But what about when negativity gets out of control? What do we do when negative thoughts and feelings start to take over? Let’s find out.

What does negativity look like?

There are many ways in which negativity manifests itself in our lives. From thoughts of helplessness to dissatisfaction with our work, pessimism can creep up in many different areas of day-to-day life.

Some amount of negativity is normal, and we all have days where we just feel a bit… meh, but constant pessimism can be indicative of a whole host of mental health issues, including anxiety disorders and depression; not to mention the fact that chronic negativity can also have physical ramifications such as sleeping issues, high blood pressure and heart disease.

According to The University of Minnesota, the chronic stress that can come from unmanaged negativity can even decrease our lifespan.

Yep, rampant negative attitudes can kill you, albeit very slowly. All in all, I think it’s clear that too much negativity is… well… definitely a negative.

But does it always have to be a bad thing?

Well, no.

Negativity has a purpose

Negativity is actually a very useful part of our characters. Some forms of negativity, such as skepticism and unoptimistic realism, can come with positive effects such as increasing a person’s ability for clear judgment and self-motivation.

In fact, Julie Norem, as quoted by Adam Grant, says in her book The Positive Power of Negative Thinking that so-called ‘defensive pessimists’ can be just as successful as ‘strategic optimists’ because of their lower expectations leading them to plan more and work harder.

By never assuming success, they put in more effort to ensure it, regardless of how often they may have succeeded before.

So negative thoughts and feelings don’t have to be all bad. But if they do get too powerful and the dark clouds begin to descend, what can we do to help ourselves?

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

How to turn negativity into positivity

It’s worth remembering that humans, by our very nature, have something called a negativity bias.

Essentially, this is the term we use to describe our tendency to prioritize bad things over good things due to our natural instinct to protect ourselves against threats.

This bias, however, is not nearly as useful to us now as it was for our wild ancestors, given how much less we have to worry about dying horrible and violent deaths at the hands (or paws) of wild animals and preventable diseases.

Instead, we need some strategies to deal with this phycological remnant of times gone by. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

1. Practice forgiveness

In this context, forgiveness consists of fully accepting negative events that have occurred, through which we can then let go of our negative feelings about what happened.

Studies show by allowing negative hang-ups to drift away and simply accepting events as they are, we can improve both our mental and physical health, potentially even leading to better immune function and longer lifespans.

The best part? This is a cognitive skill that can be taught and learned! Through meditation and ‘forgiveness practice’, we can teach ourselves to not only forgive the actions of others but also our own actions, leading to a more positive outlook and self-image.

Basically, guys, give yourself a break. You’re doing great!

2. Practice gratitude

Just as we should accept the negative things that happen in our lives, so too should we be grateful for the good things that come our way.

In a study quoted by the University of Minnesota it was found that people who were asked to ruminate on the good things that happened to them were healthier and happier, would sleep better, and even engage in exercise more… Imagine that!

Being thankful for what you have and giving yourself time to feel gratitude can be a powerful tool in the fight against negativity and one that should not be overlooked. It forces us to recognize the positive things around us, which often puts the negative things into perspective, making them more manageable and generally less of a ‘big deal’.

3. Review, replace and repeat

Another way to deal with negative thoughts and feelings is to replace them with positive thoughts that are more constructive. Obviously, this is not the easiest thing in the world to do and it may sound like an oversimplification, but let me explain.

The basic principle here is that you need to pay attention to your thoughts, and when unwarranted negativity rears its ugly head, you need to catch it and interrogate it.

Ask yourself if the feeling or thought has any truthful basis. What would you say to someone else if they were having this thought? What can you do to get out of this mental space?

With the review done, we can move on to replacing the thought. Here, we take the negative feeling and flip it on its head. If you notice yourself thinking ‘I am useless’ for example, you would start to consciously tell yourself the opposite, using only positive words – not ‘I am not useless’ but ‘I am valuable’ instead. Make sense?

Then we repeat. Every time the negative thought rises to the surface you slap it back down with its opposite. You can write the positive thought over and over on a piece of paper or even write it down and stick the sign in a visible place, like on the fridge door or your computer screen.

Whatever works for you, do it, and do it consistently. This is not a quick fix, but with a few weeks of application, it might just start to help. You’ll be thinking your way out of negativity. Go you!

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Negativity is a curse that we all have; it’s the price we pay for being human (albeit without much choice). But negative thoughts and feelings have their place, and to try to never have them would not only be impossible, but foolish.

At times in your life, negativity will protect you from harm and force you to be your best. The dark feelings that we spend all our time trying to avoid may just be the things that help us push that bit further or climb that much higher.

Too much negativity is most definitely a problem, no doubt about it, and I hope that you might be able to employ one of the strategies above to help you through those times when your personal black dog seems to look more like a wolf. But when you notice negativity creeping in around the edges of your mind, maybe don’t avoid it and suppress it, as so many people do, to the detriment of your health.

Instead, let the pessimist flow and harness it, letting the sails of your ambition billow with drive and determination.

Sean Bennett Author

British/German writer, blogger, theatre person and science enthusiast who is always looking to be happier! I love to travel, experience new things, and learn everything I can about the world around me.

The post 3 Examples to Turn Negativity Into Positivity appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Not all negative situations are made equal. A bereavement through separation or death isn’t comparable to a homemade cake gone wrong. However, human beings are all different. And what triggers one of us into the depths of despair may not cause another one of us to blink. And of course, there are some situations whereby it is entirely inappropriate to seek out anything that’s positive. 

In this article, we will look at what it means to be positive in a negative situation and the benefits of this. We will discuss toxic positivity and identify 6 actions to help us stay positive in a negative situation (that actually work!)

What does it mean to be positive? 

A positive person is one who is full of optimism and hope. They see the world through rose-tinted spectacles. They focus on the good aspects of a situation as opposed to dwelling on the bad elements. 

Let’s be honest. How many of us actually enjoy being around negative doomsayers? I have a few negatrons in my life. I limit my time with them as they suck my energy like a vampire. Every tiny little hiccup becomes a drama and it can be quite exhausting. 

On the other hand, I have some incredibly positive souls in my life. People who have surfed the waves of sucky situations. I can’t even comprehend how they stay standing. And they do so with ease and control. They maintain a sunny disposition and they somehow get through thorny times with barely a scratch. 

I often wonder what their secret is. I look at these people with awe, and I feel I am somewhere in the middle. Depending on my frame of mind, I can over-catastrophize something incredibly small. Or I can handle complete devastation like a Budda. What about you? 

Simple positive activities help make us happier. These activities could be engaging in kindness or keeping a gratitude diary. Perhaps if we build a more positive psyche in the first place, we are better equipped when it comes to dealing with a negative situation. 

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

The benefits of positivity 

The greatest benefit of positivity is life. Quite literally. 

This study found women who scored higher in optimism were less likely to die from some of the major causes of death, like heart disease, stroke, cancer, or respiratory disease. 

Positivity and negativity are synonymous with optimism and pessimism.  

An article by Brianna Steinhilber distinguishes between the two. 

Experts claim that the real difference between optimists and pessimists isn’t in their level of happiness or in how they perceive a situation, but in how they cope

Brianna Steinhilber

So our life expectancy may be longer and our ability to cope greater if we are optimistic. But what is actually happening in the brain when we adopt a positive mental attitude? 

The left-hand side of the brain is associated with positive moods and the right-hand side of the brain is linked to negative moods. The good news is our brains can be rewired.

This means that – with practice – we are all able to become more optimistic. 

Know the difference between healthy positivity and toxic positivity 

I have recently learned about the term “toxic positivity”. 

Toxic positivity is the belief that no matter how difficult or devastating a situation is, people should maintain a positive outlook. They should focus on the silver linings, no matter how dire the situation is. 

While the simple truth is that sometimes there are simply no silver linings.

Toxic positivity can cause emotional turmoil. It can result in feelings and emotions being bottled up. Problems are ignored and the feelings of others are dismissed. 

An indication of someone trying to initiate a bit of toxic positivity is when sentences are started with “look on the bright side…” or “just stay positive”. 

Take cancer as an example. I can’t even begin to imagine the heartache of being diagnosed with cancer. Or having someone close to you diagnosed with cancer. 

No matter what the diagnosis is, an example of toxic positivity would be to try and see false positives in this situation. Comparing one diagnosis with another is not always helpful.

Toxic positivity can minimize a situation and that’s certainly not what we are trying to do here. 

A positivity study in cancer patients found optimism to be essential in the patients’ well-being for their present moment but was not beneficial when thinking of the future. This brings us to the conclusion that whilst positivity has its place, we also need to be mindful of realism. 

6 actionable takeaways to stay positive in a negative situation 

Some situations are extremely difficult to overcome. 

A study into the posttraumatic growth in prisoners of war veterans from the Vietnam War showed a significant correlation with optimism. This went on to outline that it is possible to achieve long-lasting positivity following significantly traumatic life events. 

This may be an extreme example, but I want to highlight that we can find positivity and happiness following deep trauma. 

Here are 6 tips to help you build resilience and build a more positive mindset.

1. Breathe

When faced with a negative situation. One of the first things to consider is your breathing. It can help you gain composure and give you space to minimize a knee-jerk reaction. After all, deep breathing has been linked to emotional control and physical well-being. 

So, inhale for a count of 4 and exhale for a count of 4. Repeat this for a few minutes before you consider how you are going to react to your situation. This will facilitate the adoption of a positive mindset. 

2. Don’t jump to conclusions 

Make sure you don’t catastrophize the situation. Deal in facts and be ready to reel your anxious brain in when it starts spinning out of control. You can only go on the information you have. Don’t read between the lines or build a dramatic story around the information you have. 

This will keep you in control of the situation and prevent your brain from taking you for a joy ride. 

3. Seek alternative solutions 

Consider if you have any options in your situation.

• Do you need to figure out a solution to something?
• Do you need to focus on your own well-being?
• Perhaps it’s time to ask a favor of someone?
• Maybe it’s time to lean into your emotional support group?

Control the controllable. But aside from this, look after yourself and be mindful of your own well-being. 

4. Talk to someone about how you feel

Express your feelings and talk openly. Admit your feelings to yourself and don’t deny them. Process them, feel them, sit with them. Don’t be shy in engaging with professional help in terms of therapy. This may help stop you from getting stuck in negative cycles.

5. Exercise

I know not everyone is as obsessed with running as I am. But it doesn’t have to be running. It could be anything. Swimming, cycling, kayaking. Even a simple half-hour walk can elevate your mood and help you regulate your emotions. 

Exercise releases dopamine, which is a feel-good hormone. This means that we are more inclined to lean towards a positive response after we’ve exercised for a bit. 

6. Keep positive company

Be mindful of the company you keep. I appreciate we can’t always shut out the negatrons. But learn to put boundaries in place. Find a way to limit the time you spend with negative, energy-sapping souls. 

Instead, seek out people who energize you. 

The company we keep can have a dramatic impact on us. In fact, it was Jim Rohn who said we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. So think of these people. Do you want to be like them? If not, it’s time to shake up where you invest your time. 

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Staying positive in a negative situation isn’t as easy as it sounds. It takes practice. Sometimes, responding to a negative situation with a positive mindset is entirely inappropriate. There is a time and a place to sit with our emotions and suffer. Differentiating between positivity and toxic positivity is key. 

Don’t be a negatron. Be somebody who energizes others and glows with authentic positivity.

What do you think? Do you believe that you can adopt a positive mindset in the face of dire setbacks? Do you want to share your own story on how you stayed positive in a negative situation? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ali Hall Author

Kindness is my superpower. Dogs and nature are my oxygen. Psychology with Sports science graduate. Scottish born and bred. I’ve worked and traveled all over the world. Find me running long distances on the hills and trails.

