thinking positive essay

Essay on Positive Thinking

Positive thinking refers to a belief or mental attitude which makes us think that good things will happen eventually and our efforts will pay off sooner or later. It is the opposite of negative thinking which makes our mind full of stress and fear. Thus, an essay on positive thinking will show us how it reinforces thoughts like optimism and hope and works wonders.

Benefits of Positive Thinking

Let it be clear that positive thinking does not mean you do not notice the bad things in life. It means you try to find a solution in a productive way instead of whining about it. There are many benefits of positive thinking.

The first one is better health. Negative thinking gives rise to anxiety, stress, frustration and more. However, positive thinking helps you avoid all this and focus on staying healthy and doing better in life.

Further, it is essential for us to fight depression which positive thinking helps with. Similarly, it will also help us to relieve stress. Positive thinking overwhelms stress and it will allow you to get rid of stress.

As a result, positive thinking helps you live longer. It is because you will be free from diseases that form due to stress, anxiety and more. Moreover, it is also the key to success. Meaning to say, success becomes easier when you don’t bash yourself up.

Similarly, it also gives us more confidence. It boosts our self-esteem and helps in becoming more confident and self-assured. Therefore, we must certainly adopt positive thinking to make the most of our lives.

How to Build a Positive Thinking

There are many ways through which we can build positive thinking. To begin with, we must inculcate the habit of reading motivational and inspiring stories of people who are successful.

All this will help in motivating and inspiring you and showing you the right path. Moreover, it is important to never let negative thoughts thrive in your mind and work towards putting end to this habit.

You can do so by replacing your negative thoughts with constructive and positive reviews. Start to pay attention to your ideas and don’t pay heed to negative thoughts. Further, it is helpful to use affirmations.

These positive statements will truly sink into your subconscious mind and guide you to take better action. It will also help in visualising your dreams and getting the right means to achieve them fast.

Finally, always stay guard and gatekeep your mind to make important changes in life. In other words, do not be afraid to take actions. Keep yourself busy and do different things to avoid becoming cynical and remaining positive.

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Conclusion of the Essay on Positive Thinking

To conclude, we must change our attitude and believe that we will succeed one day. Moreover, we also need to implement positive thinking techniques which will help us learn from our failures and stay focused. As positive thinking plays an essential role in our lives, we must make sure to adopt in our lives.

FAQ of Essay on Positive Thinking

Question 1: What is positive thinking?

Answer 1: Positive thinking is basically an optimistic attitude. In other words, it is the practice of focusing on the good in any given situation. This kind of thinking can have a big impact on your physical and mental health .

Question 2: Why is positive thinking important?

Answer 2: Positive thinking is important as it helps us with stress management and can even improve our health. Moreover, some studies show that personality traits like optimism can affect many areas of our health and well-being. Thus, positive thinking comes with optimism

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Essay on Positive Thinking – 10 Lines, 100 to 1500 Words

Essay on Positive Thinking: Positive thinking is a powerful tool that can transform our lives and shape our reality. In this essay, we will explore the benefits of adopting a positive mindset and how it can lead to greater happiness, success, and overall well-being. By focusing on the good in every situation and maintaining an optimistic outlook, we can overcome challenges, attract positive outcomes, and live a more fulfilling life. Join us as we delve into the power of positive thinking and its impact on our mental, emotional, and physical health.

Table of Contents

Positive Thinking Essay Writing Tips

1. Start by defining positive thinking and explaining its importance in daily life. Positive thinking is the practice of focusing on the good in any given situation and maintaining a hopeful and optimistic outlook. It can help improve mental and physical health, enhance relationships, and increase overall happiness.

2. Discuss the benefits of positive thinking. Positive thinking can lead to increased resilience, better problem-solving skills, reduced stress levels, and improved self-esteem. It can also help individuals attract more positive experiences and opportunities into their lives.

3. Share personal anecdotes or examples of how positive thinking has made a difference in your own life or the lives of others. This can help make your essay more relatable and engaging for readers.

