Over the last couple of years, Iโm working towards thinking more positively. It has been a continuous work in progress, but it has changed the way I view the world greatly.
Just like everyone, my life isnโt perfect. Everybody has something that will make them scared, sad, or angry. This can make it hard to see the positive in any circumstance.
I’ve made it my goal over the past years to complain less and to focus more on the positive side of things. I believe that there are many benefits to positive thinking!
Being positive doesnโt only relate to your mental wellbeing. It is something that can impact many areas of your life.
Iโll share with you what impact positive thinking can have, what changes Iโve made in my life, and what steps you can take.
The Impact Of Being Positive
This is an important topic I feel like discussing since being negative can have a big impact on your life.
Being negative can impact your personal finances, as you think you will never get out of debt, accomplish financial independence (or retire early), or are able to build a passive income. This may result in you giving up, which means you will never achieve the goal.
If youโre being positive, you know that you can achieve any financial goal you set for yourself. If youโre working towards big goals like financial independence or having 1000 EUR monthly passive income, you know it will take a while.
Even though you realize that itโs not going to happen within a month or even a year, you still donโt give up and keep working towards it. One step at a time.
Another example.
Being negative can impact your personal life, as it can make someone feel that they donโt deserve certain things. They donโt deserve time with their friends or family, for example.
If youโre being positive about this, you can start to have fun with your friends and family because you love to spend time with them and be with them.
Being negative can impact your career, as it can make you feel you canโt ask for that raise, believe youโre stuck in a job you hate, or they wonโt give you your promotion anyways.
If youโre being positive about this you are asking for a raise because you know you deserve it, you are going to actively look for another job, or you will ask for that promotion you deserve.
I can go on and on about this, but I guess you get the point.
Being positive can help improve your financial life, your career, your personal life, and everything in between.
Benefits Of Positive Thinking
There are many benefits of positive thinking, some of which Iโve totally figured out and many that Iโm still struggling with. I want to highlight what positive thinking has done for me so that you can take the same steps to improve your life.
Being Positive Helps You Stop Dwelling On The Past
The first thing that positive thinking helps you with, is to stop focusing on what happened in the past. You will realize that you canโt change what happened, you can only focus on how to improve in the future.ย
While it can be frustrating at times and feel totally impossible to change your mood, when youโre focusing on the past youโre focusing on something that will never change.
Try to focus on the positive and learn from the lessons that are given to you.
Itโs a process that can take many years in some cases. For example, it took me over 10 years to fully embrace the fact that my dad passed away. I took some great lessons from him, which Iโm eternally grateful for now.
Being Positive Motivates You
If youโre being negative in a situation, it can lead to inaction. You freeze. No action happens. Just your mind keeps racing and racing.
Thatโs what you want to get out of!
If youโre focusing on the positive side, you will get motivated. You realize that youโre changing and that what youโre working towards is something amazing and fabulous!
Youโre focusing on your goals and how you can achieve them. You believe that good things are possible for you and that you are changing your destiny.
If youโre looking for motivation, I have written down my favorite money affirmations to attract wealth and abundance. If youโre focusing on affirmations, you will enable the positive side and get more motivated to reach your goals.
By being positive, you will be motivated to reach all these big financial goals. You are motivated to reach financial independence, travel the world, go after your dream job, live your dream life, and more.
Being Positive Can Change Your Results
There is this model, that you may have heard of.
The model states that: thoughts affect your feelings, feelings affect your actions, and actions affect your result.
If you want to change your results, the thing you should start with if your thoughts. If you change your thoughts, your feelings, actions, and the result will change as well.
What Steps You Can Take To Be Positive
Okay, so how the heck do you learn to be more positive?
Here are a couple of things that really work for me:
- Register your thoughts. What are you thinking throughout the day? If you tell yourself: โI can get financially independentโ, what does the little voice in your head say? If itโs telling you that you canโt do something, thatโs where you got work to do. Thatโs great if youโre becoming aware thatโs the first step.
- Instead of thinking “I can’t”, start thinking “I can”. Focus on what you want and on how you can get there.
- Be nice to others. If youโre helping someone, this will have an immediate effect on your mood. It doesnโt have to be big, you can start by saying hello or call a loved one. If you need some extra inspiration, here are 65 acts of kindness ideas!
- Get up early. When youโre getting up early, you get to do the things that are most important to you. If youโre thinking; this canโt be done, YES you can! Even without coffee! Just put your alarm clock an hour early from now on and work on your personal goals.
- Stop comparing yourself to others. Weโre wired to compare ourselves continually to others. If youโre being motivated by that, good for you to keep going. If youโre being discouraged by it, stop comparing yourself to others and focus on playing your own game.
- STOP with having regret. Regret is a hard emotion to deal with. The situation is already over, there is nothing you can do about it at this point, but you wish you did things differently. All your life experiences and decisions are contributing to where you are at this moment in your life. Learn from your experiences and donโt call them regret.
- You are in control! Lastly, remember that you are in control. Itโs your life! If youโre unhappy about something currently going on in your life, try and change your situation.
Do you believe in the power of being positive? Why (not)?
Founder of Spark Nomad, Radical FIRE, Journalist
Expertise: Personal finance and travel content
Education: Bachelor of Economics at Radboud University, Master in Finance at Radboud University, Minor in Economics at Chapman University.
Over 200 articles, essays, and short stories published across the web.
Experience: Marjolein Dilven is a journalist and founder of Radical FIRE, a personal finance platform, and Spark Nomad, a travel platform. Marjolein has a finance and economics background with a masterโs in Finance. She has quit her job to travel the world, documenting her travels on Spark Nomad to help people plan their travels. Marjolein Dilven has written for publications like MSN, Associated Press, CNBC, Town News syndicate, and more.
That is very true – it’s easy to pay too much attention to that ‘negative idea’ and it’s hard to move past it. Happy that you found the article useful and thanks for reading!
Hi M, inspiring post as usual! Turning negativity in positive energy is currently one of my biggest struggle. Negative thoughts are subtle and often there is not a “negative voice” that precisely talks in my mind, but a simple “negative idea” that is enough to mess up the best intentions throughout the day. Your hints are very useful to keep on track towards a positive attitude. Bookmarked ????