The post 6 Tips to Stay Positive in a Negative Situation appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Days like these are inevitable. But we don’t have to just sit there and feel miserable. Science has brought to light dozens of ways to cheer up – and some don’t even require getting out of your chair! The variety is so large, you’ll definitely find something suited for you – whether you’re in a small village or big town, alone or in a crowd, bored silly or juggling 17 urgent tasks.

In this article, you’ll find 41 ways to immediately improve your mood. Keep on reading and you’ll be sure to lighten up your day!

What not to do if you want to cheer yourself up

Many things help you cheer up. But others are counterproductive and hinder your efforts.

If you’re trying to improve your mood, avoid doing these three things.

1. Don’t ignore or invalidate your thoughts and feelings

Many people try to replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations like “I am a lovable person”. Unfortunately, this often backfires, especially for people with low self-esteem.

Be very careful with what you say when you want to cheer up someone else too. Never use statements like these:

• “It could be a lot worse.”
• “Look on the bright side.”
• “It’s not worth getting upset about.”
• “Come on, cheer up!”
• “You’re smart, talented, attractive – you have no reason to be upset.”

You might have the best intentions. But you’re essentially telling the person that their feelings aren’t valid and they need to change. This will only upset them even more – and frustrate you too.

So what should you do instead? Use “negative validation”: accept the feelings and give the person (or yourself) permission to feel them. You can say things like this:

• “You have every right to feel upset.”
• “It’s understandable you are stressed out.”
• “I can see where you’re coming from.”
• “I would feel the same way in your shoes.”

If a loved one is trying to help you and using the wrong approach, try to change the topic or end the conversation. Or, you could try gently explaining to them what they can say to help you.

Want to read more about this topic? Tina Gilbertson explains it beautifully in her book “Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings by Letting Yourself Have Them”.

2. Use social media wisely

Many of us absent-mindedly turn to social media to distract ourselves when we feel down.

You might be expecting me to say you absolutely shouldn’t do this. But studies have found very mixed effects of social media use on well-being. Some suggest it improves well-being, while others say the opposite.

One particular study offers a possible explanation: it doesn’t depend on how you use social media, but rather how invested in it you feel. If you feel emotionally connected to the network and it’s integrated into your daily life, using it gives you higher self-esteem and well-being.

So if you’re logging in for the first time in a month and you don’t even remember who you’re connected to, it probably won’t help you. But if you use it to feel part of a community, there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that.

I would argue it also depends on what kind of accounts you’re following. Several of the 41 ways to cheer up can be done through social media. For example, following these kinds of accounts could be a big help:

• Art accounts (sharing paintings, dance, music, etc.).
• Pet accounts (cat or dog videos).
• Funny accounts (things that make you laugh).
• Nature accounts (showing nature scenes and videos).
• Adventure accounts (sharing awe-inspiring experiences).

Even on a normal day, I’m a big advocate of only following accounts that add positive energy to your life. So if you’re seeing accounts that make you jealous, sad, or angry, then it’s time to clean up your following list! (Or at the very least, mute their posts).

3. Avoid ruminating

If something upsets you, it’s natural for it to float around your mind for a while. As mentioned above, you shouldn’t lock these feelings up, chase them away, or ignore them. But fixating on them doesn’t help either.

If you want to cheer up, avoid ruminating on what upset you. This can create a negative cycle which only makes you feel worse.

Instead, turn your focus onto something neutral:

• What are the people around you doing?
• What are they wearing?
• What’s the weather like?
• What colors do you see around you?
• What buildings are around you?

Your thoughts may naturally return to the negative event – don’t be angry at yourself for this. Just try to redirect your attention to something neutral each time, and then try one of the tips explained below.

Cheer up with these 41 science-backed tips

We’ve just seen 3 things you should definitely avoid. Now, let’s get into things that do help!

As you’re about to discover, there are dozens of ways to boost your mood, using different methods. Let’s start with 6 ways to cheer up with a change of location.

3 ways to cheer up with nature

Thankfully for us, nature gives to us much more than we give to it. It’s one of the most powerful ways to boost your mood, not to mention your health. If you have this option, I highly recommend cheering up by using one of the tips below.

1. Walk in a park or forest

Is your mind swarmed with negative thoughts? A 1.5-hour walk in nature is just the thing to dispel them.

Choosing a natural area is key – people who walked in an urban area didn’t have any reduction in negative thoughts. (But if the city is your only option, walking still boosts your mood in other ways. You’ll find out more in the moving your body section.)

If you have a forest nearby, try the Japanese practice of “shinrin-yoku”, or forest bathing. It’s essentially spending time or walking in a forest. A study shows this practice brings the following benefits:

• Decreased hostility.
• Increased liveliness.
• Decreased depression.

2. Get some sunlight

Even if you don’t have a forest or park around, there’s one piece of nature you can find nearly anywhere: the sun.

There’s a reason why happy scenes in movies are sunny and sad ones are dark and gloomy.

Exposure to sunlight increases both serotonin and endorphins – two happiness hormones. Go outside and walk around or sit on a bench. If you have to stay indoors, try the balcony or a sunlit spot near the window. Soak it in for at least 10-15 minutes.

Make sure you’re careful not to overdo it – and if you’re tanning during peak sun hours, don’t forget to use sunscreen!

3. Do something awe-inspiring

Have you ever dreamed of doing something totally extraordinary? There’s no better time to make this dream come true.

This will take some extra time and planning, but it’s worth it. Apart from creating a beautiful memory, experiencing a sense of awe reduces stress and increases satisfaction.

Get inspired with these ideas:

• Take a scenic hike.
• Watch the sunrise or sunset.
• Go stargazing.
• Explore a beautiful part of your city or country.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

6 ways to cheer up by being social

Don’t feel like being alone? There are plenty of ways other people can help us cheer up, too. Here are 6 great tips.

1. Participate in a cultural activity

Immerse yourself in culture and boost your mood at the same time. People who take part in more cultural activities have several benefits:

• Less anxiety.
• Less depression.
• Higher satisfaction with life.

No matter where you live, there are surely some cultural activities happening in the area. Here are a few ideas:

• Visit a museum.
• See a concert.
• Watch a play.
• Join a club.
• Go to a market or fair.
• Attend a festival or event.

2. Spend time with friends

If you’re not up for being around strangers or meeting someone new, a familiar face can cheer you up as well.

Spending time with both family and friends increases happiness. But interestingly enough, friends lead to a much bigger increase than family.

Of course, this can be highly subjective. The important thing is to choose someone who makes you feel good and whose company you enjoy.

3. Volunteer

Volunteering may not be what we consider a “pick-me-up” – but it’s very worth considering.

A study by United Healthcare found that 93% of volunteers felt happier as a result. Not only that, but:

• 88% felt increased self-esteem.
• 85% developed new friendships through volunteering.
• 79% felt less stressed.

You know what to do next – pick a cause, any cause, and start volunteering!

4. Cuddle or hug a loved one

If the only thing you feel like doing is cuddling up in bed, then go ahead – just grab a loved one to cuddle up with you.

Physical contact releases oxytocin and reduces stress. This happens no matter the age and sex of the people, as long as they both view their relationship as positive. Even 10 minutes of warm contact can have a significant effect.

If physical contact isn’t possible, hearing or seeing a beloved person also releases oxytocin and improves your mood.

5. Do something kind for the world

How would you like to cheer up and become a better person at the same time? All you need is an act of kindness.

There are two types of kind acts:

1. Kindness towards a specific person.
2. Kindness to benefit society as a whole.

Both of them increase your happiness. Make sure to set a concrete goal for the greatest improvement. For example, instead of an abstract goal like making someone happier, aim to make them smile.

The ideas end only with your imagination – here are some to get you started.

• Make someone smile (give a compliment, tell a joke…)
• Make someone’s day easier (help them with their groceries, pick up something they dropped…)
• Rake someone’s yard, shovel their driveway, or walk their dog.
• Pay for the next customer in line.
• Donate blood or hair.
• Sign a petition for a cause you believe in.
• Leave sticky notes with positive messages in random places.
• Increase the amount of recycled or reused materials.

6. Give a stranger a smile or a compliment

Here’s some good news if your friends are not available, or you don’t want to see them. Even brief positive interactions with strangers can boost your mood. Not only that, but they also increase your sense of belonging to your community.

See if you can offer a stranger a compliment or a smile, and chances are they’ll give you one back. Or pass the time waiting in line with a short pleasant conversation. You’ll both be happier for it.

6 ways to cheer up with entertainment

It’s called entertainment for a reason! Use one of these 6 fun activities for a boost in your mood. 

1. Watch a funny video or movie

They say laughter is the best medicine, and it’s 100% true. In fact, several forms of therapy are based on humor.

Laughing improves well-being and mood. More specifically, it increases endorphins and your pain threshold.

You can get a great 2-for-1 deal from laughter by grabbing a few friends to watch a funny movie with you. Laughing with others strengthens social bonds, bringing you and your friends closer.

2. Watch a cat or dog video

Need a good excuse to procrastinate? Now you’ve got one!

A survey found that people feel more energetic and happier after watching cat videos. They enjoyed it so much, they didn’t even feel guilty about procrastinating!

So hop onto YouTube or social media and get ready for cuteness overload – and a dose of happiness. 

3. Make some art

Although your feelings are negative, something beautiful can come from them. Use them as fuel for creative expression and channel them into a work of art. This lets you explore your feelings in a calm and introspective way. You’ll end up with a beautiful creation and a happier mood to boot! You don’t need to stick to only visual art:

• Paint or draw.
• Play a musical instrument.
• Write.
• Dance.

If you can’t get your creative juices flowing, you can also just look at art – more on this further below.

4. Do a puzzle

Puzzles take a lot of patience, but they’re very rewarding. A study found that each success we have while doing a puzzle releases dopamine in the brain. And with most adult puzzles starting at 500 pieces, that’s at least 500 little successes by the time you finish!

The same study shows any kind of puzzle will do. Grab one with a design you love, and you’ll have a beautiful work of art when you finish!

5. Listen to music

Studies show that music can give us similar pleasure to food, sex, and drugs. This is quite remarkable for something that’s completely unnecessary for our survival!

This also means music is a powerful and easy way to cheer up.

The obvious choice is upbeat music – but it only boosts your mood if you actively try to feel happier as you listen. Focus on the positive feelings and not on the “destination” of being happy.

But if you’re not up for this, there are several more options. Sad songs can help you feel better by giving you a much-needed emotional release.

None of these tickle your fancy? Choose anything you like and hit play. Listening to music you love also increases dopamine.

6. Read an adventure story

Remember the nature section, where we mentioned awe-inspiring experiences? If you’re not up for creating your own adventure, cozy up with a cup of tea and dive into someone else’s.

A study found that reading about an awe-inspiring experience made participants happier and kinder:

• More satisfied.
• Less stressed.
• More willing to volunteer to help others.

4 ways to cheer up with food and drink

Though comfort food often isn’t the healthiest approach to cheering up, we’ll make an exception for a few items. Read on to find out 4 types of happiness-inducing snacks.

1. Dark chocolate

This list is already starting to look pretty good, with dark chocolate as our first mood booster. It has an antioxidant that gives you a burst of endorphins and serotonin.

But don’t just grab the first bar you see – look for good quality. The best chocolate will have a short ingredient list with cocoa mass and cocoa butter at the top.

Also, check if the chocolate is fair trade – it’s just a few dollars for us, but a huge difference to the cocoa farmers!

2. Eat happy foods

Food helps us survive, so it necessarily makes us feel good – otherwise, we wouldn’t feel any urge to eat and starve!

But certain foods have a direct effect on happiness – they trigger the release of happiness hormones. For your next meal, choose something with one of these ingredients:

• Spicy foods with chili peppers (increase endorphins).
• Foods high in tryptophan: milk, canned tuna, turkey and chicken, oats, cheese, nuts, and seeds (increase serotonin when eaten with carbohydrates).
• Foods containing probiotics: yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut (increase dopamine).
• Moderate amounts of Velvet beans (increase dopamine, especially for Parkinson’s disease symptom relief).
• Foods high in tyrosine and phenylalanine: turkey, beef, eggs, dairy, almonds, soy, and legumes (increase dopamine).