4. Provide tips and strategies for cultivating a positive mindset. This may include practicing gratitude, reframing negative thoughts, surrounding yourself with positive influences, and engaging in activities that bring you joy and fulfillment.

5. Address common obstacles to positive thinking, such as negative self-talk, fear of failure, and external stressors. Offer suggestions for overcoming these challenges and maintaining a positive outlook in the face of adversity.

6. Discuss the connection between positive thinking and mental health. Research has shown that positive thinking can help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, improve overall well-being, and enhance coping mechanisms during difficult times.

7. Emphasize the importance of self-care and self-compassion in fostering a positive mindset. Encourage readers to prioritize their mental and emotional well-being by practicing mindfulness, setting boundaries, and seeking support when needed.

8. Conclude your essay by summarizing the key points and reinforcing the importance of positive thinking in leading a fulfilling and meaningful life. Encourage readers to embrace a positive mindset and approach challenges with optimism and resilience.

By following these writing tips and incorporating personal experiences and research-backed information, you can create a compelling and informative essay on the power of positive thinking. Remember to keep your writing clear, concise, and engaging to captivate your audience and leave a lasting impact.

Essay on Positive Thinking in 10 Lines – Examples

1. Positive thinking is a mindset that focuses on the good in every situation. 2. It involves looking for the silver lining and finding the opportunities for growth and learning. 3. Positive thinking can improve mental and physical health by reducing stress and increasing resilience. 4. It can also enhance relationships by fostering a more optimistic and hopeful outlook. 5. Positive thinking can lead to increased motivation and productivity, as well as a greater sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. 6. It helps to create a more positive and optimistic atmosphere, both internally and externally. 7. Positive thinking can help to overcome challenges and obstacles by approaching them with a can-do attitude. 8. It can lead to a more proactive and solution-focused approach to problem-solving. 9. Positive thinking can increase self-confidence and self-esteem by focusing on strengths and achievements. 10. Overall, positive thinking can lead to a happier and more fulfilling life.

Sample Essay on Positive Thinking in 100-180 Words

Positive thinking is a powerful tool that can greatly impact our lives. When we choose to focus on the good in any situation, we are able to approach challenges with a sense of optimism and resilience. This mindset allows us to see opportunities where others may only see obstacles, and helps us to overcome setbacks with grace and determination.

Positive thinking also has a profound effect on our mental and physical well-being. Studies have shown that individuals who maintain a positive outlook on life are more likely to experience lower levels of stress, better overall health, and increased longevity. By cultivating a positive mindset, we are able to attract more positivity into our lives and create a ripple effect of happiness and success.

In conclusion, positive thinking is a key ingredient to living a fulfilling and joyful life. By choosing to see the good in every situation and maintaining a hopeful attitude, we can overcome challenges, improve our health, and attract more positivity into our lives.

Short Essay on Positive Thinking in 200-500 Words

Positive thinking is a powerful tool that can greatly impact our lives and the way we perceive the world around us. It is the practice of focusing on the good in any situation and maintaining a hopeful and optimistic outlook. This mindset can lead to improved mental and physical health, better relationships, and overall happiness.

One of the key benefits of positive thinking is its ability to reduce stress and anxiety. When we approach challenges with a positive attitude, we are better equipped to handle them with grace and resilience. Instead of dwelling on the negative aspects of a situation, we can shift our focus to finding solutions and opportunities for growth. This can help us to feel more in control of our lives and less overwhelmed by the pressures we face.

Positive thinking also has a profound impact on our physical health. Research has shown that individuals who maintain a positive outlook are more likely to have lower levels of stress hormones, reduced inflammation, and stronger immune systems. This can lead to a decreased risk of developing chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and depression. By cultivating a positive mindset, we can improve our overall well-being and increase our longevity.

In addition to its effects on stress and health, positive thinking can also enhance our relationships with others. When we approach interactions with a positive attitude, we are more likely to be kind, empathetic, and understanding. This can lead to stronger connections with friends, family, and colleagues, as well as improved communication and conflict resolution skills. By fostering a positive environment in our relationships, we can create a support system that helps us navigate life’s challenges with greater ease.

