Positive Thinking

The Power of Positive Thinking in Stress Management!

what is the benefit of positive thinking? Do you ever get in a negative funk when you are under stress? Stress causes temporary dissatisfaction in life. Positive thinking and positive self-talk can enable you to effectively manage and prevent the common occurrence of stress.

Your process of thinking is a very powerful force when it comes to your personal wellbeing and how you handle situations. Is your glass half empty or half full in your self-talk? Are you a generally positive or negative thinker? Well let's first examine what self-talk is?

SELF-TALK, What is it?

Many people wonder what is SELF TALK? It is the thoughts that go through your mind at all times of the day. You don't really have to concentrate your brain is always having a constant stream of thoughts. Since your brain is always processing its surroundings and experiences these thoughts vary. Hence the self-talk may be positive or negative.

Of course both Negative and Positive self-talk are powerful, but only positive thinking is productive. Pessimism or negative thinking is a disease that infects your mind and clear thinking when you need it most. When would you guess you need those clear faculties? When you are under stress!

Of course in the world we live in today many people laugh at the thought of positive thinking. They feel that if you look at situations in that light you are really fooling yourself, or duping yourself into a false sense of reality. People truly think that negativity is THE reality.

Unfortunately these people are mistaken and cheating themselves out of a happier life style. What those people do not realize is your brain uses preexisting associations (whether they are positive or negative) to draw on how you will react to a situation, including the stressful situations.

If your immediate thought process is to assume or think negatively your body reacts to that and associates how you feel with how you think. EXAMPLE... Say you have had a strong disagreement with a loved one. If you tend to think negatively a thought you might have is..."I'm sure we are going to fight with them, I just know that is what is going to happen."

Well now you have gone into the situation in a extremely defensive manner, your body language says confrontation, and the way you speak says the same. You have now taken part in what is called priming. you have primed yourself toward a situation before it has completely unfurled. It all started with negative self-talk.

Whereas thinking positive causes you to think clearly, reasonably, and causes you to act with a sound mind. See the difference. Just playing the hypothetical situation in your mind can help you to see the consequences in many situations.

Positive Self-Talk

To take part in positive self-talk you have to have an open mind. You must be ready to understand that is will become a pattern of thinking in order to really be an effective stress management tool. Just because you may think many negative thoughts now doesn’t mean you cannot change.

The first step is not to be afraid of change. Many people have the fear of changing because they have come to feel comfortable, and feel a measure of safety because they know what to expect. Well we tell you that is no way to live. You Deserve Happiness.

To start the process just think of how this challenge of change will benefit you! Every time you feel intimidated or unable to change your thinking process, think of what it will do for you.

You will have better coping skills. Problems won’t be problems anymore they will be short or long-term challenges. You will have less stress related symptoms. Your ultimate goal is to feel better about life, and handle challenges better. You can do it!

Are you ready to give it a try? Let's begin with some mental conditioning. The power of positive thinking is really a mind set. You decide how you want to look at life. Even though a life situation is difficult and hard to deal with a positive thinker will foresee happiness in the end. This has to be your resolve.

We have learned that self-talk is a constant stream of thoughts in your mind. Would you say that your self-talk is 50% positive, and 50% negative? How would you rate yourself? Be honest. this is going to benefit you, if you know what you need to improve on.

Now that you have a number in your head. Make a goal. Tell yourself out loud how much of a percentage of those thoughts you are going to transform to optimism. Whatever the number is begin immediately. when you think of people, or situations think positively.

Example... A co-worker and you usually do not get along. how can you transform your thoughts about that person and situation? when you hear that person's name or hear them talk do not let yourself cringe. Think of at least two positive traits or actions this person has done. Don't look at the person in a disagreeable way, smile, think and act positively.

You will see that how you think depicts how you act, and how you act can many times depict how well a situation goes. This is just one situation.

Do you find yourself talking about negative things people have done or gossiping with your friends? This is not helping you. it may seem entertaining at the time, but really you are allowing pessimism to control your conversation. Is that the type of person you want to be?

Now positive thinking is not just a quick fix technique. Many people because they don’t believe that it will work use it just to get through a temporary challenge. But, really it is a lifestyle. You can liken it to eating right. For instance say a person needed to lose 10 pounds and wanted more energy.

This person usually eats fast food for at least 2 of their meals. Well that person decides that all month they will eat salad and lean protein. They lose the 10 pounds and have a lot of energy. Good. If that person went back to eating fast food as frequently as their previous course would they stay slim, energetic, and healthy?

No, it has to be a lifestyle. Otherwise the benefits are just as temporary as their choice of food intake. The same goes for positive thinking you have to train your brain to continue this course so you will have the long-term benefits. This way each time a situation occurs that feels challenging you already are governed by the power of positive thinking positive thinking. It is the practice of positive thinking.

And that practice becomes part of who you are. do you want to be a positive thinker? Do you want to be governed by the power of positive thinking? You can and will, just keep chugging at it.

To return to Stress Management click on the link.

To return to Home Page click here.