9 Positive Things about Life Everyone Should Tell Themselves!
I am a firm believer in positive thinking. If you aren’t in a positive place, it’s going to ripple into the work you do and ultimately contaminate the things you’re working on, your relationships, and even your personal health. And in order to maintain a positive mindset, you need to remind yourself of things that are worth being positive about.
So, if you’re feeling down, try remembering these 9 things:
1. Success is a process and a habit, not a destination.
Impatience can be a real mood killer. Whenever things aren’t “happening fast enough” is when most people start to spiral down into a negative place. But you need to remember that the ups and downs are what make the path a journey. In fact, it is better to think of ups and downs as twists and turns. It’s not that up is good and down is bad–just like how you wouldn’t say a twist to the right is good but a turn to the left is bad. They are all moments on a much bigger adventure. Don’t forget that.
2. You are where you are–and that’s OK.
No matter what you’re feeling, you are feeling it for a reason. So instead of saying to yourself, “It’s a bad day. I don’t want to feel like this. This doesn’t feel good,” just allow yourself to be OK with whatever that feeling is. For the time being, it’s not going anywhere, so for right now just chill with it. Let it be. And if you can do that, it will pass much more quickly and effortlessly.
3. You can’t see your growth on a daily basis, and you aren’t supposed to.
Just like if you tried to watch your hair grow in the mirror you wouldn’t be able to see it, you can’t expect to wake up every day realizing how you are growing and improving as a human being. But you are, and you need to keep that in the back of your mind. You see the moments of growth in much longer intervals: weeks, months, years. So if you feel like you aren’t making any progress forward, try to compare where you’re at to a month ago or a year ago instead of yesterday.
4. You have way more time than you think.
I recently wrote a Quora answer about what it feels like to be “running out of time” that has really had my mind turning lately. The truth is, you will never feel like you have all the time in the world–but you really do. You do, and you need to trust that you don’t need to have everything figured out right now. Especially 20-somethings (my peers). It’ll all work out. Don’t worry. We’re still so young.
5. You can get way more done today than you think you can.
People vastly underestimate what they can get done in a day. The problem is that we are all so distracted. I can barely get one single thing done when I have my phone nearby. But left with an afternoon undisturbed and I can crank through a week’s worth of work. The issue isn’t time–it’s the way you manage time.
6. You are not alone.
One of the great mysteries of life is the fact that we are all here together, and yet each of us feels alone in our own way. Trust me, you aren’t the only one struggling to “figure it out.” You aren’t the only one who feels a lack of progress. You aren’t the only one who doesn’t know how things are all going to pan out. We all feel that way. And sometimes, just reminding yourself that you are not alone is enough to get moving in a positive direction again.
7. Things are not nearly as bad as you might think they are.
If you are ever in one of those lows, just do a quick check: do you have a roof over your head? Do you have food to eat? Do you have a friend in your life you can call whenever you need something? If you do, then you have plenty to be thankful for already. All you have to do is start appreciating the things you have right in front of you.
8. It’s never too late to make a change.
If you aren’t where you want to be in life and you want to make a change, then the first step is really knowing that it’s never too late. Today is just as great of a day to start as any other. All that matters is that you not only deliberately start toward that path of change, but also don’t expect things to shift overnight. Start now, but be willing to play the long game and see the fruits of your labor much further down the line.
9. There are so many great people in the world doing great things.
And if you’re really in need of a kick-start, just start poking around what else is happening in your niche, market, or industry. There is plenty happening in the world to get excited about–and don’t be one of those people that starts poking around and then says to themselves, “I can’t do any of that. Everyone else is so far ahead of me.” Get inspired, get excited, and get out of bed to start creating something of value.
by Nicolas Cole, Building A Personal Brand
Nicolas Cole is an author, Top 30 Columnist for Inc Magazine, 3x Top Writer on Quora, and Founder of Digital Press, a ghostwriting and influence agency for CEOs, executives, and serial entrepreneurs. His work has been viewed over 50 million times online.