Furthermore, positive thinking can contribute to our overall happiness and sense of fulfillment. By focusing on the good in our lives and maintaining a hopeful outlook, we can increase our feelings of gratitude and contentment. This can lead to a greater sense of purpose and satisfaction, as well as a more positive self-image. When we believe in our abilities and approach life with optimism, we are more likely to achieve our goals and fulfill our potential.

In conclusion, positive thinking is a powerful tool that can transform our lives in countless ways. By maintaining a hopeful and optimistic outlook, we can reduce stress, improve our health, enhance our relationships, and increase our overall happiness. By cultivating a positive mindset, we can create a more fulfilling and meaningful life for ourselves and those around us.

Essay on Positive Thinking in 1000-1500 Words

Positive thinking is a powerful tool that can transform our lives and help us achieve our goals. It is the practice of focusing on the good in any situation and expecting positive outcomes. Positive thinking can have a profound impact on our mental and physical well-being, as well as our relationships and overall success in life.

One of the key benefits of positive thinking is its ability to reduce stress and anxiety. When we approach challenges with a positive mindset, we are better able to cope with difficult situations and find solutions to problems. This can help us avoid the negative effects of stress, such as high blood pressure, insomnia, and depression. By maintaining a positive outlook, we can improve our mental health and overall quality of life.

Positive thinking can also improve our physical health. Research has shown that people who have a positive attitude tend to have stronger immune systems and are less likely to develop chronic illnesses. By focusing on the good in our lives, we can boost our immune function and protect ourselves from the harmful effects of stress. In addition, positive thinking can help us adopt healthier habits, such as exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet, which can further improve our physical well-being.

Furthermore, positive thinking can enhance our relationships with others. When we approach interactions with a positive attitude, we are more likely to attract like-minded individuals and build strong connections with those around us. By radiating positivity, we can inspire and uplift others, creating a supportive and harmonious environment. This can lead to deeper and more fulfilling relationships, both personally and professionally.

In terms of success, positive thinking can be a powerful motivator. When we believe in ourselves and our abilities, we are more likely to take risks and pursue our goals with confidence. This can lead to greater achievements and a sense of fulfillment in our endeavors. By maintaining a positive mindset, we can overcome obstacles and setbacks with resilience and determination, ultimately reaching our full potential.

One of the key principles of positive thinking is the law of attraction, which states that like attracts like. By focusing on positive thoughts and emotions, we can attract positive outcomes and experiences into our lives. This can manifest in various ways, such as opportunities presenting themselves, relationships flourishing, and goals being achieved. By harnessing the power of the law of attraction through positive thinking, we can create the life we desire and deserve.

In order to cultivate a positive mindset, it is important to practice self-awareness and mindfulness. By being mindful of our thoughts and emotions, we can identify negative patterns and replace them with positive affirmations. This can involve reframing negative beliefs, practicing gratitude, and visualizing success. By consistently engaging in these practices, we can rewire our brains to think positively and create a more optimistic outlook on life.

It is also important to surround ourselves with positive influences and support systems. By surrounding ourselves with uplifting and encouraging individuals, we can maintain a positive mindset and stay motivated to achieve our goals. This can involve seeking out mentors, joining supportive communities, and engaging in activities that bring us joy and fulfillment. By building a strong network of positive influences, we can create a foundation for success and happiness in our lives.

In conclusion, positive thinking is a powerful tool that can transform our lives in numerous ways. By adopting a positive mindset, we can reduce stress and anxiety, improve our physical health, enhance our relationships, and achieve greater success. Through self-awareness, mindfulness, and the law of attraction, we can cultivate a positive outlook on life and create the reality we desire. By embracing the power of positive thinking, we can unlock our full potential and live a fulfilling and purposeful life.

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Essay on Positive Thinking | Short and Long Essays on Positive Thinking for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay on Positive Thinking: Positive thinking is a belief, a mental attitude that admits into the mind thoughts, words and images that good things will happen and that one’s efforts will be crowned with success. Positive thinking is opposed to negative thinking which harbours the mind through thoughts on apprehensiveness, fearfulness, and unsure of success in efforts.

