Positive thinking is a choice.

It is a mental attitude that expects good and fav

orable results. It brings inner peace, success, improved relationships, better h
ealth, happiness and satisfaction. It also radiates to people around you, and on
e way or the other, they are influenced by it.
Why is it so much easier to have a negative attitude than a positive one? The si
tuations and challenges we face in the world each day expose us to negative thin
king which, in turn, pull us down. When these situations and challenges enter ou
r minds, they generate negative thoughts and feelings. These negative thoughts b
egin to rule our minds the moment we choose to believe them.
The BIG question is How do we develop a satisfactory positive mind? The following
tips will help you develop one.

1. Be conscious of your thoughts.

Examine critically what you think about. Our negative actions and words often co
me from our negative thoughts what goes into our minds. Like I said at the openi
ng of this article, positive thinking is a choice. We have the ability to choose
our thoughts, regardless of our beliefs. As soon as a negative thought comes in
to our minds, we should purposefully make it a point of duty to replace it with
a positive one. This may seem difficult the first time, but with persistence and
determination, it will become easy and doable.
2. Write your thoughts in a thought dairy.
Keep a list of your thoughts, attitudes and actions. Write them down as soon as
you notice them. Later, critically analyse them.
3. Challenge the negative thoughts.
The purpose of challenging our negative thoughts is to be able to see quickly wh
ether the thoughts are wrong or whether they have some reasonable contents in th
em. This will enable us to determine the degree of positivity in every negativit
y. This will also enable us to take appropriate actions. However, we should alwa
ys make sure that our negative thoughts are genuinely important to achieving you
r goals.
4. Use positive affirmations to counter negative thoughts.
This requires constant practice. With constant practice, positive thinking, powe
red by positive affirmations, will begin to flow from inside us to outside, to g
ive us a positive self image. It will give us sweet satisfaction to face the num
erous challenges of life with ease and determination. Take some time to write st
rong, life-giving, positive affirmation statements, and repeat them to yourself
without ceasing. Tell yourself that you re making progress, even if you are not, a
nd believe in your heart that you are making progress.
5. See things in a positive way.
Having positive eyes helps us to develop positive thoughts. No matter how bitter
or difficult we see things, we should try and see them in positive ways. It bec
omes easier to do this when we take caution to look for the positive aspect in t
he situation. If you are able to identify this aspect, you can develop it to you
r advantage. The fact is every cloud has a silver lining.
6. Keep your mind focused on important things.
Set goals and priorities for what you think and do. Have a scale of preference a
nd do important things first. This will help you stay organized and achieve the
most important goals first. One advantage of this is that if there is not enough
time to do everything, you will have spent the available time on important thin
gs. Then you will have no regrets, no blames, no discouragement, no negativity;
but satisfactory positivity.
7. Dream of success.
Before you start any plan or action, clearly focus your mind on a successful out
come. This will bring you amazing results. Avoid negative reactions and statemen
ts. Quickly find adequate solutions to problems or challenges as soon as they oc
cur, rather than reacting negatively to them.
8. Look for positive people to associate with.
Be careful the company you keep. It is good to be around positive thinking peopl
e who radiate positive attitudes. However, encountering a positive person may se
em a difficult task. Not to worry, persistent searching (on the Net and visiting
blogs such as The Change Blog) will make you meet people with positive minds. T
o be candid, there are numerous positive people, only if you will look for them.
9. Stop associating with negative people.
Stop hanging around with people who do nothing but utter negative statements. Le
t negative minded people keep their own company. After all, birds of a feather f
lock together. You don t belong there!
10. Develop new habits.
Our present attitudes are habits, built from the feedback of parents, friends, s
ociety and self, that forms our self-image and our world-image. We can develop n
ew habits and start a new life of positive thinking. Negative attitudes and thin
king should be replaced with positive ones. Mind you, old habits die hard. Howev
er, be determined. Determination is a requirement for positive thinking.