Having a positive outlook doesn’t mean pretending that everything is okay when it isn’t. That being said, being more of a “glass half full” person rather that a “glass half empty” person can have significant impacts on both mental and physical health. You can train your brain to think more optimistically, and this has a flow on effect, the more positive thoughts you have, the better you feel, and the more positive thoughts you have and so on – of course this can happen in reverse too, thinking negatively makes you feel worse, and then you have more negative thoughts.

How do we have more of a positive outlook? Many of these things have been written about before on the blog:
• Finding things to be grateful for daily Click here
• Setting and achieving goals Click here
• Focusing on the present – not ruminating on the past or worrying about the future Click here
• Eating well Click here
• Connecting with family and friends Click here
• Staying physically active Click here
• See setbacks as an opportunity to learn, Robert Allen says, “There is no failure. Only feedback”.
• Spend time in nature, have you heard of “forest bathing”? Click here

Notice that many of the things that we can do to have a positive outlook are to do with our physical body eg the food we eat and exercise. Our mind and our body are closely connected, what we do with one has an impact on the other.

If you are struggling with persistent negative thoughts, perhaps you could benefit from talking to someone. Click here