Think of the last
time you embarked on a big project or maybe the thought of turning your wildest
dream into a reality, were your thoughts about it mostly negative? Focusing on
every possible setback can hinder your ability to move forward.
Up until college
you basically have a guide of what is expected of you and what you need to do
next, a semester at a time.
After you graduate
you begin to realize that everything from that moment on is on you. No one is
going to tell you what jobs to apply to, the ideal career path or even where to
start.
So you can imagine
my dismay when I was trying to get my career off of the ground. When you’re so
used to be told what to do, with little to no wiggle room, you get comfortable
not having a say.
I just picked my
major and minor, and they took care of the rest. Then after taking off the cap
and gown, it’s thrown completely into your lap.
Being solely
responsible for your success can be anxiety inducing. You’ll begin to have
thoughts of the “what ifs” and other catastrophes. Focusing on the lack of
opportunities and low pay will not motivate you to get on your game. If
anything, it’ll probably add to you going nowhere fast.
Instead you have
to reframe your thoughts and focus on the positive in order to make it through
so you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And not in just this
situation, but really any negative situation.
8 Steps from
Negative to Positive
1. You’re going to
have negative thoughts
You can’t erase
them completely. It’s perfectly normal to have them here and there. As long as
they don’t consume all of your thoughts and you can move away from them, you’ll
be able to recover.
There are some
things in life that you just cannot avoid. And you can count this as one of
them. You have to take the good with the bad, but if you have a way to get thru
the bad, it’s all good.
2. Be
accountable for your thoughts
After all they’re
yours. You have complete control over what goes through your mind. It may seem
like random thoughts just pop in unexpectedly but you can still move them out.
Your thoughts are
the result of something from within. It could be insight on your fears.
Acknowledge it and address them. If you don’t take responsibility for your
thoughts and feelings, you will not be able to do anything about it.
3. No need to
share
You have to deal
with your negative thoughts to move forward, but you don’t need to advertise
them. Constantly talking about your negative just makes you more negative. It
consumes your conversation, drains you mentally and physically and becomes a
pattern of behavior that is hard to break.
You’ll experience
more setbacks if you become accustom to verbalizing the negative. Because
you’re so focused on the negative, there is no positive in sight.
It’s ok to vent
about your frustrations, just make sure you have control of your feelings
before you do so. You should only vent when you’re calm or else you could be
just adding fuel to the fire.
And you don’t have
to vent to another person, you can simply write it down and throw it out.
4. Change your
‘tude
When you feel
yourself getting down in the dumps, drop it and move on to something else. You
can either start looking for the good in that situation or you can change your
focus completely.
Think of something
that makes you happy or turn on a comedy to get a couple laughs.
5. Identify the
positive
You can do this by
making a mental note or actually jotting it down, this can be an added benefit
if you keep a journal. When you have a negative experience, look for the silver
lining. Try to find the positive in it all, it’s there somewhere.
Everything happens
for a reason, when you look for the positive you may discover that reason
sooner than you would have before.
Then you can
express appreciation and contently move forward, instead of sulking in disgust.
6. Focus on the
big thing
Little things can
come up out of nowhere and throw you off. You can lose focus and blow small
things out of portion. This distraction can throw off your whole game and make
you stagnant.
By remembering
that it’s just a piece of the puzzle you can reframe your mind to focus on a
solution and get closer to the larger goal.
7. Think ahead
With trying to be
more positive, I noticed that I started each morning with negative thoughts. I
would automatically begin griping to myself about things and people. To change
that, so I didn’t carry on with it for the rest of my day, I would think about
things that would happen later in the day.
I would focus on
the feeling on leaving work early for the day, meeting up with a friend or
things I wanted to accomplish that evening.
As I did this, not
only was I in a better mood each morning, which lead to a better day, but I was
more productive. My positive mood resulted in a positive approach throughout
the day.
8. Acknowledge
your progress
This will probably
be the best part of it all, and the unmatchable fuel to your fire of momentum.
Once you made the continuous effort to be more positive good things will shine
through.
Looking back and
recognizing the change will not only make you feel good but motivate you to
keep on, maybe even turn it up a notch.
Don’t be hesitant
to reward yourself. Making this kind of change is not easy and it takes time
and persistence. You earned it and surely deserve it.
There’s no point
in waiting any longer, begin now. The sooner you transform the negativity into
positivity the sooner you’ll see the fruits of your labor.
Your new positive
perspective will open your eyes to new experiences and opportunities. I would
not be surprised if you created something that could’ve never been born under
your previous mindset.
In time this whole
process will become second nature to you. Life will be brighter and easier. You
will be completely transformed for the better.
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