Positive Mindset: 17 Ways to Develop a Happier Mind
Want to be more positive, optimistic, and happy? Well, luckily there are lots of science-based ways to develop a more positive mindset. Check out these tips to start shifting your mindset.
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What Is a Positive Mindset? A DefinitionThe psychology research doesn’t yet have an agreed-upon definition of positive mindset. But some researchers have proposed that positive mindset includes happiness, confidence, being in control, stability, motivation, and optimism (Barry, Folkard, & Ayliffe, 2014). Given our minds are responsible for our thoughts, emotions, and actions, it is not surprising that this definition of positive mindset is so broad. But that’s also why we’re going to zoom in a bit. We’ll define positive mindset as positive-oriented thoughts, beliefs, values, and attitudes. This is the ‘thinking part’ of positivity, which then impacts our emotions, actions, and experiences.
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To start, let’s break positive mindset down a little bit more.
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What Is a Positive Mindset Made Of?
- Past-focused positive mindset. This involves thinking about the past positively. For example, we might express gratitude, savor the good moments, and reminisce.
- Present-focused positive mindset. This involves focusing our attention on what’s currently good and reframing difficult situations in a more positive light.
- Future-focused positive mindset. This involves things like optimism and positive expectations.
Another way to think about the parts of a positive mindset is to think about self- versus other-focus.
- Self-focused positive mindset. This involves things like positive self-esteem, self-love, and self-confidence. It’s about paying attention to your positive qualities and strengths.
- Other-focused positive mindset. This involves things like kind thoughts, trust, and empathy. It’s about paying attention to the positive things in others.
Now that you have a better idea of what positive mindset is made of, let’s talk about how to develop this mindset.
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How to Develop a Positive Mindset
A positive mindset is something you can develop over time, just like you can develop any other skill that relies on your mind—like skills for math, science, reading, etc… It just takes practice. You have to practice thinking positive thoughts and then it gets easier for your brain to do so. So let’s talk about some of the strategies you can practice to develop a more positive mindset.
1. Invest Time in Developing a Positive Mindset
Just like anything else, developing a positive mindset takes some time and effort. It happens as a result of small efforts we make each day or week and then grows into something really beneficial. That’s why if developing a positive mindset is important to you, it’s a good idea to set aside some time each day for it. It could be a large chunk of time or as little as 5 minutes. Your brain just needs time to practice thinking positive. So, aim to commit to a few minutes each morning and evening to practice positive thinking using the other tips described in this article.
2. Develop a Positive Mindset by Practicing Gratitude
Video: Why Gratitude Is Good for Happiness
3. Develop a Positive Mindset by Improving Recall of Positive Concepts
4. Develop a Positive Mindset by Focusing on Your Strengths
Many of us with low self-worth focus on all the things that are wrong with us—the things we’re not good at, the ways we look different from others, or the things we have failed at. But if we want to develop a more positive mindset, we’re better served by focusing on our strengths—the things we are good at, the special skills we have, and the things we have succeeded at. This shift in focus can help us feel more positively about ourselves.
5. Develop a Positive Mindset by Focusing on Your Positive Qualities
6. Develop a Positive Mindset by Focusing on How Your Needs Are Being Met
Of course, we may not always feel that these needs are being met 100%, but satisfying these needs relies on our beliefs. So shifting these beliefs by focusing on the ways our needs are being met can make us feel better. For example, if we have few friends, we might focus on how connected we feel to one friend or a relative. Or, if we have a job that restricts our autonomy (or empowerment), we might focus on how free we are to do what we want when we get off work. By focusing on the ways our needs are indeed being met, we can start to shift our mindset.
7. Develop a Positive Mindset by Practicing Self-Compassion
8. Develop a Positive Mindset by Practicing Self-Care
If we don’t like ourselves, we can sometimes unconsciously create experiences that further make us feel bad about ourselves—we’ve proved ourselves right that are not worth good treatment (Swann Jr, 2011). So part of developing a more positive mindset might involve cultivating beliefs that we are worth taking care of. We’re allowed to have breaks, to feel good, and to be treated well. This self-caring mindset may help us think about ourselves in more positive ways that help us to have more positive experiences.
9. Develop a Positive Mindset by Focusing on the Good in Others
10. Develop a Positive Mindset by Shifting Your Attention
11. Develop a Positive Mindset by Being More Optimistic
12. Develop a Positive Mindset With Loving-Kindness Meditation
13. Develop a Positive Mindset by Setting Meaningful Goals
14. Develop a Positive Mindset by Focusing on Growth Rather Than Success
A positive mindset is a mindset that can tolerate challenges and failures. That’s why learning to focus on growth rather than success may be helpful. It’s inevitable that we will experience failures but if we are focused on how we can learn and grow from the experience, then it becomes a positive thing—something that will actually improve our lives and not worsen them. So next time you encounter a difficulty or failure, try to focus on what you’ll learn from the experience.
15. Develop a Positive Mindset by Savoring the Moment
16. Develop a Positive Mindset by Letting Go of Resentment
17. Develop a Positive Mindset by Believing You Can
There is quite a bit of evidence suggesting that believing in something makes it more likely to happen (Benson & Friedman, 1996). It’s not magic though. It’s because our beliefs (and our mindset) are so powerful that they affect our emotions, our actions, our body, and others’ responses to us. Our mindset fundamentally changes how we walk through the world and therefore it affects where we end up. So believe that you can develop a positive mindset, and you’ll be more likely to.
Music: Some Music to Help Calm the Mind While Developing a Positive Mindset
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Final Thoughts on Positive Mindset
There are so many different ways to grow a more positive mindset. Hopefully, some of the practices provided here help you get on the track to changing your mindset and your life.
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References
- Barry, J. A., Folkard, A., & Ayliffe, W. (2014). Validation of a brief questionnaire measuring positive mindset in patients with uveitis. Psychology, Community & Health, 3(1), 1-10.
- Benson, H., & Friedman, R. (1996). Harnessing the power of the placebo effect and renaming it remembered wellness. Annual Review of Medicine-Selected Topics in the Clinical Sciences, 47, 193-200.
- Emmons, R. A. (2003). Personal goals, life meaning, and virtue: wellsprings of a positive life.
- Fredrickson, B. L., Cohn, M. A., Coffey, K. A., Pek, J., & Finkel, S. M. (2008). Open hearts build lives: positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Journal of personality and social psychology, 95(5), 1045.
- Holt-Lunstad, J., Robles, T. F., & Sbarra, D. A. (2017). Advancing social connection as a public health priority in the United States. American Psychologist, 72(6), 517.
- Quoidbach, J., Mikolajczak, M., & Gross, J. J. (2015). Positive interventions: An emotion regulation perspective. Psychological bulletin, 141(3), 655.
- Swann Jr, W. B. (2011). Self-verification theory. Handbook of theories of social psychology, 2, 23-42.
- Vlachopoulos, S. P., & Michailidou, S. (2006). Development and initial validation of a measure of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in exercise: The Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale. Measurement in physical education and exercise science, 10(3), 179-201.
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