I’m sitting here, drinking my coffee while thinking of a topic for my next article. I want it to be different from my last. I want it to be completely personal. It’s a little scary at first, to write an article, filled purely with my own ideas and thoughts, which will later be visible to the whole world. Especially if it’s surrounding a sensitive topic. In my last article I used many different sources. In this article I want the only source to be me. I think that the most powerful articles are the ones that come from within. I still have no clue what this article will turn into but let’s see where my thoughts lead me…

Life is chaotic. I think most of us can agree on that. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences. One moment you’re the happiest person on earth and the next you’re questioning what the point of all of this even is. Your mind is extremely powerful. Your mindset is completely in control of how you experience life on earth, as a human being. That can be dangerous, but also beautiful. If you’re someone who doesn’t have a naturally positive mindset, it’s so easy to get dragged down by your own thoughts. That’s because sometimes it’s easier to just give up, than to search for a proper solution to a problem. Because when we do find a solution, we struggle to permanently implement it into our lives. The key to implementing a new habit is patience and consistency. And patience is something a lot of us do not have. We often give up before we even see how much progress we’re making. So we end up falling back into our old patterns. And as a result, let the negative thoughts consume our minds.

If you truly want to live a happy life you have to work on building a positive mindset. Because once you’ve achieved that, even when something unfortunate happens, you’ll naturally have a tendency to look at the bright side. Let’s look at an example. 

You’re walking home from work and a car drives through a puddle and splashes you with dirty water. As someone with a negative mindset you might associate this experience with all the other bad experiences you had that day. Now you’re also thinking about how you burnt your toast this morning and how you said something stupid to your coworker. And how you actually suck at socializing and no one wants to be friends with a loser like you. Conclusion: the world hates you. On the contrary, someone with a positive mindset will be annoyed in the moment but knows that things like these happen sometimes. They accept what happened and move on with their day.

There’s different things you can do to build a positive mindset. You can try journaling and meditation for example. Journaling helps you process negative emotions in a healthier way. There’s something therapeutic about journaling because it allows you to write down whatever it is that’s going on in your mind, without having to worry about judgment from others. It feels very relieving and prevents you from lingering over your negative thoughts for too long. Meditation can help you reprogram your way of thinking. Through meditation you can learn to ignore the negative thoughts and focus on the positive ones. It also helps calm the chaos in your mind. What I like to do sometimes is listen to positive affirmations while I sleep. 

Something that can also affect your mindset is your environment. Think about the people you surround yourself with for example. Do they make you feel good about yourself? Does the music you listen to boost your mood? Do you treat yourself kindly? If you answered no to any of those questions, it’s time to make a change. Because even small things like those can have a huge impact on your wellbeing. I downloaded an app a few months ago that sends me positive messages throughout the day and I can already notice a difference in my way of thinking.

It’s important to keep in mind that changing your mindset is not something that will happen overnight. So don’t get discouraged when you don’t see instant changes. And of course, what works for one person might not work for another, so try to figure out what works best for you. Once you’ve found something that works, try to stay consistent and keep believing in yourself.

Tara Richardson