20 Ways to Maintain Positive Attitude Even When Life Sucks

 

How to Maintain a Positive Attitude

 

I would like to say that attitude is a way how we see ourselves and our abilities, the world, people around us, and situations and events. It is a collection of opinions which we gather through life and carry with us wherever we go.

The fact is that not so many people are aware of their attitude.

How do you see the glass above?

Now, take a look at your results in some regions of life. Your health, wealth or relationships. If you see a lack in one or all of those areas, know that your attitude needs to be adjusted or fixed.

However, if you have a positive attitude but you sometimes struggle to keep it, this post might just help you to do both.

One quick question before we dig into these 20 ways how you can maintain a positive attitude even when everything around you seems like falling apart.

Have you learned so far how to maintain your attitude or are you letting the life to shape your opinion?

A person with a positive mental attitude will always look for the good in the world, in other people around him and in himself as well.

Even in the worst situation, you can hear him saying something like “At least he still has his health alright.”

This kind of person carries with him traits of high self-confidence and self-reliance, courage, discipline, modesty, persistence and many more.

In other words, he or she is classified as an optimist. Moreover, these people are rarely influenced by the outside world, and they always stick firm with their opinions.

Now, on the other hand.

A person with developed negative attitude is often being critical towards others, sees only doom and gloom in the world, and more than often you can hear him complaining something like “Ahhh, it will never get better.”

You can quickly determine a word we use to describe this type of personality.

Forever pessimist.

A person who changes his opinion as often as his socks. Always asks the other guy what to do and never has his firm stand ground.

Which one are you?

I was both. However, I learned one great truth in life. That is when we change our attitude of mind, everything else in life starts to turn by itself.

I, for example, had a couple of negative attitudes fixed in my subconscious mind. We all do, and it is a completely normal thing.

Once I made a shift in opinion, I saw a significant change in my results. Positive change, of course.

I believe everyone is able to do the same thing. It takes only a bit off will, persistence and time to do it right.

Here is a list of 20 powerful ways to shape and maintain a positive attitude all life long. You don’t have to take all twenty at once. The trick is to apply at least one of these suggestions, the rest will follow.

 

1. Create an attitude boosting morning routine

The first one is my favorite for many reasons.

First of all, in the morning our brains are most receptive to learn new information.

When you wake up from sleep, your brain is in a relaxed state, also known as the Alpha state. This is the time when doors to a subconscious mind are wide open. This is the perfect time for an attitude adjustment.

Second, your morning attitude will follow you through the rest of the day. What you do in the morning is a part of your attitude towards life. Therefore, how you treat the morning, you can expect the same back in your results.

Third, contrary to the opinion of the majority of people who thinks that you need eight hours to rest, I have experienced a significant change in my energy level when I sleep for seven hours.

That one hour extra I use to perform my attitude empowering morning ritual. And boy! are the results surprising.

You will meet two kinds of people in life. One group, the larger one, are reactive people. The other one, the small one, are proactive people.

The first group is the ones who wake up and cry (react) about the day in front of them.

However, people from the second group will wake up and smell the coffee (act) straight away.

 

==>5 Key Steps to a Morning Routine – Why You Should Have One<==

 

2. Have long-term goals in life

It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it. - Arnold J. Toynbee

Mr. Toynbee can help you to understand that when you aim at something higher than your present results in life, you will find that all small things will accomplish by itself.

Moreover, I have experienced how long-term goals have a fantastic power to pull my attitude back on the positive side whenever I fall under the influence of the world.

When someone or something tries to knock you off the tracks, just one short thought of your long-term goal can help you to maintain the right direction.

A long-term goal can be something as simple as eating healthy and exercise regularly. This kind of purpose has the power to keep you, not just healthy, but happy and confident through your day, week, month, and year.

I have experienced a brand new life since I started to set goals. Actually, I felt the change once I begun to accomplish my goals.

However it may be, my point is that goals are what separates a successful from unsuccessful people.

Those who keep setting new goals all the time can’t have a negative attitude. That is sure as the fact that it will get dark tonight.

