Postive thinking is widely accepted as good for your general well being and is also claimed by some to help you achieve great things in your life. This is all very well, but how do you develop postive thinking patterns?
It is all too easy to say that replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts is the solution. The real question is not what you do but how you do it.
The first thing to realise is that your thinking patterns are determined by your subconscious mind. Think of this as your inner autopilot. We all have this inner autopilot which steers us to act and think in certain ways in response to various events in our lives. Without this predetermined reaction system our everyday lives would become unmanageable as we are constantly bombarded with thoughts that need processing. Like the rabbit paralysed with fear by the lights of an oncoming car.
You probably recognise these subconscious actions as habits or, in their worst forms, addictions and phobias. Now, in the same way that this subconscious negative thinking can lead to low self esteem and social anxiety, it is possible to harness the exact opposite to achieve greater self confidence and success in life. If you can replace a negative habit with a positive one you will head in the right direction.
The easy way to develop positive thinking is to understand how habits are formed and repeat this process with postive reactions to events and the world around you. It is said that a habit takes thiry days to form and once you have formed that habit it feeds off itself and gets stronger and stronger.
So this is the what needs to be done. Every single day for thirty days you must practise a few short positive thinking excercises. This is not hard work and as they start to work you will begin to enjoy these little exercises. Also, just because they are easy, do not dismiss them as silly games.
The first one is easy. Smile, even if you feel down.
Have you noticed how much better you feel when you smile and also how infectious other people's smiles are. Walk into work with your head held high and smile and greet your coworkers as you pass by. Many other people are still trapped in their dull worlds and may not react positively but some will. Take encouragement and remember the reactions only from those that are positive and if you keep at it, even the negative people will start to change after a week or so.
Take this further and repeat when meeting strangers that you interact with daily, such as shopkeepers and fellow commuters.
The next technique is different. Choose your favorite happy, energetic piece of music. Listen to it in a place where you can close your eyes and be uninterrupted. Whilst it plays imagine yourself doing something you love and enjoying it. Do this at least once a day.
You can build on this. Next time you feel down or something bad has happened find a chance to go and close your eyes and replay the song in your mind. Over time you can replace the negative thoughts with your inner soundtrack and not have to close your eyes.
There are many of these easy and quick little tricks for destroying negative thought patterns and developing a positive thinking habit. They may be easy and yet they are very powerful tools. As you start to use them you will begin to recognise situations in your life where each of these tools is best used.
Build up your store of these techniques and repeat them daily for thirty days. By this point they will become habits and your subconscious mind will use them on autopilot. At that point you will have truly developed positive thinking.
