13 Ways To Become An Optimist

So you want to become an optimist and for a good reason too. When you are optimistic, your whole life changes for the better.

Thinking positive has a whole list of benefits, such as better sleep and better wellbeing.

When you’re an optimistic person, it doesn’t mean you forget about your problems; it means that you don’t let negative thoughts or feelings get to you.

Having a positive mindset can keep you healthier, elevate your mood, and you’ll be grateful for all the good things in your life.

You’ll want to try these 13 ways to become an optimist.

We often hold ourselves back, and our negative thoughts about ourselves hamper our happiness and beliefs. Most of us think it’s external things causing our problems, which is possible, but a lot of it has to do with how we feel about ourselves.

Most of our days are filled with negative thoughts and negative messages, and sometimes we’re not even aware of them.

We continue to convince ourselves that we’re “not good enough,” “not attractive enough,” or “not smart enough.” Change these messages to more positive ones such as, “I am good enough” and “I am smart enough.”

You need to change these negative thoughts and think positively. Easier said than done, I know. It takes practice, but once you get into the habit of thinking something positive to every negative thought you have, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an optimist.

To help you, check out our list of positive affirmations, see this list of positive mantras, and write some down to remember when you have negative thoughts.

Most people are happy and more comfortable acknowledging others’ success and accomplishments, but we tend to ignore or downplay them when it comes to our success.

Often, we feel that events in our lives determine our happiness, but it’s how we interpret or react to those events in actuality.

You may not always be able to change events, but you can choose to change your response to them.

When a negative situation happens, instead of focusing on the negative, change your response and make it a valid point to focus on the positives.

What you are going through may give you more inner strength and resilience for your future. Talk to a loved one about it as they may have a different perspective on the situation than you.

Focus on what you have learned from the experience rather than what you’ve lost, and as your confidence grows, you’ll be more adept at handling things in a positive way going forward.

Role models are good ways to help you become an optimist as they’ll influence you to be positive.  

Whether you have a celebrity you admire, a close friend, or a family member, you can see how positive and optimistic they are and learn from them.

Find the happiest, cheerful and determined person you can.

Imagine walking in their shoes. Anytime you have negative thoughts run through your mind or a problematic situation arises, think about what your positive role model would do and how they would handle things.

Once you’ve thought about it and answered honestly, follow through with positive action. You’re well on your way to becoming an optimist.

As I’ve said many times before, limit your interactions with negative people as much as possible as they will drain and bring you down.

Negative people constantly see the bad in every situation, and they are sure to make you feel negative too continually.

To keep feeling optimistic, find positive, uplifting people to surround yourself with to help you see the positive and good in life situations.

Limit your use of social media, and only listen to or watch movies and tv that positively influence your life.  

Your state of mind will thank you as you feel optimistic and positive.

Your fears, your doubts, and low self-esteem often bring on negative thinking. It would be best if you constantly challenged your negative thoughts to overcome them.

When negative thoughts arise in your mind, write down what you feel. Next, write down arguments against these thoughts as well as for them.

Is there evidence of these thoughts being true? What about not true?  

Keep challenging yourself and find positive answers until you learn to reframe your thought patterns.

You can reframe your thought process if you seek out a therapist and do cognitive behavioral therapy exercises. CBT, for short, is a fantastic tool that will help you see things differently.

The power to change your thinking is in your hands. You can accept what you believe or challenge your thoughts and choose to think differently.

Optimists view situations as an isolated event while pessimists lookout for patterns of bad things and often think, “it happened once, it’s gonna happen again.”

You can’t predict the future based on what happened in the past as there is always a different outcome.

If you have a failed relationship doesn’t make you a failure. It simply means the relationship wasn’t meant to be, and you’ve learned something for the future.  

When a plan doesn’t work as you expected, it doesn’t mean all your plans will fall apart. Pick up where you left off and draw a new path and keep moving forward.

Living in the present moment will give you peace of mind and less stress.

The past is the past, and anything that happened there, you can’t change it or how you reacted.

There is no sense in blaming yourself or others either; move on.

Often you might say to yourself, “I should have done things differently.” Learn from what happened and make a conscious effort to do things differently in the future.

Remember, tomorrow is a new day, a fantastic new day where you are alive! Good things happen all the time; focus on them, the present, and here and now.

You will be less stressed and more optimistic.

Many times we put our focus on the negative things that happen and rarely focus on the positives.

For example, your car didn’t start this morning, or maybe your alarm clock didn’t go off when it was supposed to.

When these things happen, it sucks, but what about all the times your car did start? How long has your alarm been going off at the correct time?

Instead of focusing on the negative things, change your focus to positive thinking. Make a conscious effort to reflect on all that goes right.

At the end of each day, write in your gratitude journal and list all the things that went right, and you are grateful for today.

Try to be more specific than just writing, “I’m thankful for my car.” Write down why you are grateful for it. An example would be, “I’m thankful for my car because it helps get me to work, shopping, and see my friends.”

Often, we may be tempted to concentrate on our problems, bad things that happen, or disappointments.

Situations don’t always seem fair, and you may feel wrong or bad about them, but what happened, happened.

Don’t reflect on what could have been; get rid of those negative thoughts.

An optimist looks for solutions to a problem and moves forward.

Be proactive, live with intention, and find solutions to what happened.

When you and your body feel good, it’s easy to become an optimist and be positive. It would help if you changed your lifestyle to be all you can be.

There are many habits in which bring on pessimistic, negative attitudes.

Factors that deplete your energy are lack of sleep, too little exercise, and poor eating habits.

If all you consume is sugary products and processed foods, you may feel an initial energy high but soon crash into feeling crabby.

Strive to have healthier eating habits, get more sleep and rest, exercise more, and manage your stress levels.

Making the necessary changes to your lifestyle will help you have better performance, increased mental ability, and optimal mental focus.

What are the unproductive habits keeping you from succeeding or meeting your goals?

Is it negative people in your life? Maybe an overly busy to-do list? What obstacles or distractions keep getting in the way of becoming an optimist?

Making steady progress is key to achieving optimism, and it means you have to limit all distractions.

Get your priorities done first and find ways to avoid temptations. If you go online when you’re bored, restrain yourself and don’t go online. Let your friends’ calls go to voicemail if you have a hard time saying, “I’m busy.”

When you succeed, it keeps you optimistic.

When someone else is cheering us on and encouraging us, we are more confident in ourselves and have better performance.

We don’t always have someone to help us, so you need to help reinforce optimistic traits by creating a coach in your mind.

Being a successful person means being self-aware and accountable to yourself.

I know you are now well on your way to becoming and optimist. I wish you much luck and happiness. Stay the course and keep at it, don’t give up, before long you will have an optimistic attitude.