Positive thinking is reinforced by thoughts such as optimism, hope, and belief that hard work is never wasted. A positive mind anticipates happiness, health,  joy, and a successful outcome of every situation and action and works wonders like magic.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

The Essay on positive thinking throws light on the power of positivity that helps individuals create and transform energy into reality. Besides, the article on positive thinking is broken into multiple essays of varying word count to help you prepare during events and even organise a small paragraph or speech on positive thinking.

Very Short Essay on Positive Thinking 150 Words

Positive thinking is a reflexive attitude developed or imbibed overtime that pushes you to expect fair and desired results. The power of positivity is to create, reinforce, and transform energy into reality with the mindset to seek a healthy and happy ending regardless of the situation.

Positive thinking leads an individual to success as they develop an attitude that helps them think that they can achieve the things and not be fettered by the problems that cross paths with success. Positive thinking is achieved through determination, perseverance, self-confidence, and hard work.

Positivity plays a significant role, and many prosperous people have achieved through reinforcing positive thinking in both their personal and professional lives. Thus, in challenging situations, people seek some light that leads them to positive thinking.

Positive thinking evokes more energy, leading to determination and hard work, ultimately translating to success. It would be best to remember that nothing gears up people to make wholehearted efforts to perform some task as positive thinking.

Short Essay on Positive Thinking 200 Words in English

Positive thinking is an optimistic attitude that helps individuals practice good things in any given situation. Positive thinking holds a significant impact on a person’s mental, emotional, and physical health.

Positive thinking does not mean you ignore reality or take light of the unresolved problems. It merely means that you approach the good and the bad situations in life with the expectation that things will fall into place.

Several studies have looked at positivism’s role, leading to optimism in an individual’s mental and physical health. Positive thinking holds multiple physical health benefits like better physical health, better stress management, longer life span, better pain tolerance, more excellent resistance to illness such as the common cold, lower chance of having a heart attack, and lower blood pressure.

Positive thinking harbours multiple mental health benefits such as better mood, less depression, more creativity, clearer thinking, better coping skills, and incredible problem-solving skill.

Studies have stated that people with a positive and optimistic outlook may be more likely to lead and live a healthy lifestyle since they hold a more optimistic view of the future. To wage a better world, human beings can choose to become better than they are now. Thus, positive thinking must start with ourselves.

Long Essay on Positive Thinking 250 Words in English

Introduction to Positive Thinking Essay: Positive thinking is an emotional and mental attitude that remains concerned with a bright and acceptable part of life focused on expecting positive thoughts from life. Positive thinking leads to happiness, healthy life, and ultimately success. A positive person can overcome any obstacle that might occur in a certain period of difficulty during a lifetime.

Positive thinking helps you expect good and favourable results; that is, positive thinking is the process of creating thoughts that creates and transforms energy into reality. A positive mind waits for happiness, health and a happy ending in any situation.

How to Apply Positive Thinking?

• Use positive words while talking
• Make use of words that evoke strength and success
• Redirect your thoughts
• Remove all the feelings that are not positive and focus on positive thoughts
• Practice positive affirmations
• Start thinking that you will succeed in meeting the objectives
• Forgive yourself and allow yourself to move on
• Analyse what went wrong to avoid future mistakes and look forward to more positive
• Working at your visualisation or imagination to build more positivity and motivation
• Think of failure as an opportunity
• Practice gratitude to reduce stress, improve self-esteem, and foster resilience during difficult times
• Practice self-talk and be mindful of the voice in your head and respond with positive messages

Conclusion on Positive Thinking Essay

In conclusion, you need to change our attitude and believe that we are going to succeed. You need to implement positive thinking techniques that help you learn from your failures, stay focused, forgive yourself, and make positive friends and mentors. Positive thinking can play a significant role in every individual’s life.