 

==>5 Amazing Tips To Help You Turn Your Goals Into a Reality<==

 

3. Avoid people with toxic attitude

A longtime psychological study has shown that a person’s attitude is a subtotal of his environment. You are the product of the five people who are closest to you. Probably your parents, siblings, partner, and closest friends.

Some of the people you spend your day with might be toxic for your attitude. Try to safeguard yourself from them as much as you can.

But nicely, of course.

We are not aware of how quickly we can get influenced by other peoples opinions. Your attitude can be toxified in a matter of seconds if you don’t pay attention.

Sometimes it is easy to recognize a toxic person, a pessimist from the example on the top.

However, many people are hard to detect as rotten. They may seem like a nice person on the surface. You feel the burn from their sting after they leave.

To maintain your positive attitude, you will have to learn to stay away from those who can knock you off.

Listen!

This is the only tip you will have to know about how to recognize them.

They usually talk a lot, they know everything about everything, they leave an impression of a smart and friendly person. On the other hand, their results in life speak differently.

Just take a look at their results in life, and you will know should you listen to him or her, or should you not!

 

4. Search for the company of the winners

The best way to keep yourself safe from the toxic people is to find the company of the winners.

Now, the winner is an entirely different type of person.

Those are the people who are modest, radiate with quiet self-confidence, you can hear them speak only when they have something important to say, they are sweet by their nature, and on top of it all, their results are speaking for them.

If you are a person with a naturally positive attitude, it should mean that the people who are closest to you are pretty much the same as you.

But you can always try to expand your circle of positivity by looking for more “birds of the feather.”

It should not be hard to find them because by the law you should attract them in your life naturally.

Always remember, your attitude is a subtotal of five people with who you are surrounded with. Make sure that circle is a winners circle!

 

People With Positive Attitude

 

5. Feed your mind with positivity

If you should find your self in trouble finding more positive people, this one can help you to have the same effect as you would with the real winners.

Just keep your eyes open!

You can find like-minded people in a lot of amazing books out there. Many great personalities poured over their thoughts and knowledge between the covers for you to enjoy.

Here are a few examples.

If by any chance you are not a fan of reading, you can always find tons and tons of beautiful video material on You-Tube. I found this one to be constructive in maintaining my positive attitude.

Check out this one!

I am a massive fine of cinematography, or just, the movies.

You have probably experienced a considerable shift in your attitude after watching an excellent movie for the first time. You did, I know.

Now, there is no harm in rewatching the movie and keep impressing that change for a few more times.

From the top of my head, here is a list of a few inspirational movies that have left the most impact on my life.

Shawshank Redemption, Pursuit of Happiness, Cinderella Man, The Hurricane, Gandhi, The Intouchables, The Truman Show, and many many more are out there.

Enjoy!

 

6. Learn the art of self-motivation

Self-motivation and positive attitude are tied to each other. Without the first one, the second one would not exist, and vice versa.

I have discovered that sometimes we get stuck alone. There is no one around to help.

At these moments we rely upon our own ability to keep our mind on the positive side. However, not so many people possess this skill.

But luckily!

Self-motivation is a skill which can have a massive impact on your attitude towards everything in life. All you have to learn how to practice it. Then, at the times when you find yourself in need and with no one to rely upon, you will have this valuable skill by your side.

Some of the most positive attitude owners on the world owe their success to the art of self-motivation.

Take a look at the top level professional sports players. Every one of them practices self-motivation, most of them do it out loud.

The reason why they are the best and not the average is because they developed a habit of listening to their own voice when their attitude starts to slip. Moreover, at those moments their performance begins rapidly to climb and reaches the peak.

 

==>10 Tricks to Develop Powerful Self-Motivation Skills<==

 

7. Physical exercise builds a strong attitude

You have heard the one “Strong body, strong, mind, strong human.”

If not, you just did!

Another great way to protect your mind and maintain a positive attitude is exercise.

For many reasons also.

First of all, physical movement induces a release of happy hormones such as serotonin and dopamine. Workout gives you those feelings of satisfaction and gratification and maintains your mind healthy and confident.

Furthermore, we all get stressed, and stress can have a negative influence on your mental health as well as physical. Nothing new about it.

