What Are The Steps Of Positive Thinking?
Becoming a positive thinker is easy when you know the steps of positive thinking...
...and of course, you also apply them! (By the way, do you wonder if you need to study positive thinking?)
All you need to benefit from positive thinking is to replace your negative thoughts with positive ones - this is, to change your focus of attention from something that makes you feel bad to something that makes you feel good.
It *is* that simple!
How do you do that?
Follow these easy steps of positive thinking:
- Become aware of your thoughts. You can do this on the spot, throughout the day.
If you've never paid attention to your thoughts, then you can train yourself to do that by choosing a quiet spot and sitting in silence for a while, just noticing what comes up in your mind. I found it best to do this in the afternoons, after work is done and before taking care of things like making dinner.
Most of us are over-identified with our own thoughts, and believe that just because *we* have a certain thought, it means something. But thoughts are just thoughts - they are not yours or mine, and they only have as much weigh as you want to give them. - Notice the thoughts that make you feel bad. This is easy to do: your emotions (fear, jealousy, worry, anger...) will tell you that you are on a 'negative' train of thought.
For instance, think about the subject of money. How do you feel? Anxious, nervous, scared? What thoughts come to mind? 'Money is hard to make', 'I never have enough money' are perhaps some of those thoughts.
Taking this step can also help you to uncover the root of your beliefs (most of them would have been acquired during your childhood) and set yourself free to choose new beliefs. - Change your negative thoughts for positive ones. This is easy: choose thoughts that make you feel good when you think them.
You can only think of one thing at a time; if you think about something that makes you feel good then there is no room for feeling bad.
For example, if you find yourself worrying about money and bills to pay, you could instead choose to focus on all the abundance that you do have, or you could list situations where money came to you unexpectedly.
If you find yourself unable to think about a certain subject in a way that makes you feel good, then choose to think about something else that does make you feel good. The point is to change your train of thought and thus your emotions.
Why can I not change my thoughts?
Sometimes, you might notice, it is not so easy to change your thoughts about a certain subject. You may try to think about it in a way that makes you feel good, yet you find that there is no way you can feel good about it.
The thing is, when you have thought about a subject in a certain way for a long time, you have 'walked' that path of thought so often that it seems the only path available.
Some of the big subjects where we may find difficulty changing our thoughts are money, relationships, and health.
In these cases, it is best to first practice changing your thoughts about something small.
For example, do you get upset when you have to queue for a while? Next time, change the direction of your thoughts by focusing on whatever benefits you can find to queuing - "This chair is actually quite comfortable", "I now have time to just relax", "I can now read a few more pages of this book".
As you practice following the steps of positive thinking about small things, you get the hang of it and it becomes easier to change your thoughts on larger subjects.
You can also use your thoughts to 'program' yourself a good day: get up to positive thinking; or you can use positive thinking to change your thoughts about your own life.
Summing up the steps of positive thinking:
- Become aware of your thoughts
- Use your emotions as a way to discover your negative thoughts
- Put your attention on thoughts that make you feel good
The trick, as you would have probably imagined, is to repeat these steps often, with many different subjects, and to start small in the subjects where you find it difficult.
As you do that consistently, you start changing your overall perception of life, and life starts changing for you.
Use the following resources to help yourself when following the steps of positive thinking:
- Positive thinking activities
- Positive self statements
- Positive thinking tips
- Positive thinking programs
You can then expand on these steps of positive thinking with the Law of Attraction, which shows you how you can intentionally use your thoughts to achieve or obtain what you want. Discover how the Law of Attraction, positive thinking and quantum physics relate.
In the words of Henri Matisse...
"There are always flowers for those who want to see them."