Long Essay on Positive Thinking 400 Words

Introduction to Positive Thinking Essay: Positive thinking is an attitude that helps a person highlight the brighter side of their life and helps to lead a healthy and happy life. Positive thinking brings an immense amount of satisfaction and leads to a healthy mindset. Positive thinking helps students overcome their obstacles and makes them healthy, determinant, and self-independent people. Positive thinking enhances energy, helps people have an open mind, keeps them happy, and attain success with confidence. A positive person spreads positivity and sorts out the negative thoughts and helps them relax and stay calm.

How to Build a Positive Attitude?

• People should inculcate the habit of reading motivational and inspiring stories of people who achieved success. These stories will motivate and inspire you and show you the steps they undertook to achieve success and implement those steps in your life.
• Do not allow your negative thoughts to thrive in your mind and work towards putting an end to this habit. Always stay on guard and replace your negative thoughts with constructive, positive reviews. Start paying attention to your ideas and replace the negative thoughts with productive, happy and positive thoughts.
• Make use of affirmations as these positive statements will sink into your subconscious mind, which in succession will guide, inspire, and motivate you to take action. The use of affirmations applies to visualisation, creating mental scenarios of what you want to hold and what to want to achieve.
• Finally, stay guard and play the role of the doorkeeper of your mind as it helps you make significant changes in your life. Do not be afraid to take action and do not remain passive in small matters and big ones. If you keep yourself busy by doing various things, there will be less likelihood of becoming cynical and hold a greater chance of remaining positive.

How to Remain Positive?

Try to remain positive during a profoundly distressing experience or grievance, and it’s essential to take the pressure off of yourself to find the silver lining. Instead, channel your energy into getting enough support from other people.

Positive thinking does not mean burying the negative thoughts experienced to avoid complicated feelings but to motivate oneself to move on and make positive changes. When facing hard times, comfort, and give yourself sound advice, acknowledge the feelings and remind yourself how strong you are to battle and get better.

You won’t undo the years of pessimism and negative thoughts overnight, but with practice, you can learn how to approach things with a more positive outlook and apply positivity through the ups and downs of life.

Very Long Essay on Positive Thinking 800 Words in English

Positive thinking is an emotional and mental attitude that helps individuals focus on the excellent aspect and expect results to benefit them. Positive thinking anticipates happiness, health, and determination, ultimately leading to success- practically, training oneself to adopt an abundance mindset and cultivate gratitude for one’s successes and those of others.

Positive thinking usually starts with self-talk as the process is a  never-ending stream of the unsaid point of view and can be either positive or negative. However, some of the self-talk can result from logic, while others can arise from misconceptions that can occur due to lack of information.

Negative thinking can cause depression and can supplement depression and other mental trauma. Negative thoughts can undermine an individual’s efforts to control depression. Thus, positive thinking is an approach that challenges the obstacles life throws at every individual with a positive attitude.

Benefits of Positive Thinking

There are several physical and mental health benefits offered by positive thinking, and every person would be amazed by how positivity can affect their health better.

Better Health: Positive thinking leads to better health. Refraining from negative thoughts like anxiety, stress, frustration, and worry can present you with a stronger immune system, thus relieving you from vulnerable and significant illnesses. Reinforcing positive thinking permits you to fight off whatever bug is going around. Studies have proven that those individuals who feel better, live together than those who do not.

Strengthens Immunity: Positive thinking can assist you a great deal in battling multiple ailments such as common colds and influenza. Negative thoughts can weaken your immune response. Medical research and studies have shown that negative thoughts can cause more significant electrical activity in a part of your mind that cuts the immune response.

Boost Confidence: Positive thinking can boost an individual’s confidence and is a crucial stigma that leads to self-confidence. Positive thoughts and behaviours leave individuals more confident and self-assured.

Fights Depression: It is proven that one of the most significant aspects of depression is pessimistic thinking. Studies have stated that any individual who changes their negatives into positive thoughts can start to fight depression and develop a way to elevate positive thinking.

Reduces Blood Pressure: Individuals suffering from high blood pressure and having a hard time to remain positive must start reviewing life and start with some positivity in life. Negative thoughts lead to high-stress levels and anxiety, leading to high blood pressure. Changing the negative thoughts into positive can significantly contribute to reducing your blood pressure.

