Maintaining a Positive Attitude

Maintaining a positive attitude is not always easy, and it is likely not always possible. Happiness, like sadness, is a basic human emotion present in everyday life. Seeking to eliminate sadness completely from one's life is a fairly hopeless endeavor. Nonetheless, it is possible to maintain a positive attitude through tough times.

Instructions

• 1

  Take time out in a quiet space and write down a list of major things that make you happy, sad or angry. These "things" could be relationships, a job or lack thereof, the weather or anything else that comes to mind. The point is to brainstorm and figure out what your major triggers are. Maintaining a positive attitude first requires feeling in control of one's circumstances. Such control and confidence help you to minimize the likelihood that you will be in situations that may make you feel sad. Thus, it is imperative that you know exactly what makes you happy, sad or angry as a means for later determining the type of situations you prefer to be in.

• 2

  Learn about the nature of happiness. A wealth of information on happiness based on sound science can help you maintain a positive attitude by teaching you about the nature of happiness and how a human being is most likely to achieve it. According to happiness scientist Ed Diener, happiness tends to be multifaceted, but there are general principles about it that can be applied to real life. For example, humans need relationships to be happy, particularly deep, meaningful relationships. They also enjoy nature and taking on new experiences. Thus, a trip abroad with a close friend could do wonders for helping you maintain a positive attitude about life.

• 3

  Devise a plan to maximize your daily productivity in accordance with the things you find most important. Productivity maximization is used by many "lifestyle gurus" and basically seeks to increase the number of positive things you are able to do in your life per unit time. Timothy Ferriss, the author of the "4-Hour Work Week," suggests a person permanently limit the number of times per week that he checks his e-mail. Such steps can help limit the interference of outside "noise" in one's daily schedule. As a result, you will achieve more things that you want and feel better about your life. He also suggests ending one's work day at a particular time. If you find yourself working too late into the night, and it is making you miserable, you should plan new ways to finish your work earlier to ensure yourself personal time at night, starting at a specific time (such as 10 p.m.).

• 4

  Keep a long-term perspective on things. You need to truly believe that the sad times will pass, the good times are worth appreciating sincerely and ultimately everything will be OK. The famous aphorism that "time heals all wounds" is worth remembering, and can help you maintain a positive attitude through the toughest times. One technique worth using in a tough situation is repeating useful advice to yourself out loud. Say "everything is OK" enough times, and you will literally start to believe it. This is called the "positive affirmation" technique.