Regular movement helps to release the stress from your body. As the effect of exercise, you will feel physically lighter, your thinking will become more evident, and your mind and attitude much stronger.

I am a huge promoter of exercise so I could go on and one about three million benefits of it. But I don’t want to nag you.

Just keep in mind,

Strong body, strong mind, and I will rephrase and say, and strong attitude.

 

8. Learn to be grateful

In one of the seminars I was attending the author had a part devoted to the power of word gratitude.

In his words “gratitude attunes you to success.”

Even the most positive people in this world experience negative both mental and emotional states. However, they find the strength to push themselves back on the positive side by expressing their gratitude for everything they have.

I have tried and done my everyday practice to do the same. I can say that once I have learned to be grateful, my life took a different shape. Somehow, something that bothered me before got so small that I was wondering.

“Is this what was pulling me back?!”

Moreover, when you are able to say thank you for life, for love, health and wealth, and really meant it, you will receive more of the same without asking.

It is simple as it sounds. What you keep in your mind and hearth will attract more and gratitude will attune you with it.

Gratitude has a fantastic power to maintain you on the positive side of life no matter who you are or what is your situation.

So make sure you will create a gratitude attitude to keep you there.

 

Woman With Gratitude Attitude

 

9. Try the prayer power

People tend to pray only when everything else has failed them. Or, they ritually pray set of meaningless, emotionless words.

Now, I don’t care are you religious or not. The choice is yours.

However, I know from the experience that prayer works if you know how to pray in the right way.

In his excellent book, The Power of Positive Thinking, Dr. Norman V. Pale has a whole chapter devoted to a science, yes science! of prayer.

A properly conducted prayer may be the only thing you need to maintain your positive attitude.

 

10. Shift your self-talk on positive

In most of the cases, we are not aware of our self-sabotage.

From time to time something wrong will happen. Most people make the same mistake, which means they tend to stay focused on that adverse event, replaying it over and over in their mind.

What they actually have to do is to eject and completely neglect the thing, and shift their self-talk on something positive.

This behavior creates a negative attitude.

If you only know how much damage you do to your self with unconscious negative self-talk, you would stop blaming other people and things for something terrible that happened to you.

Sadly, we all do it.

However, just one shift in focus is enough to pull you back. A slap on the face and “snap out of it” will be enough as well.

A method of positive self-talk is similar to prayer because they both require, well…positive self-talk.

In other words, you are giving orders to yourself in times when you need a shift in your attitude. It is simple as that.

Instead of I can’t, say I can. Instead of I don’t, say I do. Instead of I won’t, say I will.

 

==>5 Steps to Develop Positive Self Talk – With Examples<==

 

11. Imagine success and abundance

We are gifted with mental faculties of perception, reason, memory, imagination, will, and intuition. And we use them all the time, even when we are asleep.

Moreover, you can use your imagination with the intention, to build a vision of success and abundance every time your attitude starts to slip.

Visualization is a method with which you can shape your life any way you want it. All you have to do is relax, close your eyes, and daydream. Nothing special about it but it can change your life forever.

Imagination is a workshop of the mind, and it has miraculous possibilities if used right.

I used to clutter my imagination with worries and day to day problems. Sometimes I still do.

Then, I started to study a bit closely the power of our minds. I know for a fact that my imagination is going to bring to life anything I keep in it for a more extended period of time.

To have something in your reality, you don’t go and look for it outside. First, you have to be able to have it from inside. A wise man once said, “If you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand.”

I believe that all human beings are equal. We all have the same mental faculties, physical bodies, and souls. The only difference is how we use them.

For good or ill?

When life serves you problems, fears, and worries, you can close your eyes and speculate on your issue from all possible angles until you find a solution. Or you can just concentrate your imagination on something other than your problem.

 

==>Use Your Imagination Again – 5 Steps to Change Your Life<==

 

12. Eliminate laziness and procrastination

Have you ever seen a winner or a person with a positive attitude who is continuously procrastinating?

I have not. Because that person will never exist.

In the moments when positive attitude starts to get away, we tend to become lazy, and we reach for ways and means to procrastinate. Or we become lazy, and because of this, we lose the positive attitude.

Whatever it is, I believe that it is a regular thing.