3. Drink enough water

If you’re feeling down, you might just be dehydrated. Up to 60% of the adult human body is made up of water – so clearly, we need a lot of it to function well. Our brains especially are very sensitive to a lack of water, resulting in a drop in mood.

Aim to drink at least 2 liters of water per day to stay well hydrated and keep your mood high.

4. Chew gum

Not hungry? Try chewing some gum. A study found this too alleviates poor mood and reduces the stress hormone cortisol.

3 ways to cheer up by moving your body

If you’ve been sprawled out on the couch all day, this section is for you. It’s time to get up and use one of the tips below to cheer yourself up. 

1. Walk or jog for at least 20 minutes

Groundbreaking news: exercise is good for you! Oh wait, we all knew that already. There are so many studies on the physical and mental benefits of exercise that including any here feels superfluous.

Here’s a quick overview of the benefits of exercise:

• Better mood.
• Decreased depression.
• Decreased anxiety.
• Increased endorphins.
• Decreased stress.

If you’re not particularly active, don’t fret – even low-intensity exercise has these positive effects.

Here are 4 tips to make the most of your workout for an immediate boost in happiness.

• Exercise for at least 20 minutes.
• Do aerobic exercise rather than something calmer like yoga.
• Exercise with a buddy or in a group.
• Exercise in the sunlight for an extra serotonin boost.

2. Dance

Dance is both a form of exercise and an expression of creativity – two tips we’ve already seen on this list.

Why not combine them into one with a quick dance session?

Dancing is an excellent way to relieve stress and may have more benefits than any other form of exercise. It’s even offered as an anti-stress extracurricular activity in some universities.

So let loose and shake off that bad mood – just be careful not to overdo it and hurt yourself.

3. Practice good posture

If you don’t have the energy to exercise or dance, sitting is fine too – but be mindful of how you sit.

A study compared people walking with a slump and those walking with good posture. The second group had much more positive memories of the experience.

This goes for sitting down too. Sitting upright has many positive mental health effects:

• Increased persistence at unsolvable tasks.
• Greater confidence (also a form of happiness).
• Increased alertness and enthusiasm.
• Decreased fear.

4 ways to cheer up through touch

When we’re upset, we feel more pleasure through touch rather than sight or hearing. Why? It’s our mammalian instinct to return to our mothers for protection and nourishment when we are sick, lost, or vulnerable.

Let’s take advantage of this. Have a look at the 4 touch-based tips below.

1. Get a professional massage

As we saw in the social section, close physical contact in good relationships produces oxytocin to cheer you up.

You can mimic this in part with a stranger, by getting a professional massage. This too releases oxytocin, as well as serotonin and dopamine. Other benefits include:

• Decreased anxiety.
• Increased wellbeing.
• Reduced perception of pain.

Regular massage treatments will give you these benefits long-term.

The person giving the massage enjoys increased happiness hormones too – do a massage exchange with your partner for a double dose!

2. Practice self-Reiki

If a professional massage isn’t possible, you can practice self-Reiki instead.

Reiki is a Japanese energy healing technique that uses gentle hand movements to guide “life force energy” through the body. The client is fully clothed, and the practitioner may move their hands either on or above the client’s body.

A 20-week study found that self-Reiki practice reduced stress and increased relaxation.

Try following this self-Reiki guide to get started. If you really enjoy this technique, you might even consider taking a Reiki training.

3. Stroke a cat or dog

Pet owners will know that as annoying as pets can be, they are also nonstop happiness boosters.

Having a pet already gives you many long-term health and happiness benefits over non-pet owners. But for an immediate boost in mood, just grab your furry friend for a quick cuddle session.

Oxytocin increases considerably in both dog owners and their dogs when they interact. The biggest effects are seen when the owner strokes their dog.

Cats don’t have such a strong effect on increasing positive emotions, but they ease negative ones.

Don’t have a pet? No worries – even interacting with cats or dogs you don’t know significantly reduces stress. Try one of these ideas:

• Visit a friend with a pet.
• Find a cat cafe.
• Go to a pet store.
• Volunteer to walk dogs for an animal shelter.

4. Hug or stroke a teddy bear

No furry four-legged friends around to pet? Try grabbing a teddy bear to hug or stroke. Of course, it’s no replacement for a real animal. But you’ll get enjoyment from it all the same.

Touching a teddy bear also helps reduce existential anxiety. If that’s what’s getting you down, then it’s time to dig out your childhood plush toys!

5 ways to cheer up by looking at things

Though the effects won’t be as big as with touch, looking at certain things can also improve our mood. Here are 5 ways how.

1. Get some flowers

Flowers are another great way to cheer up.

A series of three studies showed that people responded with much more happiness to receiving flowers than other thank-you gifts. This happiness even lasted for several days.

Psychologist Loretta G. Breuning explains how flowers contribute to increases in happiness hormones. She also suggests there are several ways to use flowers for increased happiness:

• Give them as a gift.
• Receive them as a gift.
• Buy them for yourself.

Guess it might be time to hit the nearest flower shop!

2. Get some indoor plants

Since nature is so therapeutic, why not bring some of it into our homes?

Of course, indoor plants don’t have as strong of an effect as forests. But even having a few leafy friends for company can noticeably boost your happiness.

Several studies found that indoor plants:

• Improve mental health and well-being.
• Improve physical health.
• Reduce stress.

Don’t have a green thumb? Go for house plants that don’t need a lot of water.

3. Surround yourself with the color green

The color green is associated with nature, life, and positive meanings. And you don’t need to be in a forest to reap the benefits.

Studies in a lab environment found that green colors in your environment improve your mood in several ways:

• Increase enjoyment.
• Decrease mood disturbance.
• Increase self-esteem.
• Increase motivation.
• Decrease anxiety.

An easy tip is to set a forest scene as your screensaver. And if you can’t decide on a color for your home decor, here you have your answer!

4. Look through a photo album

Taking a trip down memory lane can also help you cheer up.

Just take a photo album or flip through it – if you don’t have one, scroll through pictures on your phone. This improves people’s moods by 11%.

You can put together a “happy memories” album to look at if you need a little mood boost.

5. Look at art

Be inspired and cheer up all at once by looking at some art.

We mentioned creating art in the section above. Observing art made by others has a similar positive effect.

You can use this opportunity to get out of the house and head to the nearest museum. Alternatively, find some art at home, in your surroundings, or online:

• Look at paintings.
• Listen to music.
• Read poetry or creative writing.
• Watch a dance performance.
• Admire the architecture.

3 ways to cheer up using smells

Did you know smelling things can help cheer you up? Here are some mood-boosting scents for a better day.

Each helps you feel better in slightly different ways, so choose a scent based on the particular mood you’re in.

1. Freshly cut grass

Next time you hear someone mowing a lawn, head straight over! Freshly cut grass releases at least 5 chemicals with stress-relieving properties.

If the mowing season is over, you can take matters into your own hands and smell like a freshly mowed lawn yourself. No, we’re not kidding – scent researchers have combined 3 of the chemicals into an “Eau de grass” called Serenascent.

The perfume seems to regulate the release of stress hormones. Several studies seem to confirm the positive effects of this perfume.

It’s not Giorgio Armani, but hey – you’ll make yourself a little happier, and cheer up anyone else who passes you by too!

2. Lavender

The second scent which helps you cheer up is lavender.

This calming flower perfume interacts with the neurotransmitter GABA. The effect is a relaxed brain and nervous system, reducing negative emotions:

• Agitation.
• Anger.
• Aggression.
• Restlessness.

Keeping a cloth bag of dried lavender by your pillow may also help you get a quality good night’s sleep.

3. Lemon or orange

The third happiness-boosting scent is something you almost definitely have at home: lemon!

While lavender primarily helps you relax and reduces negative feelings, a lemon or orange scent enhances a positive mood.

A study found lemon increased happy hormones but had no effect on stress levels.

Another study found people who waited in an orange-scented waiting room had:

• Lower anxiety.
• Elevated mood.
• Greater calmness.

You can go for this aroma if you’re not down because of anxiety or stress, but simply need a little boost in your mood.

7 ways to cheer up using your mind

We’ve already seen tons of tips above. Being in nature, spending time with others, doing something fun, eating, moving, touching, seeing, smelling, …

But what if you don’t have the option to do any of that? You might be stuck at work, on a bus, or with a task you can’t put off.

There’s still one very powerful tool that’s always at your disposal – your mind. Here are 7 final tips on how you can cheer up without relying on anything or anyone else.

1. Use the power of gratitude

There are many ways to practice gratitude and many benefits to doing it – including increased happiness.

These benefits generally occur over time. For example, a 2007 study asked participants to write down three good things that went well and their causes each day for a week. They showed a gradual but consistent improvement in happiness over six months.

So if you’re going through a long slump, this is a great strategy for lasting long-term benefits.

A different gratitude practice can also create an enormous and immediate spike in happiness. You will, however, need a bit more time, a quiet place to think, and a pen and paper.

It’s simple: write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had been very kind to you, but who you had never properly thanked.

The biggest effects last for a couple of days, but you’ll still have increased happiness one month later.

Gratitude is always worthwhile, no matter how you practice it. Here are some more ideas:

• Write down things you are grateful for, even on your phone.
• Think of as many things as you can that you’re grateful for in 1 minute (or more).
• Pick 1 thing you’re grateful for and visualize it for 1 minute (or more), focusing on feelings of gratitude.
• Say to a friend or partner what you appreciate about them.
• Text a friend that you appreciate their friendship.

If you want more, here is an entire article about different examples of gratitude.

2. Meditate

Meditation is another practice that helps you cheer up. Specifically, it increases both dopamine and endorphins, two happiness hormones.

You might be imagining monks sitting perfectly still for hours on end – and that’s one way to go about it.

But even just 15 minutes of meditation has these benefits:

• A more relaxed state.
• Decreased stress.
• Improved reaction times.

Another study found similar effects from a 13-minute session.

If you’re not sure how to meditate, here’s an article that will help you get started.

3. Brainstorm solutions

There may be moments when meditation feels almost impossible – try this tip instead.

Pick a problem you’re experiencing, and try to come up with as many solutions to it as possible in 10 minutes. Don’t worry about if the solutions are good or not – just jot down anything that comes to mind without judging it.

Doing this exercise makes people feel many positive things:

• Elated.
• Creative.
• Energetic.
• Powerful.

Plus, you might find a great solution to a problem at the same time!

4. Visualize your best self

Feeling down in the dumps often makes us very critical of ourselves. We think of everything we’ve done wrong, ever. We remember all we’ve failed and disappointed ourselves.

If this is you, then this tip might help. Take five minutes to visualize your best possible self:

• What do you look like?
• What are you doing?
• Who are you with?
• What are you wearing?
• What are you feeling?

Research shows that this 5-minute visualization boosted optimism both immediately and over time.

5. Set some attainable life goals

Feeling down often makes us reevaluate our lives and think about where we’re headed. Take advantage of this to set some life goals. They can be anything you want – as long as you consider them attainable. 

A four-year study compared people’s happiness and life goals. The goals could be anything in the following categories:

• Health.
• Community.
• Personal growth.
• Social relationships.
• Fame.
• Image.
• Wealth.
• Family.
• Responsibility/care for younger generations.
• Work.

The results were quite interesting. People who saw their goals as attainable had higher mental and emotional well-being at the end of the study – even if they didn’t actually attain their goals. This held true for all ages, from 18 to 92 years old.

This suggests that a sense of control over your own life is what matters most. 

6. Smile

When we’re happy, we smile – but did you know it can also work backward?

As Dr. Ronald E. Riggio puts it, “Each time you smile, you throw a little feel-good party in your brain.”

