Stay Positive in 2021 – 11 Steps to Optimism

2021 was supposed to be one of the peak years of your life, full of evolving technology, human connection, and fun.

Instead, you’re probably holed up in your house waiting for the pandemic to blow over.

The year of ‘you’ became the year of no one.

It’s no surprise that emotions are running high because of the pandemic, and anxiety is on a whole new spectrum. After all, how can one not be negative in the face of this world-changing problem?

But you can! There is always hope at the end of the tunnel, and you just have to keep moving forward to reach it.

Confused about how to do that? Don’t worry! This blog is here to tell you 11 easy-to-follow steps that can put you right back on your path to optimism and success.

And if you’re wondering why you should stay positive, we’ve got your back there, too. So, relax and read on!

Why is staying positive so important?

Staying positive in your day-to-day life is one of the biggest decisions you can make because it changes your way of seeing the world. With that mindset, you start reacting to the world differently.

It’s a way to change your perspective and look for the good rather than the bad. In fact, there are a few tangible benefits that you’d surely like to know, so here you go!

• Stress Management becomes easier.
• You can overcome negative emotions more easily.
• You will have better mental health.
• You can more easily manage your life without feeling like it’s all too much.

How to stay positive in ‘11 Steps’?

There are countless ways you can try to change your way of looking at the world and start being positive.

Here are a few, fashioned into 11 easy steps:

1.     Start your day the positive way

Starting the day is always hard, whether it’s because the air’s too cold and you don’t want to get out of your bed, or dark thoughts are inching into your mind…, and you don’t want to leave your bed.

Either way, how you start the day often sets the vein for how you spend the rest of the day.

If you start grumpy, you’ll probably stay grumpy. However, if you start happy, you’ll enjoy the day in ways ‘grumpy you’ never could.

So, when you jump out of bed, indulge in half an hour of meditation, listen to your favorite playlist, or just do a bit of exercise – anything to make you smile!

2.     Create a Positive Environment

Where and how you spend time contributes more to your mental health than you know. So, creating a positive environment is a way for you to start being optimistic.

Here are a few possible ways you can make that environment for yourself:

• Search out the positive people in your life and make them your anchors.
• Remove the negative, stress-inducing aspects from your daily contact (be it the television, the internet, or acquaintances who only make you think negatively).
• Instead of using the over-saturated social media, socialize personally, with fun group chats and facetiming.

3.     Humor, Humor, Humor

Humor is one of the easiest ways to blow off steam. When you start to have fun, you relax and stop thinking about the bad parts of your life. Instead, you just think about the good and the fun.

This mixture of humor and comedy is the perfect antitheses to negativity. It expels pessimism and, in doing so, invites in optimism.

4.     Focus on Your Body

This is probably the most obvious step. Similarly, it’s also one of the most important.

Having a strong, healthy body helps you think more clearly and positively. So, eat healthily and exercise, because helping your body is the first step to helping yourself.

5.     Slow Down and Take a Deep Breath

Better? Good.

Going too fast builds up stress and negative emotions that eat away at you. So, whenever you’re feeling like the world is spinning much too fast, or you don’t have control, stop! Relax! Give yourself a break, just for a few seconds.

Breath in!

And then, breath it back out!

6.     Think solutions, not problems

It’s hard to concentrate when you seem to be bogged down with countless issues.

But that’s exactly where you should concentrate.

Don’t think of the consequences, the problems, or the pain. Instead, think of how to solve the issues.

Practice step 5 and look at things with a new perspective rather than just worrying that these problems exist.

7.     Positive Self-Talk

Whenever your mind whispers that you’re not good enough, or jumps into a spiral of negativity, tell it no.

Find an answer to why your mind thinks that way, and change your thoughts to something good, something nice.

Don’t let your fears hold you back – tell yourself you can overcome them.

8.     Do Good

What you give to others, you tend to receive back. In helping them out by adding value and positivity to their lives, you end up helping yourself.

Not only do most recipients of your kindness give back more than they have received, but you also experience the awe and satisfaction that comes with knowing that you have helped someone live another day.

9.     Be Grateful

With gratitude comes appreciation and love for what you have. When you are grateful for your existence, everything others do for you, and all you have, it’s almost impossible to be negative.

Instead, you see colors and light and good. You see the truth, and nothing can push your gratitude down.

Say thank you and focus on what you have rather than what you lack.

10.    Be mindful

These days, everyone is in a rush. But as we have already discussed, we need to slow down because that is the only way we can destress and appreciate the world around us.

Slowing down, living in the moment, and loving who we are truly are the tenets of mindfulness, and that is the very basis of positivity.

So, pause! Think about what you’re doing and why you spend so much effort on it. Let go of perfection and accept yourself for yourself.

11.     Don’t Give Up

Finally, step 11!

It’s easy to say you shouldn’t give up, but everyone knows how hard it is. And yet, we persevere because there is always hope if you choose to look for it.

Look for the hope in your life, the good in your day, and do not let go.

Conclusion

The world can be determined to bring you down, but if you think positive, live positive, and love the life you are building, then even the greatest weapons the world thrown at you can’t bring you down.

Choose yourself and your health and be mindful – take it one day at a time because that’s how you will survive 2021.

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