Whether you see the bright side of things or endless shadows, a positive mindset affects how you see the world. Indeed, even recent studies have shown that positive thinking can impact your quality of life. Therefore, it seems that being an optimist does have its advantages, especially when mitigating anxiety and depression.
Although having a positive mindset is beneficial in your everyday life, it’s not a form of escapism from your problems. To be precise, positive thinking allows you to learn better problem-solving techniques, so you can face your problems with a clearer mindset to resolve them. Positive thoughts provide a barrier protecting your mind from anxiety that would creep inside.
The Self-Talking Optimist
Developing a positive mindset begins with self-talking. The ability to self-talk isn’t necessarily a conversation you’re having with yourself. On the contrary, one version of self-talking is when you let your thoughts, whether positive or negative, run through your head endlessly. Another form of self-talk may be focusing on your misconceptions or preconceived expectations created when you lack information. Mainly, there’s a link between your thoughts and the consequences of your actions regardless of intent. Positive thoughts can lead to better outcomes as you’d be driven to make them possible.
Benefits of a Positive Mindset
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As stated before, researchers have discovered various mental health benefits that arise from a positive mindset. Unsurprisingly, optimism is a great repellent keeping anxious and depressive feelings from lingering. Along with mental health, being more optimistic can improve your physical health. These same studies show that optimistic people are less likely to develop cardiovascular diseases or stroke.
Currently, researchers are still looking into why and how positive thinking can lead to these various health benefits. So far, one theory exists that explains that a positive outlook on light gives people the ability to develop more efficient coping strategies in stressful situations. Likewise, these individuals tend to follow healthier diet plans and engage more in physical activities.
Effects of Negative Self-Talking
Remember, you’re still human so be aware if your self-talk becomes negative because it tends to get overwhelming over time. Negative thoughts can clip into your consciousness without you being aware of it happening. Therefore, you should know the various ways that negative thinking can disrupt your positive mindset.
Maybe you struggle with focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. Filtering is a form of negative self-talk where you amplify negatively at the expense of your positive experiences. For instance, you may spend more time going over negative feedback on a project you finished while ignoring any positive results derived from it. With filtering, you’re more likely to fall victim to blaming yourself for any bad experiences. Personifying affects your positive outlook on life as you’ll begin to feel every bad thing is your fault.
Along with self-blame, you may begin to anticipate every bad thing that could happen in a situation. Catastrophizing can boost your anxiety even more as you’re body may physically anticipate these bad experiences beforehand. In turn, this anxiety may develop into a disorder disrupting your daily life even more. More than that but blame doesn’t have to center yourself to be effective as you may feel someone else shares responsibility for what happened. Specifically, you may blame your loved ones, even subconsciously, for not protecting you.
Final Thoughts
While having a positive mindset has benefits, it comes with challenges as it doesn’t develop in your sleep or as you age. You must actively work to gain a positive mindset by identifying your struggles and engaging in better thinking habits. Even if you struggle forming positive thoughts is difficult, there’s an old saying that sometimes you have to fake positively to manipulate your mind into becoming more optimistic.
Disclaimer: This article is intended simply to provide information. It does not replace the medical advice of a physician or other medical professional. Please speak with your doctor or therapist if you have any questions or concerns.
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