem you have; your self-esteem shows you how much you truly value yourself. Healthy self-esteem leads to independence, happiness, flexibility, the ability to adapt easily to change, co-operation and a positive outlook on any situation. Unhealthy or low self-esteem on the other hand leads only to irrational thoughts, unhappiness, fear of the new, rigidity, defensiveness, and a negative outlook on life in general.

How we see ourselves has a lot to do with how others see us, if we are happy, smiling and full of confidence then others see us as someone they want to be around, if we respect ourselves and portray this then others will respect you too, after all how can you ask for respect from others if you don’t even respect yourself? So, finding and developing your self-worth is all about developing your self-esteem, so let’s take a look at esteem

High self-esteem

If you have a high self-esteem you will see certain traits in yourself and how you see yourself, traits linked with a high self-esteem or self-worth are

• You are secure about who you are and have confidence in your abilities
• You allow yourself to show your true feelings to others
• You don’t have intimacy problems in relationships
• You can recognize and take pride in yourself for your achievements in life
• You are easily able to forgive yourself for mistakes and forgive others

Low self-esteem

Similarly if you have problems with self-worth or low self-esteem then you will follow a certain pattern in your thoughts and ways, if you have problems with low self-esteem then you will see the following points in yourself

• You lack belief in yourself and are very insecure
• You have problems showing and accepting intimacy in relationships
• You never let your true feelings show
• You never recognize and give yourself credit for your accomplishments
• You have the inability to forgive yourself or others
• You resist change at every opportunity    

Developing your self-worth

• There are plenty of ways in which you can boost your self-esteem and change to a more positive and healthier outlook about yourself, here are some tips for developing and boosting your self-worth.
• Don’t take other people’s criticism to heart, instead listen to what they are saying and learn from it.
• Take some time out for yourself every day, meditate, look inside yourself and realize all your good points and imagine changing your bad ones into more positive.
• Celebrate and pride yourself on even the smallest achievements that you accomplish.
• Do something every day that you enjoy, such as talking a walk in the sunshine or soaking in a bubble bath.
• Never deprive yourself of something you enjoy, if you know you shouldn’t be doing it, then do it anyway and stop chastising yourself about it.
• Talk positively to yourself, repeat affirmations to chase away all of the negative thoughts and feelings.

Please reflect on how optimistic you are currently, Then, assess where you are with your beliefs about yourself.  This pouring into yourself is where the personal growth resides.