However, a large percentage of people will submit themselves to the life of sloth. They will not try to fight it.

A negative attitude develops on the couch, in front of the TV, while staring at the mobile phone.

On the other hand, a person who is aware that these distractions are going to cost him or her his positive outlook on life will immediately start to fight it.

 

==>What Causes and How to Overcome Laziness and Procrastination<==

 

13. Introduce affirmations to your life

The affirmations are a great example of self-support and encouragement.

More and more people are starting to see value in the practice of affirmations. Some scientific studies have shown that affirmations can make us feel better almost instantly.

They can help to control our thoughts as well as the emotional state.

Because of our negative thinking heritage, it is easier to cry over things than to affirm something positive like “I am successful.” when you are actually not.

However, affirmation can help to create a mental picture of yourself succeeding even in tough times.

It is a known fact that our subconscious self-image is in control of our results in life. Therefore, by practicing positive affirmations, you can create success from within before expressing it in real life.

Overall, affirmations are a fantastic way to maintain a positive attitude.

 

14. Try to meditate

Meditation and other deep breathing exercises are proven to help the brain to focus on one thing only, which is breath.

In times of stress, people forget to do the one thing which can take care of the problem almost instantly.

Deep breathing.

Meditation doesn’t have to necessarily represent you sitting in a lotus position and floating around the air. No. You can meditate anywhere during your day to day activities.

For example, if you ride the bus every day, you can close your eyes and take a deep breath then slowly exhale. Then, you can make another one and exhale again. There is nothing special about it.

The point of meditation is to keep your focus on maximum one thing at the time.

For most of the people, this is impossible because their mind will wander away as soon as the first distraction comes by. We live in an age of very short attention span, that is a fact. Facebook, Twitter, and all others have created a very short minded society.

However, meditation can be a great way to reverse the damage.

After time spent in practice, I have realized that not only I became able to focus on my breath and nothing else, but I was able to eliminate everything from my focus and become utterly mindful of the moment.

Problems, worries, and other narrow-minded pettiness disappeared from my mind, and from my life gradually thanks to meditation.

The more you practice meditation, you will find your attitude becoming more stronger, and your outlook will be more positive with each day.

Here is a great article on how to meditate for beginners posted on one of my favorite websites, zenhabits.net

 

Woman Meditating

 

15. Be proactive instead of reactive

In everyday life, you, I, and every other individual will encounter many situations which can cause our attitude to change.

When it comes to maintaining the positive attitude your ability to first, recognize the moment, and second, to push through the moment is what keeps you on the one or pushes you on another side.

You can let the situation control you. If you do, in many cases, the position will leave an effect on you which will be expressed with your reaction. In many adverse situations, this reaction is stress, anger, fear, disappointment.

However, you can proactively take control of the situation or create more desirable circumstances by taking immediate action instead of reacting on it after it happened. This behavior will result in a firm grip on your positive attitude.

Just go through some of the past experiences and recall how you have behaved.

Reactive or proactive?

 

16. Learn to deal with failure

Even if you are being proactive, which means you are taking control over the situation, failure will come at your way at one point or another.

Failure is nothing but a life’s lesson for the next time we encounter the same situation.

However, many people lose their positivity because they let the failure to enter their heads and hearts.

On the other hand, if you will let the failure to represent nothing else except a valuable lesson from which you can learn, you will notice an incredible shift in your attitude towards life.

Many successful people are where they are because they have learned how to deal with failure more effectively. They know it is nothing but a step forward. Therefore, they will use it to maintain, or ever reinforce their positive attitude. Certainly not the other way around.

 

17. Forgive yourself

We all make mistakes in life. No one is perfect or flawless.

Many things in life can affect your outlook. Some people might make you think and feel bad, or it can be you who is causing the damage. The truth is, most of the time it is us who are guilty of our negativity.

Your ability to forgive yourself then others as well, plays a significant part in the shape of your attitude.

Forgiveness is nothing except turning the negative situation into the positive one within your mind. The next step is completely letting it go.

For example, someone treated you in the wrong, unfair way. Keep in mind that it is their sin, and not yours. However, if you keep thinking about it, it will only make your life worse. The other person may just walk away intact.

