Thrive In 2023 And Beyond: 10 Power Habits To Create A Positive Perspective On Life
Having a positive perspective on life is a fantastic way to thrive and live well. When you face everything with a positive attitude, nothing can stop you. A good attitude can help you work through the toughest, most difficult situations you’ll ever face. If you want to develop a more positive perspective on life in 2023, consider adopting these top ten power habits to cultivate that good attitude.
Practice measuring your thoughts and perceptions against reality.
You may find your thoughts and perceptions about life feeling overly negative. To keep a positive perspective on life, remember to challenge your negative thoughts by measuring them against reality. More often than not, you will discover that your negative thoughts are usually fueled by stress and anxiety instead of what is actually happening around you. Getting into this habit can help you create a more positive perspective on life rather than venturing down rabbit holes of anxiety.
Give yourself plenty of opportunities to rest and take breaks.
Rest is crucial for anyone who wants to keep a positive attitude. Don’t run yourself ragged. Instead, get into the habit of giving yourself plenty of opportunities to rest and take breaks. It’s tough to feel positive about anything — let alone maintain that positive attitude — if you’re feeling exhausted.
Spend more time around happy, positive-minded people.
People tend to assume the attitudes and identities of the folks they spend time with most. If you’re spending most of your time around negative naysayers, you may find yourself adopting some of their bad attitudes. Make it a habit to seek out happier, more positive-minded people — doing so on a regular basis will help you create a much more positive perspective on life.
Make decisions that best align with your larger, overarching goals and dreams.
Working toward your biggest goals and dreams can take time. Keep up your positive attitude in the meantime by aligning your decision-making with whatever best aligns with meeting those big goals and dreams. For example, if you get into the habit of routinely making choices that will help you get even a tiny bit closer to meeting a goal, you’re going to feel a lot better and more positive about your overall life.
Spend more time doing kindnesses for others.
Get into the habit of choosing kindness whenever you can. For example, you may choose to perform random acts of kindness for strangers, volunteer your free time, or help out your friends and families with various projects and tasks. Doing kindnesses for others is a great way to amplify the positive feelings in their lives as well as yours. Take advantage of those good feelings by spreading as much kindness around as you can.
Look for the good in every situation – even the really yucky ones.
All situations — even the roughest and most challenging ones to handle — have a bright side if you look for it hard enough. Get into the habit of seeking out that positive bright side in every situation you face. For example, if you fail at something or make a mistake, don’t let the feelings of failure stop you from continuing: instead, glean whatever valuable lesson you can from the situation and use that knowledge to move forward confidently in life. Finding the good in a situation trains you to always keep your eyes open for positivity, even when it’s difficult to find.
Talk to yourself the same way you would talk to someone you love, like your best friend.
The words you use when speaking to yourself make a huge impact on your overall attitude and perspective on life. Pay close attention to the choice of words you use when speaking to yourself. If they are overwhelmingly negative, get yourself into the habit of speaking to yourself the same way you would to your best friend. Would you use the same negative words while trying to comfort or reassure your best friend? Absolutely not! You deserve the same treatment; speaking to yourself with kindness is a great habit to develop to create a more positive perspective on life.
Practice deep breathing and meditation exercises you can use to stop stress and panic in their tracks.
Feeling positive is easier when you can squash the discomfort of stress and anxiety in its tracks. A great way to do this is by using deep breathing and meditation exercises to regain control of your thoughts. These techniques can be used anywhere, anytime – no fancy yoga studio required. Get into the habit of focusing on your breathing and calming your mind when you notice stress and anxiety quelling. It’s an excellent way to calm yourself and protect your positivity.
Look for the goodness in everyone you meet.
When meeting new people, you may feel apprehensive and slow to trust them. It’s okay to be careful, but it’s also crucial to find some goodness in everyone. When you’re meeting new people, challenge yourself to find some goodness in them. Leave your initial interactions with at least one positive thing you can say about them – this habit will help you create positive perspectives on people instead of focusing on the negatives (or worse, focusing on distorted thoughts that may not be entirely true).
Pull the lessons out of mistakes and failures…and then give yourself permission to move on from them.
It can be hard to stop thinking about past mistakes and failures. The shame, embarrassment, and desires to go back in time and start over again can be painfully haunting. However, it is crucial to get into the habit of letting these old mistakes and failures go.
Clinging to these old memories and ruminating on them stops you from moving forward in life. Get into the habit of extracting the valuable “lesson learned” from each mistake and failure you experience. Take that knowledge forward, and then give yourself permission to let go of what happened.