More specifically, it’s a happiness hormone party, with the prized guests being:

• Dopamine.
• Endorphins.
• Serotonin.

Not all the research on smiling confirms these results, but there is certainly enough for it to be worth a shot. Worst case scenario: you’ll smile at someone and make their day a little nicer!

7. Practice love and kindness

As long as you’re in a setting with other people, there’s one last powerful technique you can try to cheer up.

Practice love and kindness towards the people around you. Look at them and think to yourself, “I wish for this person to be happy”. You should try to really mean it as you think it.

A study had participants do this during a 12-minute walk outside. After this walk, they felt:

• Happier.
• More connected.
• Less anxious.
• More caring and empathetic.

Try this during a stressful day at work to shield yourself emotionally from difficult colleagues and clients. Or in any situation, really – we could all use a little more love and kindness!

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Congratulations – you are now armed with 41 ways to cheer up. No matter what, this list has got you covered – whether you’re in the office, on a crowded bus, or alone at home. Once you feel better, see if you can help someone else – happiness grows the more we share it!

Do you have another tip to cheer yourself up that I’ve missed? I’d love to hear yours in the comments below!

Silvia Adamyova Author

Born in Slovakia, raised in Canada. Online English teacher, editor, copywriter, and translator. You’ll find me holed up in a bookstore, typing in a cafe, or immersed in a philosophical debate.

The post 41 Tips to Cheer Yourself Up in Any Situation (With Examples) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

In a world where violence, injustice, and despair seem to be everywhere according to news reports and social media, it becomes easier to expect bad outcomes rather than good ones. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to remain positive in the midst of so much negativity. While no one is exempt from life’s difficulties, we can choose to focus on the good and remain hopeful that better days are coming. With enough intention and practice, you can train your mind to look for the positive even in the worst situations. 

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of paying attention to the positive aspects of life, the harmful effects of dwelling on the bad, and how to focus more on the good.

Why it’s important to focus on the good 

It’s no surprise that positive thinking has a lot of positive effects on your life. Research suggests that those who choose to focus on the good adapt better to stressful situations. Since optimists believe that good events happen more frequently than bad ones, they’re able to cope better with life’s challenges. 

In addition to increasing your mental resilience, concentrating on the positive aspects of a difficult situation can boost your immune system. A study on elderly people found that those who expect good outcomes in life are less likely to pass away, especially from a cardiovascular cause. 

Similarly, another study on cell-mediated immunity in law students suggests that focusing on the positive can lead to a stronger immunity. Students who paid more attention to the aspects of their lives that are going well displayed a stronger immune response to a flu vaccine than those with a more pessimistic outlook. 

The downside of dwelling on the bad 

It’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed and discouraged by sudden tragedy, trauma, or heartbreak. You’re allowed to feel devastated by the bad things that happen to you. While you shouldn’t minimize your pain and struggles, it’s not a good idea to dwell on them either. 

A study on university students reveals that those who tend to see the bad in any given situation are also more likely to have anxiety and depression. In addition, pessimistic students demonstrated lower levels of grit and a fixed growth mindset.   

Expecting the worst could also have detrimental effects on your physical health.

Research indicates a positive association between pessimism and all-cause mortality. This means that dwelling on the bad things that happen to you could potentially decrease your lifespan.

In other words, there are many downsides to being a pessimist, which we’ve covered more in-depth in this article.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

How to focus on the good 

Shifting your perspective to find the positive in even the most unpleasant situations is easier said than done. Here are 7 tips to help you look on the bright side and train your mind to focus on the good. 

1. Practice gratitude 

Regularly practicing gratitude is one of the easiest ways to condition your mind to focus on the good regardless of external circumstances. When you intentionally identify things to be grateful for each day, you’re unintentionally making an inventory of all the goodness around you.

If you’re going through one of the toughest seasons of your life, trying to be grateful might sound ridiculous. But if you look hard enough, there are plenty of things to be thankful for. You might just find yourself cherishing something as seemingly insignificant as a good cup of coffee. Or recognizing acts of kindness you may not have noticed before like a stranger holding the door open for you. 

If you’re hoping to integrate more gratitude into your daily routine, consider the following tips to stay more consistent with this beneficial practice: 

• Set aside some time every day to write down at least 3 good things that happened to you. 
• Practice gratitude at the same time each day, or right after another habit such as after brushing your teeth. 
• Place your gratitude journal somewhere highly visible like your bedside table or office desk. 

2. See the good in others 

There is no shortage of good people in this world. When you choose to believe that most people want to do good, your mind starts to gather evidence to reinforce this belief.

This confirmation bias helps you to see all of the good in humanity despite the bad.

But I know something else, too: bad people are rare. Good people are everywhere. 

Jeff Bauman

Seeking the good in others broadens your perspective to understand those who may not necessarily share the same views or values. When you habitually search for good qualities in others, you tend to have more positive interactions. This allows you to form new bonds with other people more easily while enhancing the quality of your existing relationships. 

By seeing the best in everyone you encounter, you remind them to see the best in themselves too. For anyone struggling with self-doubt and insecurities, having someone in their life who sees their potential could be life-changing. 

3. Surround yourself with positive people

As social and empathetic beings, the people we spend the most time with tend to rub off on us. They have the power to influence our moods, our opinions, and even our outlook on life. You’ve probably noticed before how your mood shifts when you’re around a friend down on their luck or a family member who loves to complain about everything. 

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

Jim Rohn

Similarly, research suggests that happiness and other good vibes are extremely contagious. The study found that those who surround themselves with happy people are more likely to be happy themselves. 

No one radiates positive energy all the time. Everyone has bad days, but spending time with people who constantly choose to dwell in negativity can be infectious and draining.

In contrast, surrounding yourself with people who try their best to focus on the good makes it much easier for you to do the same. 

4. Seek out good news and wholesome stories 

Bad news sells. This is why horrifying and tragic headlines tend to dominate news outlets worldwide. However, just because major news broadcasts and publications fail to report good news as much as the bad doesn’t mean good things don’t happen all the time. You might just need to look a little bit harder to find it. 

There are plenty of online sources that publish wholesome stories and good news. If you want your faith in humanity restored, here are a few spaces worth exploring: 

• Good News Network: A news site specifically dedicated to counteracting all the bad news on mainstream media with some positive stories. (We’ve been covered here in the past as well!)
• MadeMeSmile subreddit: A space where Reddit users share uplifting content and just about anything that makes them smile. 
• 10 days of positive thinking TED playlist: A TED Talk playlist that aims to help you think more positive thoughts. 

Consuming uplifting content is a good antidote to all the negative events happening around you or directly to you. It also serves as a wonderful reminder that goodness is more common than we think. 

5. Recognize your good qualities

In addition to purposely seeking external examples of goodness, it’s essential to acknowledge your own good qualities. Far too many of us have harsh inner critics who love to point out our flaws and worst mistakes. 

This often creates a negative view of ourselves and a false narrative that we deserve the bad things that come our way. It’s almost impossible to have a positive outlook on life if you have a negative relationship with yourself. If you want to focus on all the good this life has to offer, then it has to start with yourself. 

You have so much good to offer the world. And you deserve every bit of goodness this world has to offer in return.  

If you struggle with low self-esteem, identifying your own positive traits might seem like an impossible task. Here are a few exercises to help you discover and focus on your best qualities: 

• Cultivate positive self-talk. Speak to yourself gently and lovingly even when you mess up. 
• Commend yourself for your good deeds and acts of kindness no matter how small. Did you buy your co-worker a cup of coffee this morning? How nice of you! Did you compliment a stranger? That’s amazing! 
• Try saying affirmations out loud and write them down. The more you repeat these positive declarations to yourself, the more it becomes ingrained in your mind.  

6. Make downward comparisons 

In an ideal world, we wouldn’t compare ourselves to anyone. Since social comparison appears to be inherently human, it’s practically impossible to eliminate this tendency completely. If you must compare, try to make downward social comparisons instead. 

Downward social comparisons involve comparing yourself to those who are less fortunate than you. A study on the effects of social comparison shows that those who compare themselves downward are more likely to feel better about themselves and more optimistic about their future. This means downward comparisons could help you recognize and focus on the good in your life. 

However, this doesn’t mean you should invalidate your own suffering. Just because someone is going through something objectively worse than you doesn’t make your pain and struggles any less valid. 

Comparing yourself to others is often seen as something bad, but this article further explains why that doesn’t always have to be the case.

7. Live in the present 

One of the best ways to rid your mind of negativity is to simply be in the present moment. Our ruminations about past painful experiences and our anxieties about the future often get in the way of positive thinking.

To focus on the good, you must try your best to concentrate on living in the present. 

If you were conscious, that is to say totally present in the Now, all negativity would dissolve almost instantly. It could not survive in your presence.

Eckhart Tolle

Practicing mindfulness allows you to become more aware of any negative thought patterns and shifts your mind towards good thoughts instead. It also reduces anxiety and stress that could hinder you from seeing all the good things in your life. 

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up 

We can’t control many of the painful and unfortunate events that happen to us. However, you can choose to focus on the positive aspects of your life and trust that good things are coming. By appreciating all the goodness within you and around you, intentionally seeking it in others, and living in the present moment, you can rewire your brain to see all the good this life has to offer.

What do you think? Do you find it easy to focus on the good, even when bad things happen everywhere around you? I’d love to hear your tips, thoughts, and anecdotes on this topic in the comments below!

Andrea Araya Author

Writer and recovering perfectionist from Canada. A huge fan of stories, empathy, and matcha lattes. May or may not have a tendency to cry at everything especially acts of kindness.

The post 7 Ways to Focus on the Good and Positive Things in Life appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Getting out of a bad mood may not happen overnight. But by taking the initiative from within to get out of a bad mood, you can start to regain a sense of happiness no matter what your circumstances.

This article will give you tangible ways to turn your frown upside down. With a few simple steps, you can jump-start your journey to feeling like your happy self again.

Is it okay to be in a bad mood?

Before you go trying to get yourself out of a bad mood, let’s get something straight. It’s okay to be in a bad mood.

In fact, sometimes it’s healthier for you to be in a bad mood. Because this means you are acknowledging your own emotions.

If you try to completely suppress your emotions when something tough happens, that’s not necessarily healthy. And the scientific data we have confirms this notion.

Research has found that people who acknowledge their emotions were better able to avoid both psychiatric and physical illness. We’ve discussed this more in our article on how to better handle your emotions.

Because more often than not, it’s harmful to sweep your negative emotions under the rug.

So if you’re going through a tough or stressful time, let yourself feel funky for a bit.

You’re probably confused though, as this article is about getting out of a bad mood. Well, there is a problem with a bad mood. And the problem is when we let it stick around too long.

If a bad mood morphs from a few days to a few months to a few years, then we have a problem. You’re not designed to live in a perpetual bad mood as that will affect your well-being.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Why do you need to get out of a bad mood?

You might be wondering why it even matters if you get out of a bad mood. Well, other than leaving you grumpy, there are notable cognitive effects.

A study in 2011 found that people who were in a bad mood had more difficulty remembering things. The bad mood impacted their ability to engage all of their cognitive resources.

And another study found that individuals who were in a bad mood had more difficulty suppressing unwanted thoughts.

It’s apparent that a bad mood makes it difficult to think clearly. So it’s no wonder that people who are in a bad mood usually don’t engage in productive behavior.

Your bad mood could be keeping you trapped in a thought process that only serves to reinforce the bad mood.

I know when I’m in a bad mood I’m usually spending my time complaining. This does nothing to help me and obviously isn’t productive behavior.

This is why you have to wake up. Because the only person who can get you out of a bad mood if it’s lingering too long is you.

7 ways to get out of a bad mood

If you’re ready to ditch your bad mood and replace it with a good one, then follow these 7 steps.

1. Get moving

I can sense that you may be rolling your eyes at this one. But there’s a reason it’s listed first.

