Do you ever find yourself getting stuck in negative thought patterns and expecting the worst possible outcome in every situation? It’s a far too common mind-set that can be near impossible to change, even when you’ve finally decide you’ve had enough. Much like weeds, negative thoughts tend to multiply on their own – even when you’re not consciously trying to think negatively.

The good news is turning a negative outlook into a positive one requires just a little patience and persistence.

Here’s three simple steps to begin forming positive expectations on a daily basis:

1) Develop self-awareness to recognize negative expectations.

One problem with negative thoughts is that they often form below your conscious level of awareness, and you get so used to them being in your head that you hardly notice anymore. To turn from negative to positive, you’ll have to develop a stronger level of self-awareness. One good way to start is by performing self-checks several times a day. Pay attention first to how you feel. If you’re feeling positive and productive, most likely you’ve been thinking positive thoughts.

However, if you notice that you’re feeling stressed, pessimistic or irritable, you’re probably focusing more on negative thoughts. When that happens:

2) Challenge and change the negative thoughts.

Believe it or not, it’s fairly easy to challenge and change negative thoughts with a little willpower and concentration. For example, if you find yourself feeling doubtful about your ability to finish your work on time, you might engage in a bit of self-talk like this: “Okay, so I’m feeling a bit worried right now, but really everything is okay. I’m strong, I’m smart and I’m capable of finishing my work on time. I’ll do my best and everything will work out fine.” Even though nothing has changed in your outer circumstances, this type of self-talk can get you thinking and feeling more positive.

3) Work everyday on developing a general positive expectation habit.

Each day when you wake up, affirm confidently, “Today is going to be a great day! Everything will go my way and I’ll enjoy plenty of lucrative opportunities and fun!”

When you encounter obstacles or problems, see them as opportunities to learn, grow and strengthen yourself. Perception is 99% of the game! If you simply work on shifting the way you look at the experiences of your life, you can easily conquer your negative thought habits.

The more you focus on changing your perspective to emphasize the positive, the more you’ll empower yourself to create better circumstances in your life. Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying better and more frequent opportunities and attracting other like minded, successful people to connect with.

Wishing you a larger life,
BB

Technorati Tags: Dr. Seuss, expectations, personal improvement, positive attitude

Still waiting for your personal situation to improve before you’ll allow yourself to be happy? Most of us have preconceived ideas of what would make us happy, and we refuse to feel satisfied until those things happen.

The problem is that even once situations improve in our lives, we’re rarely satisfied with them! Instead, we shift our focus to something even bigger and better, believing “it” will make us happy. We never allow ourselves to reach a point of contentment. Have you done the same thing to yourself?

The good news is that you can decide to be happy NOW – even if not everything in your life is perfect. Below you’ll find 3 easy ways to do so:

1) Be grateful.

Gratitude is one of the most powerful states of mind that you can adopt. Not only does it make you feel good, it shifts your focus from what you don’t have to what you DO have, and keeps it there! As you focus more on what you are grateful to have in your life (even the really small blessings!), you worry less about anything that may be lacking. The result? A more pervasive sense of happiness!

2) Take time to smell the roses.

If you spend most of your days feeling rushed and scattered, it’s hard to feel happy and content. In order to be truly happy, you need to make time for yourself to relax, dream, and take pleasure in life’s simpler moments. Beginning today, make sure to spend time doing things you love on a regular basis. Read books that stimulate your imagination; listen to great music; take long walks, and generally make an effort to enjoy your life as it is right now.

3) Love the journey.

Many of us make the mistake of pinning all of our expectations on some vague, far-off result, like the completion of goals. We believe that once we “get there” everything will be perfect and we’ll finally be happy. However, there is much to be gained from enjoying the journey TO your destination! Make it your mission to revel in every moment that you’re working toward higher goals. Enjoy the sense of self-mastery and accomplishment you gain with every goal you achieve. Make it a worthwhile journey and you’ll savor the end result that much more!

The most important thing to understand about happiness is that it is largely a CHOICE you make from moment to moment. Though certain serious situations make it difficult to feel happy at times, most often we allow the little things to bother us and block any happiness we would otherwise feel. Embrace happiness, and it will grow to monstrous proportions in your life!

Wishing you a larger life,
BB

Technorati Tags: Benjamin Franklin, choice, happiness, personal improvement