10 Ways To Trigger Positive Emotions
Manifesting Positive Emotions In Your Life
People who are positive generally live much more fulfilled lives than those who are pessimistic.
But being positive isn’t a;ways as easy as it sounds.
It can actually be incredibly difficult, especially when we are faced with challenges, stress and disappointment.
Here are 10 concrete ways to trigger positive emotions in your daily life.
1. Reframe Your Negative Goals
You focus, emotionally, on the way you frame your goals.
If you want to “lose weight” you will focus on being “overweight”, this
negative perspective creates negative emotions which are highly
un-motivational.
But, if you focus on “living a healthy lifestyle” you feel optimistic as
your goal is framed in the positive.
This technique works because we visualize what we say.
If
you visualize “lose weight” you imagine being “over-weight” which has
negative emotional associations attached to it.
“One moment the world is as it is.
The next, it is something entirely different.
Something it has never been before.” ― Anne Rice, Pandora
Related: Positive Affirmations
2. Turn Up The Beats
Loud, upbeat music is a state changer.
If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, turn on and turn up the beat
and you will automatically start to feel good.
To increase your motivation and positivity, dance like no-one is watching.
When you dance you change your physiology and your physiology changes your
state.
Tip – Have a play list of upbeat tunes ready for those afternoon meetings
that get you down.
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
3. Three Step Goals
Your mind can only think about a few things at any one time.
Goals with hundreds of steps/actions creates the feeling of suffocation.
To
stop feeling overwhelmed chunk these actions into 3 -5 manageable steps.
Each time you complete a step tick this step off and feel the rush of
positively through your body.
We are highly motivated as we see ourselves
moving forward.
With big goals, break these down into 3 smaller goals, each goal with 3
steps.
“Everybody has their own Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.” – Seth Godin
4. Flirt with your Reflection
Stand in front of a mirror and have a flirt with yourself.
List all the nice, sexy, interesting things about yourself.
Don’t be shy,
and state the wonderful personality traits that you have, list your values
and remind yourself of all the complements you received last week.
Don’t question these, just state them and say them out loud.
“People often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing you are the beholder.” – Salma Hayek
5. Laughter Therapy
Laugh each day for 5- 10 minutes.
When we laugh our facial expressions and physiology changes and this
external change, changes your internal your state.
Even a forced laugh makes you feel better.
Listening to others laugh also
works well as a state changer which is why comedy shows use canned
laughter.
Laughter is a positive emotion the more you laugh the more positive you
become.
Laughter can even change your perspective of a situation.
“I love people who make me laugh.
I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh.
It cures a multitude of ills.
It’s probably the most important thing in a person.” ― Audrey Hepburn
6. Challenge Your Beliefs
You are what you believe.
If you truly believe something negative about yourself you will find
evidence to back up this belief; if you believe you are rubbish at your job
you will remember every mistake you make and forget all the task you
successfully completed
Challenge these beliefs by questioning them; what did I do well?
What
positive things did my manager say in my work appraisal?
What are my key skills?
Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” – Henry David Thoreau
7. Exercise The Stress
Exercise is a great stress booster.
The more you exercise the better you will feel
Not only does exercise change your physiology, make you healthier, it uses
the built up stress as energy.
Exercise your body and you exercise your mind.
Exercise is also a form of
physical mediation.
Without the stresses of your daily task bothering you,
you are free to let your thoughts wonder, often finding solutions to
problems (a lightbulb moment) without having to think about them.
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” – Joseph Addison
8. Positive Perspective
Your mood changes your perspective.
When asked a question, challenged or simply involved in a conversation,
your positive or negative emotional state effects how you interpret the
communication, this perspective of a situation would vary depending on your
mood.
If you change your mood you will change your perspective.
You can break
your current state by moving, listening to music, relaxing or taking deep
breaths.
Also, try to look at a situation from other people’s point of view, as
gaining an insight on their perspective changes the perceived premise of
the communication.
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” ― Edith Wharton
9. Positive Affirmations
Write 5 positive affirmations; these can’t be any old rubbish, or stolen
affirmations of the internet.
To make affirmations work for you, to
increase positivity, you have to write affirmations that mean something to
you, they have to be record in a positive frame and most importantly
aligned to your personal values.
Repeat these 5 personal affirmations to yourself at least once a day in a
loud confident voice.
“You will be a failure, until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success.
This is done by making an affirmation which ‘clicks.'” – Florence Scovel Shinn
10. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
If your glass is half empty fill it up.
To be positive you need to take the “half full” glass of water perspective.
In every situation look for the positives, the learning curve and take the
optimistic viewpoint.
Soon this conscious behaviour will become an ingrained habit helping you to
naturally be more positive.
“There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