Your task is to shut off the remembrance of the situation by shifting your mind on the thoughts of forgiveness.

This is how you can do it.

First, you forgive yourself for letting that person affect you. It happens, and it will happen if you don’t take control. Second, you overlook the person who mistreated you. Close your eyes and see him or her happy, healthy, and smiled, and then you see yourself as well. And the last thing, you just let it go and continue with your life.

Try this the next time it happens, and you will notice how you will walk away with your positive attitude still in place.

 

18. Don’t complain

“The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds, and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.” -Florence Scovel Shinn

Remember her words the next time you find yourself complaining about anything.

Our words do have the tremendous power to shape our lives in a good way if we use them right.

In the same way that affirmations, or prayer, or self-talk can make you think and feel good, complaining will do precisely the opposite.

Become conscious of your words. Use them wisely and for good, because sooner or later they will come back to you from one direction or another.

 

19. Laugh and search for fun

We all know that laughter is the best medicine, right?

To maintain a positive attitude make sure you frequently search for good laugh and fun because it will pay you off in dividends.

Hang out with friends who are positive all the time, search the internet for funny stuff, watch comedy movies, read jokes… There is a million and one thing you can do to keep your spirits up!

If you make this a habit, who knows, maybe you will develop a permanent positive attitude.

 

20. Be good to other people

How you treat other people will determine how you will be addressed.

Here, I can use the boomerangs saying one more time to paint a better picture. Always be prepared to receive exactly the same what you send out.

A small joke on someone else’s account can backfire and hit you in the face.

If you want to maintain a positive attitude make sure you will always be kind to other people. Because if you do they will be good for you as well. You can enter a neverending circle of goodness.

 

Man With Positive Attitude

 

The Importance of Having a Positive Attitude

Now I can go on and on only about health benefits of positive attitude without touching wealth, or happiness benefits.

People who possess a positive attitude are known to have much fewer health problems compared to the rest of the population. They are much more active. Their positive attitude affects the whole system of vital organs. Therefore, they are known to live much longer.

When I think about it, I believe that a positive attitude, a mind free of fear and worry, is the only recipe for long life.

Nevertheless, people who have a positive attitude are known to be very successful in business. Just for a comparison, let’s take two shoe salesman.

In one scenario you walk into a store to buy a pair of shoes. You are welcomed by a person with a frowned face, looking at you like “what the F*** you want.”

In the second one, a nice smiled, and radiant salesman or saleslady comes to greet you and give you an “at your service” look.

From which person would you buy shoes?

The person who takes the same attitude like our individual from the second example will go far in his business. No matter what you are selling, or what kind of service you are providing, your attitude towards the business will determine the size of the rewards at the end of the day.

A person who is confident and cheerful will have no troubles making friends and making people love him. People are naturally attracted to individuals with the right attitude.

If you have a positive attitude, but sometimes you have trouble to maintain it, I hope you found all the help you need within this post.

Keep your attitude right because your outlook will shape your life.

If you ever need a hand or have any questions, feel free to leave them below, and I will be more than happy to help you out.

All the best,

Ivan

yourpersonaldevelopment.org

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4 thoughts on “20 Ways to Maintain Positive Attitude Even When Life Sucks”

  1. Yep, I have always been a “glass is half full” person. I recently had a few very challenging issues, which made it very difficult for me to stay positive. All of your ideas to help keep a positive attitude are great! I used some of them, but now I am some more ammo to help! I know that sometimes life throws some challenges at us that do really test our positive outlook.

    Reply
  2. Hi
    I like your website very much. I red this page with all my attention and focus to learn and stay on track at this stage of my life. I am a health worker and sometimes the attitude of ill or handicap people affects my own inner feeling and I lose sometimes my enthusiastic toward life and even become negative from their way of looking at life. Therefore I need more to nurture my thoughts with positive stuff to keep up a good state of emotion. It is challenging for me not having a support just me and my work to stay positive in my daily life. But with the help of God prayer and discipline I manage to keep up fighting the good fight of life and serve others with a smile on my face.. thanks a lot for your efforts and very good luck

    Reply

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