Research has found that exercise is the best way to get rid of a bad mood. It outperforms many other strategies.

Now exercise is a broad term. It doesn’t have to be an extremely vigorous exercise to do the trick.

I personally use running as my tool for immediately improving my mood. But maybe you need to just turn on a song and dance. Or go for a walk with your pup.

It doesn’t matter how you move your body. It just matters that you move it.

This causes a physiological release of endorphins that are bound to improve your mood. If you want more convincing, here’s our article on the many benefits of exercising!

2. Spend time with loved ones

Another great tool for ditching a bad mood is to get around people you love.

When I’m in a funk, I make it a priority to plan a date with my husband or go grab coffee with my best friend.

Spending time with people you love reminds you of all the good in life. And it gives you a little something to look forward to which can be enough to shift your mood.

Make sure you choose the type of people who aren’t going to let you sulk in your bad mood. Because otherwise, this tip may not be very effective for you.

3. Volunteer or serve someone else

If you can’t stop thinking about yourself and your problems, it’s probably only adding to your bad mood. Sometimes the solution is to put your attention on someone else and their needs.

Volunteering is a great way to get yourself out of a bad mood. It literally forces you to get out of your own head (it comes with many other benefits too!)

I enjoy volunteering at animal shelters because it’s like a double whammy. Who can be bummed while helping out cute animals?

Choose an organization or cause that is meaningful to you. And have a list that’s easy to go to when you find yourself feeling funky.

You can volunteer for an hour or a whole day. The time doesn’t matter. Just the act of taking your focus off yourself is usually enough to boost your spirits.

4. Prioritize your sleep

Sometimes we’re in a sustained bad mood because we’re not prioritizing our sleep.

Sleep is critical for mood regulation. Just ask my husband. He’ll tell you I’m practically a monster after too little sleep.

In all honesty, it’s hard to feel good when you’re not sleeping well or enough.

Figure out how much sleep you need to feel good and make it a priority. Stop doom scrolling before bed and minimize arousing activities before bed.

You may just find that after a good night’s sleep, your bad mood has disappeared.

5. Mix up your schedule

A bad mood can be a cue that it’s time to mix things up. If you’re getting stuck in a monotonous routine that doesn’t leave room for joy, it’s no wonder you’re in a bad mood.

I understand you can’t just stop going to work or ignore your responsibilities.

But you can decide to wake up early to go for a 20-minute walk before work. Or you can decide to meet a friend for dinner instead of watching TV for hours before sleep.

Better yet, plan a vacation that gets you excited. That can be a big mix-up in your schedule that gives you a sense of happy anticipation.

But you can’t keep doing the same things and expect your mood to magically change. Shake things up and watch your attitude improve.

If you don’t change your routines from time to time, you’ll get in a funk in no time. If this is your situation, here’s our article with tips on how to get out of a funk.

6. Play some upbeat music

This tip is so simple but so effective. Music has this way of shifting our emotions.

Take advantage of the power of music by finding an uplifting playlist to blast when you’re in a bad mood.

There are whole playlists devoted to “happy mood” or “positive vibes” that should do the trick.

Sometimes it only takes putting on my favorite song to make me smile again. I have personally developed my own playlist for bad moods.

It’s composed of songs that remind me to feel grateful and songs that make me want to dance.

If you really want to take this one to the next level, go for a ride in your car and roll down the windows. With the wind in your hair and the music filling the air, it’s hard to stay sad or mad.

7. Make a gratitude list

At this point, no one is a stranger to the concept of a gratitude list. But what most of us forget (myself included) is the power of a gratitude list.

Research shows that expressing gratitude is great for promoting a positive mood. And better yet, it’s helpful for maintaining that positive mood.

When I’m in a really bad mood, I try to stop and force myself to say 3 things I’m grateful for. And I intentionally try to think about it for a bit before answering.

This is one of the 5 tips that we discussed in this article on how to be more grateful.

Gratitude shifts you from thinking about what’s wrong to thinking about what’s right in your life.

It’s an easy and free tip that you can use anytime and anywhere to change your mood.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

Being in a bad mood sucks. No one will argue that. And it’s okay to be in a bad mood sometimes. But living in a perpetual bad mood will not serve you. The 7 tips from this article will help you ditch a bad mood to replace it with a better one. Because no matter how bad your mood is you can take steps to change it right now.

Are you currently in a bad mood? Or do you want to share your own tip on how to get out of a bad mood? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ashley Kaiser Author

Physical therapist, writer, and outdoor enthusiast from Arizona. Self-proclaimed dark chocolate addict and full-time adrenaline junkie. Obsessed with my dog and depending on the day my husband, too.

The post 7 Ways to Get Out of a Bad Mood (and Embrace a Happy Mood) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

When you start a day positively, you honor your present and future selves. You welcome the gift of life and the wonder that life entails into your life. And don’t worry, I’m not going to suggest 5 am wakeups and ice baths as the only options for positive starts to your day. 

This article will explore the importance of getting a positive start to the day and 5 ways you can start your day positively.

Why positivity is important 

We all know the dangers of the downward spiral. It can be easy to get sucked down with the world’s weight on our shoulders. But did you know there is also an opposite effect?

The upward spiral effect is lesser known, but it exists! This upward spiral effect occurs when unconscious positive affect derived from lifestyle processes takes hold and helps our adherence to positive health behaviors. The result of this is an increase in positive behavior. 

Let’s look at positivity in more depth. What words do you associate with positivity? 

When I think of positivity, I think of being constructive, optimistic, and confident. A positive person conjures up someone with high self-efficacy, enthusiasm, accountability, and happiness. 

What do you think the morning of a positive person looks like? I imagine the morning of a positive person looks intentional, planned, and productive. 

Now consider the morning of a negative person. I envision this to be chaotic. They possibly slept in, ran out of breakfast cereal, and missed their train to work. 

Can a positive start to the day change a negative person into a more positive person?

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

The benefits of starting your day positively 

The outcome of our day often rests on the way our morning starts. 

In my dissertation at university, I looked at the effect of exercise on cognition. My results coincided with the now widespread science that morning exercise can improve: 

• Attention. 
• Learning.
• Decision making. 

Another way of understanding this is that morning exercise puts your brain a few hours ahead of those who don’t exercise. So you may start your working day bright-eyed and bushy-tailed while your colleagues are still half asleep. 

There are many ways to start your day positively; this responsibility doesn’t rest solely in the exercise domain. 

There is a critical difference between negative and positive starts to the day. This difference rests in action. We can all have the intention to start our day in a particular way, but if this intention doesn’t transfer to action, we won’t reach the desired positivity. 

If you intend to wake up, enjoy a coffee in peace, and then walk your dog, this combines fuel for your mind and gentle exercise. Those who achieve this intention start their day with success, and this sense of winning at life spills into the rest of the day. 

Those whose intentions fall short and don’t result in action start their day on the back foot. They may feel embarrassed and already behind before their working day even begins. 

5 ways to start a day positively  

We’ve touched on some morning habits that positively affect the start of your day. Let’s get more specific and look at 5 ways to start your day positively. 

1. Build a morning routine  

Be my guest if you want to get up at 5 am and jump in an ice bath. I can see the merits, but I won’t adopt this trend only because I’m not too fond of the cold and love my sleep. Luckily there are other options for positive morning routines available. 

Consider how much time you need in the mornings and if there is anyone else you need to cater for. Do you need to get the children ready? Or do you have pets that need to be fed and exercised? 

The great thing about a vigorous morning routine is that it becomes a habit. We know habits take effort and energy to establish, but once they are ingrained, they become automatic. 

Try getting up 30 minutes earlier to incorporate a positive action into your morning routine. 

Here are some positive actions you could integrate into your morning routine:

• Morning run. 
• Yoga session. 
• Read positive affirmations (here’s why they do work).
• Meditation and breathing routine. 
• Set your daily intentions in a journal. 
• Read something inspiring and empowering. 

You can alleviate your morning pressure by being as organized as possible the night before. This organization means preparing clothes and food for the next day. 

2. Fuel yourself properly

Make sure to eat breakfast. 

Seriously, if you want your mind and body to be ready to tackle whatever challenges lie ahead, you need to nourish them. 

A decent breakfast with good macros is vital to set you up for the day. Not having time to sit down and have breakfast is no excuse. If time is an issue, you can have breakfast on the move. 

I’m not a breakfast fan. But I know my mind and body need the nutrients to allow me to be my best self. So, I usually grab a protein bar before my morning exercise routine and then have a protein shake afterward. 

Ensuring we are adequately fuelled means our energy and attention span can last until lunchtime, and we can give our best of ourselves to our day.

3. Eat the frog first  

I’m vegan and still eat the frog first thing in the morning! 

This slightly bizarre expression originates from Mark Twain, who said, “if it’s your job to eat the frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it is your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”  

What Mark Twain is suggesting is to get the biggest tasks done first thing. We often spend most of our time procrastinating and putting off more arduous tasks. 

If I don’t train first thing in the morning, my motivation wains, and I find myself thinking about it, dreading it, and being distracted by it. 

So get up and eat your frog; leapfrog (excuse the pun) over the biggest hurdle of the day early on. Eating the frog first makes you feel accomplished, energized, and ready for anything. 

4. Exercise early in the morning

I can hear audible sighs across the screen at this suggestion. 

Fitting exercise into your morning is one of the most positive ways to start your day. In a previous job, I was at my desk from 7.30 am. The days when I galvanized action out of my intention and rose at 5 am for my run were when I felt capable of tackling anything. 

There’s an incredible sense of achievement for having already worked out before the start of your day.

So what counts as morning exercise? The good news is, I’m not asking you to go for a 10-mile run every morning. You can personalize it to suit your time scales and fitness levels. 

• 20-minute yoga session. 
• 30 minutes of HIIT. 
• Run, swim, or cycle. 
• 30 minutes of strength work. 
• Gym session. 

If possible, you can try to kill two birds with one stone. Turn your commute into a sustainable exercise by cycling or walking to work. Is this an option for you? Ultimately this option helps maximize your available time. 

5. Keep devices off 

I am a total hypocrite here. But until you have accomplished your morning routine needs, don’t even think about tuning in to the outside world. Yes, this means e-mails or social media only once you are ready to tackle the day. 

The author and stoicism expert Ryan Holiday says he turns his phone on once he has exercised, spent several hours writing, and seen to the needs of his children. If this process is good enough for Ryan Holiday, it’s good enough for us. 

By staying off devices, we are giving our brain a chance to wake up, arrange its thoughts, and set its intentions without being influenced by the outside world. 

Try it for yourself and see how you get on.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up 

Starting a day positively sets the scene for the rest of the day. A week of positive starts soon becomes a month, which bleeds into a year. Before we know it, we have orchestrated positive change and are happier and more successful. 

How do you start your day positively? What’s your favorite tip to share with others? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ali Hall Author

Kindness is my superpower. Dogs and nature are my oxygen. Psychology with Sports science graduate. Scottish born and bred. I’ve worked and traveled all over the world. Find me running long distances on the hills and trails.

The post 5 Tips to Start Your Day Positively (and Why This Matters!) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Do you ever feel like invisible restraints are restricting you? But if you are honest with yourself, what are you doing to break free from these shackles? If you are ready to change your life, you must learn to reprogram your subconscious mind. 

This article will outline the subconscious mind and the benefits of reprogramming it. It will also suggest 5 tips to help you reprogram your subconscious mind.

What is a subconscious mind? 

At least 95% of our mind works on a subconscious level. This staggering percentage means that our behavior and thoughts and any action resulting from these are most likely to be initiated from a subconscious mind. 

The subconscious mind is automatic. It uses past experiences stored in the big computer processor-style brain to gather external cues, interpret them and respond to them. 

The subconscious mind does not stop. It is constantly whirring away. Even in your sleep, the subconscious mind is responsible for your: 

• Dreams. 
• Habits. 
• Primal urges. 
• Feelings and emotions. 

