Our last post concluded with the Denis Waitley quote, “If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won’t, you most assuredly won’t. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.” His quote appropriately summarizes what a can-do attitude is all about. The can-do attitude was the focus of last week’s discussion. Remember, a can-do attitude is needed when dealing with change. Some change can rock us to our core where we begin to lose faith in ourselves. When you have a can-do attitude, you believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, you are more willing to be pro-active, to take action which is really needed when dealing with change and transition.
In last week’s post, seven techniques were presented to develop the strategy of can-do attitude. One of the techniques presented was ‘concentrate on the positive.’ This week, I’d like to expand on that one technique providing you with 13 ways you can keep your thoughts and actions on the positive side.
1. Change your thoughts
You are in charge of what you think. Let me repeat that. YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF WHAT YOU THINK. You need to kick out all the negative thoughts from your mind. Reading inspirational quotes can motivate you to take action and when you take action. Surround yourself with positive images.
2. Concentrate on positive self-talk Replace negative thoughts and words with positive ones, words that make you feel happy and in control. Concentrate on positive thoughts with positive results.
3. Avoid the energy vampires
Stay away from people who focus on the negative. They will suck the energy and spirit right out of you. If you are in a conversation, reframe the negative conversation into a more positive one. If you find yourself caught in a negative conversation and there is nothing you can do to change the mood of the conversation then you must excuse yourself. If the media is negative, tune it out or turn it off. When possible, surround yourself with positive people. You will notice that your overall approach to things and your attitude will become more positive.
4. Look For the Positive in Life
There is a positive aspect in everything. In every person, in every situation, there is something good. Most of the time it’s not all that obvious. We have to look. And sometimes we have to look hard. When faced with a difficult or challenging situation, think to yourself, “What is good about this?” No matter how terrible the situation might seem, you always can find something good if you take the time to think about it.
Everything –- positive and negative -– is a learning experience. So, at the very least, you can learn from negative experiences. However, there’s usually even more to it than that. If you really take the time to look, you will usually find something good, something really positive, about every person or situation.
5. Take care of yourself
Adequate rest and sleep is vital to maintaining a positive attitude. Engage in physical activity (working out releases chemicals that give you a natural mood lift). Meditate. Relax.
6. Assess why your attitude isn’t positive
What exactly is bothering you? Once you figure out exactly what is bothering you, you can then do something about it and your attitude will probably lift and become more positive.
7. Look at the consequences of your less-than-positive attitude
Are you taking out your frustration on those around you? STOP and avoid the negative spiral. Analyze who or what will be affected by you being negative and seek ways to turn things around.
8. Reframe the situation
We all have people, situations, and events that can create a bad mood or a bad attitude. Remember it is not the person, event, situation, experience or problem itself but rather the way we respond to it that makes us feel the way we do. When you change the way you look at something, your attitude and your results will also change.
9. Approach each day with an attitude of gratitude
Be grateful for what you have and count your blessings. When you live with an attitude of gratitude, your entire attitude towards life change.
10. Obstacles are there to challenge you.
If something isn’t going great; if there is a roadblock in the way, view it as a temporary setback. It doesn’t have to put a negative slant on everything. Rise to the challenge and put your creativity to work in overcoming the obstacle. If one thing “bad” happens to you in a day, that is one “bad” moment; not a bad day. If you develop the philosophy that there is no such thing as a bad day, only bad moments, you will be well on your way to developing a positive mindset.
11. Make someone else feel good about themselves
Let others know you appreciate them. When you make others feel good about themselves you cannot help but to feel good yourself. As the saying goes, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
12. Keep track of your thoughts
Write down any negative thoughts that enter your mind. See if there is a pattern (Is it every time you see a certain person? Deal with a certain situation?), and if so, figure out ways to move beyond the person, situation, whatever it is that moves you toward the negative.
13. Create a day of optimism
Choose a day and work on being optimistic all day. Share your optimism with those around you. See the good in everything. Smile. Choose to be joyful.
If your inner voice is one that first goes to the negative, imagine a stop sign in your head and tell yourself, “STOP!” Empower yourself to think positive; remember, you are in charge of what you think. Positive thoughts = positive feelings = feeling that you can do, can deal with whatever is facing you. Adopt the smiley face as your symbol for focusing on the positive.
A positive attitude helps to cope more easily with the daily affairs of life. It brings optimism into your life, and makes it easier to avoid worry and negative thinking. If you adopt it as a way of life, it will bring constructive changes into your life (which might be so needed with change and transition). With a positive attitude, you see the bright side of life, become optimistic and expect the best to happen.
Author Becky Johnen 
Dr. Johnen, I really appreciated the blog today which is another remidner of of the fact that many ment health conditions distort reality. One of the affects of depression, anxiety and other conditions is that the automatic seeing/experiencing of positives is curtailed. One only sees the negatives. The distortion is that oneself, life, or a situation is really bleak and that there is no poknt in trying to do anything positive. Once one lives with these distortions for a time, if not careful, one believes them and lives one’s life based on them. Healing requires that one begin to correct the distortions; that one replace the negatives with more positive statements. This makes a huge difference in how the body functions. We often forget that the body is such an interactional system with each part affecting the other. If we keep repeating the negatives all parts of the body senses danger and reacts accordingly. Following Dr. Johnen’s recommendations can have an enormous, positive affect on one’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
AS usual, Jimmy, your insights are so helpful and on target. I hope many take advantage of reading the post and following the suggestions, thereby uplifting all aspects of their wellness. I am devoting Facebooks posts this week on continuing the discussion of concentrating on the positive since that is such an important outlook, as you so nicely point out.