Today I’m bringing you a guest post from Nandita of Nandyz Soulshine. She’s a growth and positive mindset blogger, wellness enthusiast, and a free-willed artist. She enjoys sharing her hard-earned life lessons and hindsights with others to help them understand themselves better and live a more fulfilling life. If you’ve been struggling to solve problems with a positive mindset, I think you’ll enjoy this post!

“It’s not the situation, but whether we react negative or respond positive to the situation that is important.” – Zig Ziglar

What is your first reaction when faced with a problem or challenge? Maybe your reaction is to shut down and start complaining. Or maybe you start to feel stressed, but still go ahead and give your best to figure it out. Or maybe you even get excited when faced with a new challenge because you’re ready to try and conquer it! If you answered yes to the latter two options, you probably have a positive mindset. Way to go!

You might be amazed at how much research has been done by behavioral scientists on the power of positive thinking. Studies show evidence that positive thinking leads to improved focus, attention, resilience, and better overall wellbeing and health.

While having a positive mindset is something to be proud about, we shouldn’t discount negative emotions all together. It’s important to note that ignoring or suppressing your negative feelings can lead to unhealthy outcomes. These negative feelings, when ignored, can build up and come out in unhealthy ways, such as emotional outbursts or anger.

So if you’re feeling negatively, make sure to acknowledge your feelings, allow yourself to feel them for a short while, and then do your best to move forward by thinking positively.

And even if you’re not naturally a positive thinker, the good news is that a positive attitude can be cultivated. Let’s discuss how it can be well worth the effort for you.

What is positive thinking?

Positive thinking is being able to see both the negative & positive sides of a situation, but deciding to focus on the constructive one. It’s focusing more on the possible solutions to a problem than on the probable negative outcomes of the situation.

Alphonse Karr puts it very neatly as, “we can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.”

In real life, it would look something like this. Say, for example, you’re stuck in traffic and running late for office the third time this week. It’s stressing you out because of the work that would be piling up, how the boss would blow up, joining important meetings late, & so on. In a situation like this, it’s very easy to start thinking negatively.

If you have a positive mindset, you might –

1. Make it a point to rearrange your morning routine in a way so you can start a bit earlier or maybe select a longer route with less traffic.
2. Make the most of your time stuck in traffic by mentally planning out the details of your day ahead, such as reports to write, presentations to be given, tasks to be delegated, etc.
3. Use this stuck-in-traffic time to practice your daily mindful breathing to calm yourself down and feel more centered and grounded before going into work.

With a positive mindset, you would basically make the best of the situation & learn from it so as to avoid being in the same situation again.

What’s the importance of positive thinking?

The opposite of positive thinking is negative thinking, right? Consistent negative thinking can put you into a bad mood, cause you to feel stressed, and may even put your mind into a fight-or-flight mode. A stress reaction can be helpful if you’re in an actual danger zone, but if not, can be harmful to your health.

When prone to negative thoughts, you focus more on the issue of danger and you may start overthinking and worrying about all that could go wrong. This can be harmful to your wellbeing for three main reasons:

1. When you live with a constant sense of foreboding, stress and anxiety can build up.
2. Stress can cloud your view & judgment. Rather than having a problem-solving attitude where you focus on a variety of possible solutions, you may be quick to focus only on the immediate way out. This is because it’s difficult for the brain to take in new information or be creative when you’re stressed.
3. As a result of negative thinking and stress, you may lose motivation to try new things or find other possible solutions to your problems.

Here are some tips for thinking more positively:

1. Try to focus on all of the positive solutions available, while staying aware of the possible danger zones along the way.
2. Stay realistic about the situation and open to learning anything new that would help you handle the situation better.
3. Even if you fail, remember that it’s always a learning episode. Take your lesson learned, tweak your approach to the problem, try again until you succeed.
4. Try meditation. Research done by psychology researcher, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, has shown that people who meditate regularly are more positive in their approach to life. But if the thought of sitting still for even 10 minutes makes you fidgety, try mindfulness instead. You may find it easier to practice & to fit into your busy day.

Keep in mind that the type of self-talk we feed our brain every day has the power to color every action, decision, & the kind of life that gets built in the process.

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.” –  Buddha

So how does positive thinking upgrade your life?

5 Benefits of Positive Thinking

1. Better Stress Management

A reasonable dose of stress can be good for your focus, performance, & enthusiasm for life. Plus, stress is pretty unavoidable in today’s life unless you live under a rock. But it’s important to keep stress at a healthy level to avoid overwhelm & health problems.

When we approach problems with a positive attitude, instead of focusing on the quicksand surrounding it, we focus more on finding the best way out of it. The success will motivate you to face more challenges because your brain will see it as a reward.

Stress management is one of the biggest benefits of positive thinking. And what better way to cope with stress than to use it to your benefit?

2. Higher Self-Worth:

Positive thinking can lead to a higher self-worth. One reason is because when you’re thinking negatively, you may be unnecessarily taking other people’s problems personally. When you start looking at who you are and what you’re capable of with a positive mindset, you stop taking others’ evaluation of you to be the reality.

A better feeling of self-worth will help you see when something is really about you & when it’s more about the other person. If it’s about you, you’ll be better equipped to know when the feedback is constructive, helping you grow & when it’s best ignored.

Basically, it’ll go a long way in preserving your sanity, happiness, & peace of mind.

3. A Better Handle on Failure

Failing in some way or another is unavoidable whether it’s your personal or professional life. It’s just a part of life. The good news is, with positive thinking, you’re better equipped to handle the setbacks and that’s what makes the real difference!

When we see failure as something unchangeable & final, we’re essentially abandoning the cause. A positive way of thinking will help you see failure as a learning curve. Lessons to be learned for you to have what it takes to succeed.

Learning from your failures is the key to revolutionize your definition of success.

4. Expanded Possibilities

Another benefit of positive thinking is that you may start looking at things in a “why not?” sort of way. You start questioning the reasons behind what you think are the limits of your talent, intelligence, & goals. It broadens our idea of what’s possible if we try our best.

Plus, we become more open to new ideas & to learning. Dr. Carol Dweck, a renowned psychology researcher from Stanford University believes (& has proven through her research) that this is the mindset which leads to exceptional success & contentment in life.

5. Better Health

The health benefits of positive thinking mainly come from being able to manage stress effectively. It’s even noted by Mayo Clinic that our immune system, heart health, mental health & even life expectancy is affected by stress.

As we discussed earlier about positive mindset helping cope with stress better, you can see how important quality self-talk is! Whether we feed our mind with negativity or constructive uplifting thoughts makes a whole lot of difference to our wellbeing.

Plus, when you have a positive attitude towards life, you take better care of yourself with at least some sort of exercise, a healthier diet, & effective relaxation time. Win-win!

Besides these benefits of positive thinking, getting into a glass-half-full way of thinking can actually be fun & relaxing. Be a stickler for spending time to unwind, enjoy your life, and practice self care. Consistently try and do things that spark joy and contentment in you. 

You’d be pleasantly surprised at what your mind is capable of if simply given the space!

Which comes normally to you – seeing the brighter side of things or stressing out at the mention of a problem? Let us know in the comments below.