The subconscious mind relies on repeated conscious input, which, once repeated enough, becomes subconscious.

Think of when you first learned to drive a car. Every stage in this act required thought and consideration. Whereas now, I suspect you drive with your subconscious mind, meaning it is more of an automatic action requiring little thought. 

The importance of reprogramming your subconscious mind? 

What if I said you are not in control of your mind? We all think we have agency over our thoughts and behaviors, but according to this article, we are at the mercy of our subconscious mind. 

Our subconscious minds are full of self-limiting beliefs. We form these childhood beliefs, and they stick with us. The child who is told they are worthless and will never amount to anything will start to believe this.

They internalize this message and it becomes part of their subconscious mind. 

No one reaches their adult life unscathed. It is up to us whether we let our past ruin our future. Or if we are prepared to reprogram our internal systems. 

It takes conscious learning to unlearn everything that limits us, from cognitive biases about ourselves and others to deeply routed ideas about ourselves. 

If you have an unhealthy program running in your subconscious mind, now is a great time to wipe it, reprogram it, and start fresh.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

5 ways to reprogram your subconscious mind

The great thing about the brain is its neuroplasticity. This neuroplasticity means we can mold it like plasticine and change paradigms that don’t serve us.

But it takes practice and commitment. Are you ready to get stuck in? 

Here are 5 tips on reprogramming your subconscious mind for a happier life. 

1. Seek therapy  

Sometimes it is helpful to understand more about ourselves to recognize what changes we need. A therapist will help you figure your feelings and emotions out. They will make sense of your thoughts and experiences and help you discover unhealthy thought patterns and beliefs. 

A therapist will help you untangle any confusion. It may take a while; there are no quick fixes. They excel at bringing the subconscious mind into the conscious, allowing us to have a long hard look at it and see what adaptations are needed. 

How can we change if we don’t know what we want to change? Therapy is a great starting point. 

If you need more convincing, here’s an article of ours that explains more benefits of trying therapy, even if you feel like you don’t need it.

2. Practice meditation and yoga 

Meditation and yoga help you engage the parasympathetic nervous system. They help calm down erratic thoughts and bring us into the present.

Both meditation and yoga help shift the clouds and create clear skies. They bring clarity and comfort. They help you figure out who you are and what you want. 

These practices allow you to sift through subconscious thoughts and recognize unpleasant thoughts and their associated behaviors. They help you reject these thoughts and behaviors and return to your authentic self. 

Meditation and yoga allow you to build a strong body and mind relationship, which increases self-esteem and confidence in directing your life toward your yearnings. 

We’ve written about both yoga and meditation here, so if you want to delve deeper, this is a good starting point!

3. Engage with mindfulness 

Daily activities can be mindful when we draw ourselves into the moment instead of allowing our minds to drift off into the past or jump ahead into the future. 

Mindfulness is defined as “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally.” 

By its very definition, we can not simultaneously be mindful and led by the subconscious mind. When we engage mindfully, we quieten our subconscious mind and manage to focus on the here and now. 

Yesterday, I helped my friend with her horses. I spent 20 minutes mindfully grooming her mare and focused on all my senses. 

• The feel of her velvet muzzle. 
• The rich equine aroma horse lovers cherish. 
• The gentle, happy nose snort noises. 

I brushed her with long, consistent strokes and spoke to her throughout. 

Any activity can be mindful. Try and engage with your senses and pay attention to your movements. 

4. Don’t allow negative thoughts to control you  

Controlling negative thinking and stopping your thoughts from taking you on a joy ride is conducive to your happiness. 

Negative thinking can latch on to your subconscious mind and leech out your motivation and self-belief. If we leave negative thinking unchecked, it can wreak havoc on our sense of self-efficacy and autonomy. 

On the flip side, if we can take control of the patterns of our negative thinking, we can change the wiring in our brains and reduce the prevalence of these types of thoughts. 

If you struggle with negative thoughts, check out our more detailed piece on how to deal with negative thoughts. 

5. Practice affirmations  

The subconscious mind deals with the present. In contrast, the conscious mind dwells on the past and fears the future. 

Positive affirmations are an effective tool for dealing with negative thinking and low self-esteem. They stem from the self-affirmation theory. To be successful, they need to be built into a daily habit and practiced consistently. 

To be effective, we must utter affirmations in the present term. For instance:

• “I am successful” instead of “I will be successful.” 
• “I am strong” instead of “I will be strong.” 
• “I am popular and liked” instead of “I will be popular and liked.” 

The use of affirmations helps us live in the present instead of dictating our future with our past.

If you want more tips, here is our article on how to practice positive affirmations the right way.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

You don’t need to be a passenger in your life. It’s time to stand up and take control. Don’t let your unconscious mind dictate your life. You owe yourself more than this. You deserve happiness. 

Do you have any other tips to help reprogram your subconscious mind? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ashley Kaiser Author

Physical therapist, writer, and outdoor enthusiast from Arizona. Self-proclaimed dark chocolate addict and full-time adrenaline junkie. Obsessed with my dog and depending on the day my husband, too.

The post 5 Ways to Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

This article is here to let you know that you’re not alone. In fact, I want to show you the most effective methods to counter your persistent self-doubting habits. So the next time your mind tricks you into thinking you’re not good enough, you can use these tactics to fight back these unsupportive thoughts.

Because the truth is that you are good enough, no matter what you think. Your mind is just not telling you. This article will hopefully show you how to actually feel good enough too.

Do you consider yourself to be good enough?

We all want to be the best version of ourselves, right?

Well, before we go ahead and dive into the actual bulk of this article, I want you to think of this question first:

How do you view yourself currently?

I believe that whenever we are facing something difficult, we should look toward our inner selves first.

According to science, we make decisions 35,000 times a day. That’s a lot of potential influence that your current state of mind can have on your life.

Imagine stepping into your own mind, asking it what you should do next, only to find negativity and self-doubt such as:

• I am not good enough.
• I don’t matter to the people I love.
• I’ve failed before and I might fail again.
• I won’t be able to face it when something goes wrong.
• I’d rather play it safe.

Surely, it won’t help you maximize your true value and become the best version of yourself, right?

But more often than not, we are our own worst critics. In the US, social anxiety disorders are extremely common, affecting 40 million adults each year.

The importance of a positive self-image

This is why it’s so important to think positively of yourself. We can’t control what happens around us, and we can’t always help it when things don’t go our way.

When shit hits the fan and things start to go South, you don’t also want to be your own worst critic.

Self-talk can drastically impact our attitudes, behaviors, and how we relate to other people.

In a study conducted on secondary school-aged adolescents, it has been found that negative self-talk predicted loneliness, especially if it involves a socially threatening mentality.

On the other hand, positive self-talk can help with enhanced performance and self-esteem.

This study explored the effect of self-talk intervention on junior athletes and found that it led to less anxiety and higher self-confidence, self-optimization, self-efficacy, and performance.

This all comes down to the simple reality:

Part of you will believe what you tell yourself. Your subconscious mind, for better or for worse, will drink in all information like a sponge. Including whatever nonsense you tell yourself.

It also does not differentiate well between reality and the imaginary. This is why you can wake up sweating from a nightmare or feel your nerves prickle and your heart rate increase during a tense moment in a film.

It’s also why you can feel anxious about something that has not happened yet or happened in the past. You react emotionally in real life to things that are only being conveyed to you, even if by you.

This is also why telling yourself you’re bad at something will make you feel bad, make you worse at it than you actually could be, or avoid it altogether. Part of you believes what you are told instinctively.

Fortunately, this works both ways and is the reason things like positive self-talk, hypnotherapy, and mantras can have a positive effect even if you don’t believe they will.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

How to remember that you are good enough

Embracing the notion that you are good enough can be challenging. Everybody struggles with this concept every once in a while, including yours truly.

If you’re like me and could need some help to remember that you are truly good enough, here are 7 methods that have helped me most.

1. Know that your mind can trick you

Humans are incredibly biased. And that’s not something that’s necessarily bad. We’re not robots after all.

But as we just discussed, we tend to believe anything our mind tells us. Even if it’s totally irrational and false.

Therefore, it’s really important to know how some of these human biases can work against us. Our minds can actually trick our perception of reality, which can damage our confidence and happiness as a result.

Here are some biases that you may not have heard of before, and how they can trick your mind into believing that you are not good enough:

• Negativity bias: Things of a negative nature have a bigger impact on your mental health than similarly positive experiences. In practice, this can lead to a disproportionate amount of self-hate.
• Imposter syndrome: This is actually the opposite of the well-known self-serving bias. The imposter syndrome helps you believe that you are personally responsible for your failures and that your successes are just a result of luck or being carried by other people. This results in a strong belief that you are not good enough.
• The Dunning-Kruger effect: The more knowledgeable you are about something, the more you realize you actually don’t know. As a result, you’re less confident in yourself, even though you are probably the expert.

Knowing about these biases makes us better able to fight them. For example, if you’re prone to feel like an imposter at work, here’s an article about how to beat it.

By getting to know these biases, we are better equipped to prevent these human flaws from affecting our self-image in the future.

2. Talk to yourself as though you were your own child

One way to inspire better self-talk is to talk to yourself as though you were your own child, or a loved one.

Imagine how you would react if your best friend told you that she doesn’t find herself good enough.

What would you say? Surely, you would disagree and say that your friend is more than good enough!

If they told me they thought they were hideous I’d tell them how much of a drop-dead gorgeous mega babe they were, and to never ever think differently. If they told me they were untalented or unworthy of something, I’d tell them that they were very talented and clever and that they deserved the world.

This is the sort of support, encouragement, and love that you should show yourself. Nobody’s stopping you from talking positively about yourself, so why should you?

3. Remember your strengths

Here comes a tip that you can get to work on right away.

A simple way to think of yourself as good enough is to grab a pen and paper and list all your strengths. What are you good at?

Be honest and don’t go for the easy answer of “nothing”. If you need help, ask people close to you where your strengths lie. Keep that list somewhere safe and refer to it in times of self-doubt.

Also, note how I wrote “good”, not “excellent” or “perfect”. You can be good at something and still occasionally make mistakes. Just think of your favorite sport and how even the absolute tops still make mistakes.

As an example, here are some things that I consider myself to be good at:

• Sudoku puzzles.
• Doing repetitive tasks without complaining (I actually find some of them relaxing!)
• Math.
• Driving.
• Writing.
• Following a plan.

These are all things that I’m not the best at. I personally know different people that are better at each of these items than me. Hell, I even consider myself a good driver even though I totaled my car once in the past.

But I still think I’m good at these things. And by listing these things, I’m reminded of why I am good enough as a person.

4. Leave the past behind

Even though I totaled my car in a highway accident once, this doesn’t stop me from thinking I’m a good driver today.

While this may sound like a ridiculous example, it really helps to prove my point.

Even though I made mistakes in the past, that doesn’t stop me from being a good person in the future. You need to remember the same thing.

One study from 2009 examined the relationship between regret, repetitive thought, depression, and anxiety in a big telephone survey. Not surprisingly, they found the following conclusion:

Both regret and repetitive thought were associated with general distress, [but] only regret was associated with anhedonic depression and anxious arousal. Further, the interaction between regret and repetitive thought (i.e., repetitive regret) was highly predictive of general distress but not of anhedonic depression nor anxious arousal. These relations were strikingly consistent across demographic variables such as sex, race/ethnicity, age, education, and income.

In other words, if you’re constantly spending time thinking about what you should have done in the past, it is likely that it’s distressing your current outlook on life.

A great way to stop living in the past is to practice mindfulness.

Mindfulness is all about being in the present and not letting your thoughts run amok. Practicing mindfulness daily will help you let go of worrying over the past and the future, and focus on the here and now.

As a result, you’ll be more likely to realize that you are good enough. Past mistakes shouldn’t determine whether you or your actions are good enough today or tomorrow.

