OBSERVATION: Scientific evidence and personal experience teach us that approaching each daily task and our lives in general with a positive attitude (optimism, enthusiasm, confidence) significantly increases actual success and enhances personal happiness. Yet many of us stifle our careers and pollute our personal relationships by persistent negativity. Just as losing weight and keeping it off is really hard, so is losing self-defeating attitudes and staying positive — but it’s doable and worth it. The strategy: self-consciously cultivate optimism.

Here are  some suggestions to help you more consistently reap the benefits of positivity.

Cultivating Optimism

By Dr. Jo Anne White
(excerpt – read full article at Selfgrowth.com)
So how do we cultivate optimism? A new gardener like me is aware of what needs to go into the soil to produce beautiful, healthy, vibrant flowers. The correct mulch, attention and vigilance are necessary to ensure that the flowers get enough sunlight, minerals and water. As simple as it sounds, we need to make sure that what goes into our minds and what we focus our attention on is monitored in much the same way as our home gardens.

The garden of your mind responds to constancy and repetition. Make a mental note of what you are feeding it consistently. If you flood your mind with fears and doubts, thoughts of lack, anger or a host of negatives that is what your mind garden will produce. Over time, it will simply spew out what’s been put into it.  We can change our mind programs e by consciously deciding to replace negative thoughts with positive ones.[this is called cognitive therapy]. When a doubt slips in, quickly create a positive thought right behind it. Think of it like training a tight muscle. Over time, your mind became more accustomed to elicit positive thoughts because you have stretched it to comfortably receive them..

The Four Secrets Of Optimism

By ThirdAge.com 

(excerpt – see full article at http://shine.yahoo.com/event/vitality/the-four-secrets-of-optimism-2576580/)

http://www.oneminuteblog.com/how-to-become-an-optimist/

Not only is life hard, it can unexpectedly become harder. One day we might be comfortably cruising along, and then suddenly it seems like everything is going wrong: Your marriage is in a shambles, or you’ve just discovered that you’re not as financially stable as you thought, or you suddenly lose a lover, friend, or family member. The world has changed. Everything seems ominous and uncertain. . . .

Here are four ways to stay positive when life gets you down:

Express Gratitude. Be mindful about what you do have. . . .  Make a list of things you’re grateful for every night for two weeks. Cultivate a sense of gratitude in everyday life for things both major and minor. . . .

Volunteer. Take your awareness outside of yourself and focus it on the well-being of others.

Notice the Good. . . .  Maybe you’ve gone through some personal growth and change because of what’s happened, or you’ve become closer to someone.

Change Negative Self-Talk. Try doing some cognitive-behavioral therapy on yourself. When you notice yourself having a negative thought about yourself, replace it with a positive one.

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