Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you’re optimistic or pessimistic – and it may even affect your health. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management
Understanding positive thinking and self-talk
Positive thinking doesn’t mean you keep your head in the sand and ignore unpleasant situations
- It means you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way
- Self-talk is the stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head
- If your thoughts are mostly positive, you are an optimist
Focusing on positive thinking
Identify areas to change
- Find a way to put a positive spin on negative thoughts
- Be open to humor
- Follow a healthy lifestyle
- Surround yourself with positive people
- Practice positive self-talk
- Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else
- Think about things you’re thankful for
Practicing positive thinking every day
Eventually, self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance.
The health benefits of positive thinking
Increased life span
- Lower rates of depression
- Higher levels of distress
- Greater resistance to the common cold
- Better psychological and physical well-being
- Improved cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
- Coaching skills during hardships and times of stress
Negative thinking
Filtering – magnifying negative aspects of a situation and filtering out positive ones
- Personalizing – automatically blame yourself when something bad happens
- Catastrophizing – anticipates the worst
- Polarizing – sees things as either good or bad
- No middle ground