We published an article specifically about mindfulness and how to get started with it. For more tips on this topic, here’s an entire article about how to stop living in the past.

5. Let go of perfection

As we’ve covered in the intro of this article, it’s really easy to find negative things in our lives. There are tons of human flaws that our minds use as fuel to persuade us to feel bad about ourselves.

But if you happen to be a perfectionist as well, then you’re even more prone to this!

To that, I want to say:

Pobody’s nerfect.

I don’t know who came up with this, or when it was first used. All I know is that it’s something that we should always remember. Nobody is perfect, so why should we judge ourselves as if we should be?

In fact, you shouldn’t even think of yourself as a finished product. Realizing this makes it easier to accept your flaws and quirks.

You can change your language to reflect this. Instead of saying “is” and “am”, say “may be” and “could be”. As Shelley Carson and Ellen Langer write in their paper about self-acceptance:

The very act of replacing the certainty of convictions with the possibility that things ‘‘may be’’ truly opens up the possibility that things may not be as one currently interprets them. This, in turn, creates a mindset open to personal change and acceptance.

This is one of the steps that’s discussed in our article about self-acceptance, which shares some of the methods with this article.

6. Don’t compare yourself to others

Just as it is important to not hold yourself up to impossible ideals, so is not holding yourself up in comparison to others.

Everyone has different good (and bad!) attributes. It’s easy to compare your own work with the work of your co-workers. But if your conclusion from this comparison is that you’re not good enough as a person, then that’s wrong.

Yes, on the surface, that colleague of yours may seem successful, but you don’t know her life story.

When you find yourself trying to make another unfair comparison, I want you to remember the previous list of strengths or think back to yourself a year ago. Have you grown since then? Yes? Now that’s a good comparison. When you’re comparing yourself to your past self, then you’re actually comparing apples to apples.

We’ve written an entire article about how not to compare yourself with others. This is filled with more tips on how to not hold yourself up to the image of others.

7. Be grateful

Once you’ve seen the good in you, the final step is to be grateful for it.

When it comes to appreciating how good you actually are, gratitude is the cherry on top; it’s the red ribbon that wraps up the best present that you can give to yourself.

• Thank your body for being strong and being a testament to what being human is like.
• Thank your mind for being resilient despite your anxious tendencies.
• Thank your heart for having so much room for compassion even when people have hurt you.

It turns out there are lots of things to be thankful for!

When you show gratitude towards yourself, it makes the experience even more rewarding. Honestly, thank yourself just for existing (as you would to a loved one!) Feels nice, doesn’t it?

You are good enough, and you should try to be thankful for the things that you’re good at!

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

If you made it all the way down here, I want to thank you for your time! By now, you should know a trick or two to help you realize that you are good enough. Don’t listen to your crappy mind tricks, focus on the positives and be grateful for it!

Now I want to hear from you! Is there a tip that you want to share? Or do you just want to share why you think you’re more than good enough? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Hugo Huijer Author

Founder of Tracking Happiness, with over 100 interviews and a focus on practical advice, our content extends beyond happiness tracking. Hailing from the Netherlands, I’m a skateboarding enthusiast, marathon runner, and a dedicated data junkie, tracking my happiness for over a decade.

The post 7 Ways to Remember That You’re Good Enough (With Examples) appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Reframing your thoughts can change your entire attitude about your life. When you actively choose to see the good around you, you attract people and experiences that bring more good things your way. And with a little practice, even rough patches can start to look a little brighter.

This article will do a deep dive into how you can start reframing your thoughts to highlight the good and get excited about your life again.

Why it’s important to reframe your thoughts

Most of us wake up each day and we’re instantly focused on our problems. While this mindset may create a sense of urgency and makes us productive, this can more often trigger a thought pattern that has us focusing on the negative.

I know that this used to be me before I took active steps to fight it. I used to wake up dreading work, my to-do list, and feeling anxious about the day ahead.

But then I learned that I was creating my own misery starting with my thoughts. And just like physical training, it takes mental training and practice to take back control of your thoughts.

If you think all this talk of changing your perspective won’t really do anything, think again. Research shows that people who actively focus on the good have a better immune response than those who focus on their stressors.

Both your mental and physical well-being are being controlled by what you allow to happen between your two ears.

How reframing your thoughts affects your mental health

When it comes to your mental health, it seems obvious that reframing your thoughts may make you feel better. But what does the research actually say about reframing your thoughts?

A study in 2016 found that individuals with a generalized anxiety disorder reported a significant reduction in worry and anxiety just by focusing on creating more positive thoughts.

Research also shows that individuals who actively focus on the positive are better at dampening their stress response when bad things happen. In other words, they seem to be more calm and resilient in the face of stress.

I don’t know about you, but when I think about the primary issues in relation to my mental health they all center around stress, anxiety, and worry. And it seems that the solution to these problems might just lie in my thought process around my life and its problems.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

Find happiness with this 10-step mental health cheat sheet.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

6 ways to reframe your thoughts

If you’re ready to zoom in on all the good life has to offer and reframe your thoughts, then these six tips were made for you.

1. Become aware of your repeated thoughts

In order to reframe your thoughts, you first have to become aware of the thoughts you’re having on a consistent basis. Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re stuck in a perpetual negative thought loop.

About a year ago, I was going through a rough patch. I knew I didn’t feel happy, but I didn’t realize just how negative my thoughts were until my husband told me I was being a negative Nancy.

I started to realize that my first thought when I woke up was, “Let’s just get through this day. I can’t wait until it’s over.”

That’s not exactly motivational material to get you to hop out of bed in the morning. And I was saying it to myself every morning.

Become aware of your habitual thoughts and observe them objectively. Once you have this awareness, you can start to actively reprogram your brain with new thoughts.

2. Find a replacement phrase

Once you know your personal thought pattern that you get stuck in, you need to find a phrase or question to get yourself unstuck from that pattern.

Remember my morning statement about not looking forward to the day? After I noticed that this was what I was doing when I first woke up, I decided to come up with a replacement phrase.

Instead, I started saying, “This day is going to be full of happy surprises.” And I had to not only say it but also start believing it.

It may sound silly to you, but that one simple switch cued my brain to focus on the possibilities ahead instead of responsibilities. And I attribute that simple phrase to helping me overcome my depressive attitude.

You can come up with a phrase that works for you, but you need to make it meaningful to you. Because that’s the only way it will stick.

3. Meditation

You had to see this one coming. But before you scroll to the next tip and say you’re not a meditator, hear me out.

I, too, used to say that I wasn’t capable of meditation. My brain would zing around like a dog with the zoomies.

But this was exactly why I needed the meditation. Learning to calm my mind and think about nothing helped me realize just how many negative thoughts I was having on a regular basis.

Meditation is a form of self-awareness. And when you start to meditate, you become in tune with the messages your brain is spewing to you regularly.

Start out small. Try just two minutes. And build it up as you can.

I promise that after you meditate, the way you view the world and your life will change. It takes practice, but learning to think about nothing for a while has helped me reframe how I think about everything.

If you need tips on how to start, here’s our article on meditation that will help you get started!

4. Choose gratitude right when you wake up

This is a biggie. You’re probably starting to pick up on the fact that I’m an advocate for being mindful of what you tell your brain first thing in the morning.

Your brain and your subconscious are particularly sensitive to what you tell it in the morning. So make sure that message is a positive one.

A good way to reframe your thoughts in the morning to help you reframe your day is to reflect on what you can be thankful for. Looking at what there is to be grateful for helps shift your mindset from one that focuses on what you lack to one that manifests abundance.

It takes two seconds, but list a few things you’re grateful for. And if you want to go all out, do it intermittently throughout the day.

Focusing on gratitude will inevitably change your thoughts.

5. Ask yourself “what could be good about this?”

When it comes to problems, it can be particularly challenging to reframe your thoughts. If you’re like me, it’s natural to want to have a pity party and complain.

And while you can sulk for a brief moment if you need to, it’s important that you don’t stay there long. Because often hidden in the middle of a problem is an opportunity.

When you have a problem, ask yourself the question “What could be good about this?”. That one question has the power to completely shift the way you’re thinking about something.

I remember when my boyfriend broke up with me in grad school I was devastated. I thought my life would never go on without him.

After a few days of going through way too many tissues, I asked myself that question. And then I started to realize that breaking up gave me more free time to pursue my hobbies and time to spend with my friends.

I was able to pursue my passion for climbing more intensely and ended up meeting dear friends because of that breakup.

Ask yourself that question the next time you have a problem. You might be surprised to find out that the answer reveals you didn’t have as much of a problem as you thought all along. 

6. Get an outsider’s perspective

If you can’t bring yourself to reframe your thoughts, get an outsider’s perspective. Ideally, this is someone who can be at least slightly objective regarding your situation or circumstances.

I remember when I was trying to make a decision about a former job while being an undergrad. I felt like I wasn’t being given the promotions I deserved at the time and was frustrated.

I asked one of my co-workers for their opinion because I was getting grumpy about the situation.

My coworker told me kindly that I was already at one of the highest on-campus jobs. Not only that, they told me that this job gave me incredible flexibility with my schedule. They even allowed us to take days off when my schoolwork was more important.

Their perspective helped me realize how ungrateful I was being about the entire situation. And it helped me remember all the things about my job I loved.

Sometimes another person’s view can help you reframe your view to remind you of what you were missing.

If you find this hard, here’s our article with tips on how to change your perspective.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Wrapping up

We all get to be the editor of our lives. And with this incredible power comes the ability to reframe our thoughts to help us create a beautiful final image. The tips in this article will help you shift your thoughts to serve you positively. Because at the end of the day, you might just be a thought or two away from a happier life.

What do you think? What’s your favorite tip to reframe your thoughts into something positive? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ashley Kaiser Author

Physical therapist, writer, and outdoor enthusiast from Arizona. Self-proclaimed dark chocolate addict and full-time adrenaline junkie. Obsessed with my dog and depending on the day my husband, too.

The post 6 Tips to Reframe Your (Negative) Thoughts and Think Positive! appeared first on Tracking Happiness.

Luckily, there are things you can do to get a shot of positive energy in these scenarios. You don’t have to just accept that you’re in a funk. In fact, you can use any one of the following methods to add a little bit of positive energy to your day.

In this article, I’ll list the most powerful methods to help you add positive energy to your day. In the end, I’m positive that you’ll have found some tips that work for you!

1. Don’t talk about your problems all the time

You and I are social creatures. No matter if you’re introverted or extroverted, we all need a little bit of human interaction to get through the day.

But if that human interaction is purely negative, then there’s a big chance that negativity will spread. For example, imagine talking to a colleague and he goes on and on about how your employer is somehow mistreating him. That’s likely going to have a negative impact on your state of mind.

This has been studied and talked about a lot. Negativity spreads like a virus, and if you don’t focus on stopping it, chances are you will become a victim as well.

The simple solution: try to limit your negative rants.

We all have our problems. While it’s okay to share your problems in a constructive way, it’s never beneficial for both the speaker and the listener to go on a 30-minute rant about how your work is boring you to death.

Instead, you can decide to focus on the positive, or just say nothing and get to work.

2. Spend time with someone you like

One of the easiest ways to fill your day with a bit more positive energy is to just spend time with someone you like.

This doesn’t even have to be in person. Whenever you’re feeling a little low on energy, how about giving your parents a call? Even if it means just sharing a ridiculous YouTube video with a close friend, these small steps can go a long way in adding positive energy to your day.

3. Be more proud of yourself

This may be a personal example, but I find it hard sometimes to really appreciate who I am and what I’ve accomplished.

As a result, I allow my mood to be affected and sometimes even rant about it to my partner. Is this a good way to spend my time? Absolutely not.

Like myself, you need to be more proud of yourself and what you’ve accomplished.

We’re all dealing with stressful situations in life. If you want to feel more positive energy, try to actively think about all the times you navigated these difficult situations by being a great person.

