You may experience days full of mishaps, mix-ups, and misunderstandings, which can leave you feeling more like every punching bag of everyone around you.
Still, it seems that the hardest times to stay positive are usually when everyone around you has a negative attitude. A positive attitude equips you with the best ability to problem solve and handles stressful situations.
Below are 3 ways on how to have a better attitude.
Attitude Makes All the Difference
Think about your last setback or your last bad day. Did it seem like everything went wrong all day? How did your attitude change over the day?
Chances are that once you perceived that something went wrong, you started seeing everything going wrong, and saw only the bad things.
You have also probably had at least one or two “perfect’ days, where absolutely nothing could go wrong, and nothing did. Which days would you rather repeat?
A consistently positive attitude can make more of your days “perfect’ days than “worst” days. A positive attitude is also infectious: your positive attitude will inspire others around you to develop similar attitudes, and this will, in turn, reinforce your attitude.
Adopt a positive attitude, and you will see that it truly does make all the difference!
Take a Laugh Break
Most of us have a favorite meme, photo, television or movie scene that makes us laugh no matter how many times we’ve seen it. Laughter is nature’s medicine. It produces positive physiological changes in our bodies and is a proven stress reducer.
So whenever you’re feeling stressed and need an attitude adjustment, then take 5 minutes to uplift yourself through laughter.
Your favorite scene from The Office is just a YouTube search away.
Give Your Mind Opportunities to Rest
When people are having a busy day, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, anxious, and mentally flustered. Oftentimes, their minds get so caught up in what needs to be done, that they cannot focus on actually getting the tasks accomplished.
It becomes necessary for you to pause and get anchored in the present moment. There are a number of ways for you to recharge their brains. Try a guided five-minute meditation, deep breaths, a mindfulness app, or staring at a calming nature scene.
Surround Yourself with Positive Messages
If you are in the middle of experiencing a situation that is causing you to have a negative attitude, then chances are the people around you or your team may be feeling the same way.
This means that you will have to be very intentional about maintaining your own positive attitude so that you can set the tone. There are a ton of motivational quotes out there, but some of them speak to us more than others.
Try posting a motivational quote, a positive affirmation, a mantra, prayer, or a word that reflects how you want to feel that day, in a very visible place. This can include your phone screensaver, a poster on the bathroom door, a message taped to your computer keyboard, or a sign on break room or exit doors.
An added bonus is that this can benefit your entire organization.
How to Have a Better Attitude
Here are a few simple steps that you can take to start developing a positive attitude. These steps are small steps individually, but once you start doing a couple of them, you will start seeing positive influences in many more places!
o Use positive language: Listen to how you currently speak and make an effort to replace some words you currently use with more positive counterparts.
Try to actively avoid words like “can’t “won’t”, and other negative words; replace them with the more positive “can” and “will”.
o Smile: Take the time to smile multiple times during the day. You don’t need to have a reason to smile — just smile!
Smile before you answer the phone, and watch your attitude change. Smile at anyone you interact with during the day: you will affect their attitude in a positive way, and boost yours as well!
o Give honest compliments: Making others feel good will influence your attitude. Look for things that others do well, and let them know that you appreciate those things.
You will find yourself seeing more positives when you are actively looking for them.
o Look for the silver lining: Even the worst situations have some positive aspects. When you have a setback or a negative situation, look for what you can learn from that situation.
Don’t deny yourself negative feelings, but don’t dwell on them.
o Set and achieve goals: Success promotes a positive attitude. Set a few small, easily achievable goals for yourself, and achieve them.
Note your success, and apply it to the next goal: if you can achieve one goal, you can achieve another!
Encourage Open Communication
Let your friends know that their opinions are important. Make them feel free to offer any comments or concerns they want to address.
These issues and concerns can be discussed and cleared in private meetings. Ask them what motivates them, and let them give suggestions on how they want to be treated.
Give Surprise Gifts
Offer prizes based on friendliness or attitude. This will encourage friendly attitude amongst those around you, and it will also help you feel better. Prizes can be monetary, but people love getting great gifts. You can offer gifts such as concert or theater tickets, lottery tickets, gift cards, or free lunch or dinner.
Live Positively
The key to understanding how to have a better attitude is starting small. Do a little every day, and keep looking for the positive. Once you start the ball rolling, it will pick up momentum.
You will start to see that this “little thing” will truly make all the difference in your life — positively so!