By the way: Do you find it hard to be happy and in control of your life? It may not be your fault. To help you feel better, we’ve condensed the information of 100’s of articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet to help you be more in control.

Don’t Miss Out On Happiness

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4. Acknowledge your victories

One of the most important lessons that I’ve learned about positive energy is that success can come from even the littlest of things.

Whether it’s being able to get up in the morning or being resilient about something small, no progress is too small to notice.

Just because we have not arrived at our supposed destination yet, it doesn’t mean that we can’t acknowledge how far we’ve already come. Just because we haven’t reached our fullest potential doesn’t mean that we can’t acknowledge how much we’ve already improved.

5. Be thankful for what you have

There’s a powerful relationship between being thankful and being happy. If you’re aware of this correlation, it’s much easier to use gratitude to fill your life with more positive energy.

One of the most well-known studies on gratitude was conducted in 2003 by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough. The study showed that people who are encouraged to think of things they’re grateful for are approximately 10% happier than those who are not.

But how can you turn this into actionable advice?

Simple. Try to answer the following question:

What is something that you are grateful for? For example, you can be grateful for someone smiling at you, for a beautiful sunset, or for some nice music that you recently listened to. Whatever comes to your mind is OK!

By just answering this question to the best of your abilities, you’re already allowing positive energy to fill your mind.

If you to read more about gratitude and thankfulness, here’s an article where I asked 21 others the same question.

6. Give someone a compliment

This one is actually a funny story.

I once went for a run on a Sunday, which is something I typically do on my weekends. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, an old man passes me on his bicycle and shouts at me:

You have a great running form! Keep it going, keep it going!!!

I’m absolutely flabbergasted at this point. I mean, do I even know this guy?

A split second later, I decide that I don’t, and I thank him for his words of encouragement. He actually slows down a bit, allows me to catch up with him, and gives me tips on my breathing:

Quickly inhale through the nose, and slowly exhale through your mouth. Keep it up, you’re looking good!

After 10 seconds, he takes a turn and shouts goodbye. I complete the rest of my run with a gigantic smile on my face.

Why did this guy strike up a conversation with me? Why did he spend his energy and time complimenting me? What was in it for him?

I still don’t know, but I do know that the world needs more people like this! Happiness is contagious, and if more people would be like this, the world would be a happier place!

But how will this bring positive energy to your own life?

It turns out that spreading happiness is actually something that makes you happy as well. So the next time you see some guy running in the street and compliment him on his running form, you’ll likely experience a bit of your own positivity as well!

7. Journal about what’s keeping you down

As we discussed earlier in this list, it’s not a good idea to talk about your problems all the time.

But we can’t stop ourselves from thinking negative thoughts all the time, right?

If you want to spend some time on what’s keeping you down, there’s a real benefit in journaling about it. Just sit down and write about all the things that are keeping you down.

This does 3 things:

• It keeps you from ranting, as it’s a bit silly to repeat yourself over and over again on paper.
• It allows you to give your thoughts some air to breathe, without getting distracted.
• When you’ve finished writing about your negativity, you’ll be able to forget about it.

This last point is especially powerful. Think of this as clearing the RAM memory of your computer. If you’ve written it down, you can safely forget about it and start with an empty slate.

This may not be a method to directly fill your life with positive energy. But by doing this, you’ll get rid of any negative energy in the most efficient and healthy way possible.

8. Control your happiness

We’ve recently published a study where we found that the idea of controlling your happiness leads to higher happiness. In other words, people who believe their happiness can be controlled are happier than those who don’t.

How is this going to help you fill your day with positive energy?

Answer these questions:

• On a scale from 1 to 100, how would you rate your happiness? 
• What factors are having a positive influence on your happiness?
• What factors are having a negative influence on your happiness?

By answering these simple questions, you’re actually showing yourself how to control your happiness.

If you’re currently not as happy as you’d like, try to find out what factors are causing this negativity. Is there something that you can control?

If you’re already happy, then you’re still likely to benefit from answering these questions as it helps you be happy with where you already are.

9. Pick up litter on the street

You’re probably aware of climate change. Whether or not you believe in it, I think we can all agree that we humans leave a bit too much of our trash outside.

Depending on where you live, you can fill one or two bags of trash by just going for a 30-minute walk around the block.

Even though this likely doesn’t sound like much fun to you, there’s a psychological benefit to picking up litter on the street. Sustainable behavior is linked to happiness, as we’ve published an entire article about this.

By engaging in sustainable behavior – like picking up trash – we’re likely to experience a bolt of positive energy.

I’ve personally found a really fun way to do this. Whenever I go for a run, and I see a small piece of trash on the ground, I pick it up and try to run to the nearest garbage bin to throw it in.

Funnily enough, this keeps me in better shape and it makes me feel good about myself.

10. Don’t worry about things that you can’t control

This article is about how to fill your life with more positive energy.

But what if this article was about how to fill your life with negative energy instead? Would you need to read it? Probably not.

It turns out that we are pretty good at creating negative energy already. We don’t need articles to help us with that!

• We worry about bad things that might happen in the future.
• We keep re-living bad things that happened in the past.
• And if that wasn’t enough already, most of us are really easily bothered by small things throughout the day.

What’s cynical about all of this is that we can’t even control most of the things that bring us down. A lot of this sadness is just circumstantial.

One of the best ways to deal with these issues is mindfulness.

Mindfulness is all about being in the present and not letting your thoughts run amok. Practicing mindfulness daily will help you let go of worrying over the past and the future, and focus on the here and now.

We published an article specifically about mindfulness and how to get started with it.

11. Forgive yourself and forgive others

There are some things that can’t be forgiven, but often, holding grudges is what makes us feel like victims. When someone has hurt us, it’s natural to want revenge, but life is all about picking your battles.

Prolonged resentment keeps you constantly under stress, which makes you more vulnerable to other blows life might throw at you. In turn, this can make you feel even more like a victim. 

Forgiving someone can be the most powerful tool in order to move forward and take control of your life.

But sometimes it’s yourself who you have to forgive. Whatever past mistakes you’ve made, you can’t unmake them, but you can make sure that you won’t make them in the future. Accept yourself for who you are and move on.

You’ll be surprised at how much positive energy you’ll feel by practicing forgiveness.

12. Don’t let small things bother you too much

I have an anecdote that perfectly shows the importance of this tip. It shows why you don’t want to let small things bother you:

Years ago, when I was writing my first book, I stopped socializing with my friends. I had a book contract to write 120,000 words and a six-month deadline to complete the work. Having never written a book before, the project seemed daunting. I had no idea how long it would take to complete. For months, I did not call or contact any of my friends. As a result, after the manuscript was completed, one of them wanted to meet me in a coffee shop.

There, he read me a long list of why he never wanted to see me again. As I recall, he had over sixty items on it.

I was stunned by his breaking-up our long friendship, but I also realized that nearly everything he said was true. I didn’t return his calls. I didn’t send him a birthday card. I didn’t come to his garage sale, etc.

My friend was extremely angry and wanted me to defend myself and fight back, but I did the opposite. I agreed with most of what he said. Moreover, instead of being confrontational, I told him that anyone who had given so much time and thought to our relationship must really love me. Instead of adding fuel to a volatile situation, I put what he said about me in neutral. I didn’t get angry or become defensive.

P.S.: My friend and I are good friends once again and frequently joke about “The I-Never-Want-to-See-You-Again” list. Now when either of us does something that irritates the other, we call out what the next number might be on the list…and laugh.

Allen Klein, excerpt from our article on How To Not Let Things Bother You

This anecdote shows how important it is to not dwell on the small stuff that annoys you.

Whenever you feel annoyed at something small, try to focus on one of the other tips we’ve discussed in this article so far:

• Write it down and forget about it.
• Call up a friend and try to laugh about the things that bother you.
• Don’t dwell on it and focus on something positive instead.

13. Smile more

You’ve probably heard this popular piece of advice before:

Smile in the mirror each day to make yourself happier.

It’s a popular piece of advice and one that I have given myself as well. But does it really work? Can you really make add positive energy to your day by forcing a smile?

Yes, it does, but only sometimes.

A 2014 study reports that frequent smiling only makes you happier if you believe that a smile reflects happiness. If you don’t believe that smiling causes happiness, frequent smiling can backfire and make you less happy! It’s similar to finding your meaning in life – you won’t find it when you’re consciously looking for it.

14. Stop running away from your problems

It’s often easier to avoid a problem than to deal with it, even when you know that avoidance isn’t sustainable in the long run.

These situations occur daily: we’re faced with a problem and need to either tackle it right away or postpone it.

A powerful method to stop running away from your problems is to follow the 5-minute rule.

The 5-minute rule is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique for procrastination in which you set a goal of doing whatever it is you would otherwise avoid but only do it for five minutes. If after five minutes it’s so horrible that you have to stop, you are free to do so. 

Even if you’re unable to complete the task in 5 minutes, you’ll still be one step closer to solving your problem!

If you have several problems, start with the smallest. If there’s one big problem, break it down into bite-sized pieces. 

If you’re facing multiple problems at once, you need to start small. Starting small will give you a chance to see progress faster, which will help to boost and maintain your motivation. If you start with the biggest, most terrifying problem, it will take much longer to see success and your motivation can wane. 

If you want more specific tips, here is an entire article dedicated to how to stop running away from your problems.

15. Create a bucket list

While the idea of writing down everything you want to do before you die may sound morbid, it’s more about what you want to experience while you live. Writing this down in a big list is a great way to experience a bit of positive energy!

Personally, I love making lists and if there’s something I’ve learned about lists, it’s that they only work if you do. Dreaming without doing won’t make your life that much more interesting.

The secret to a good bucket list is finding the balance between realistic and idealistic. Include both your wildest fantasies and easily achievable things.

By making a bucket list, you’re basically creating a series of goals for yourself, and every good goal needs a deadline. Obviously, you have no way of knowing how long you have left, but just deciding if you’re going to travel to your dream locations this year or the next is a good start.

There’s also a scientific benefit to writing bucket lists. By planning a future holiday, you’ll experience a boost in happy emotions.

16. Mix up your life a little

Routines are safe, and often necessary for self-discipline, but mixing them up can be a good way to make your life just a little more interesting. As a result, you’ll be more likely to experience bursts of positive energy throughout the day.

One of my brightest childhood memories is of a morning in the 1st grade. I remember telling my mom that I didn’t want to go to school. I don’t remember the reason, but I was kicking up a fuss about having to walk to school – I lived about a 10-minute walk away.

In response, my mom told me we would be taking another route to school, which got my interest and I agreed pretty quickly to try going to school after all.

We didn’t actually take a different route, since the route in question was mainly a straight road, but we didn’t cross the street in the usual place. My 7-year-old mind was blown by the fact that you can, in fact, use the other side of the street as well.

Later, in adolescence and adulthood, mixing up my routes became a way to break routine. Right now, I have two main ways I can walk to work and three ways to get home (four if I want a detour).

It’s these little things that help you make your everyday life a little more interesting. You don’t have to visit faraway places; sometimes, discovering an interestingly decorated yard on a side street is enough to add a little positive energy to your day.

By the way: If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here.

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

Download The Free Cheat Sheet

Thanks for sticking with me all the way till the end! Next time you’re feeling a bit moody or down, try to think of one of these tips and add some positive energy to your life. Even though they might not all work for you, I’m sure there are one or two tips that will help you spice things up!

Now I want to hear from you! Is there anything that you do in particular to bring positive energy to your days? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Hugo Huijer Author

Founder of Tracking Happiness, with over 100 interviews and a focus on practical advice, our content extends beyond happiness tracking. Hailing from the Netherlands, I’m a skateboarding enthusiast, marathon runner, and a dedicated data junkie, tracking my happiness for over a decade.

The post 16 Simple Ways to Get Positive Energy in Your Life appeared first on Tracking Happiness.