Key to Success: It is the fact that it is positive thinking people are more probable to remain successful in life than negative thinking people. Individuals who implement positive thoughts in life aspects will notice that success becomes more manageable and is not severe as many people think.

How To Increase Positive Thinking?

Here are a few things that will help individuals increase positive thinking in life-

• Sleep: When an individual is tired, the brain cells can absorb glucose highly diminished and compensate for enough sleep. Individuals crave sugary snacks to reimburse for low glucose levels.
• Meditation: Studies state that people who meditate daily display more positive emotions than those who refrain from meditation. Meditation also builds valuable long–term skills such as increased mindfulness, purpose in life, social support, and decreased illness symptoms in individuals. Contemplation can also be replaced by writing and playing as it boosts self-confidence through positive thinking. These can help you fight the negative thoughts and remain positive throughout.
• Exercise: Exercising for as little as ten minutes releases a neurotransmitter GABA that soothes the brain and keeps the person in control of their impulses. If you have trouble resisting the impulse to walk to the office next door, insist and keep walking. It would be best if you have the urge under control by the time you get back.
• Forgiveness: A vicious cycle of failing to control oneself is often accompanied by the feeling of intense disgust and self-hatred in attempts at self-control resulting in offending behaviour. Forgiving yourself plays an important role and shifts your attention to what you’re going to do to improve yourself in the future.

Positive thinking is an emotional and mental attitude that focuses on a person’s determination, willingness, dealing with the brighter side of life, and positive results. People can achieve almost anything with a mind and allows a paradigm shift in the method of thinking. The negative thoughts and tragedies are a result of one’s own thinking and actions.

An individual with a positive mind can do many positive things and experience positive thoughts such as love, contentment, and joy removes all the obstacles. Positive thinking is a way of living life with comfort and is almost 99 percent effective. Positive thinking holds an intense impact on an individual’s health, offers them better career opportunities, and helps individuals build and develop better relationships.

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Concept and Importance of the Positive Thinking Essay

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• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Positive thinking refers to the act of directing one’s mind to constructive thoughts that deviate from negativity and that are characterized by hope and expectations for better things in life (Quilliam, 2008, p.21).

Its development involves constant practice and persistent efforts. Positive thinking is important in life because it helps manage and eradicate stress, gives more energy to carry out daily activities, improves relationships, creates peace of mind, fosters a healthy lifestyle and guarantees success (Farreer, 2004, p.18). In addition, it enhances personal happiness and fulfillment, gives hope of a better future and aids in time management and personal organization.

Positive thinking is vital in management and eradication of stress in life. This comes from the habit of looking and handling things positively. It enables a person concentrate on things that create a better life and enables an individual let go of situations that are either wearisome and distressing (Peale, 2012, p.32).

Stress comes from constant worry and frustration with life situations that do not serve a person’s purpose in life. Positive thinking leads to the realization that negative thinking creates more problems and complexities in life than are unnecessary. Positive thinkers are able to evaluate problems and come up with appropriate solutions while negative thinkers see problems and resign to fate because they consider them difficult and impossible to solve. Positivity keeps stress out of life and improves a person’s well being.

Positive thinking improves relationships by making it easier to connect with other people. People hate negative thinkers because they focus their energies on the wrongs of life and rarely recognize the good present, which if acted upon, can improve life in a great way. Positive thinking helps build deeper and better relationships that are founded on trust, great understanding and support (Peale, 2003, p.54).

In addition, this helps create a healthier lifestyle because being at peace with friends, family and society gives peace of mind that is important for a good life. It eradicates anxiety and fear because of the feeling of belonging and worth created by being at peace with every one (Peale, 2012, p.61). In addition, it creates a good mood that appeals and attracts others thus enhancing good relationships. Spending more time with positive people is important in creating better relationships.

Good time management and organization is a direct result of positive thinking (Peiffer, 2002, p.77 ) . The inward organization of thoughts reflects the outward organization of a person’s life. As such, if a person organizes his thoughts through positive thinking, then he is able to organize other aspects of life. This organization improves efficiency and leads to good time management. A positive thinker has no time to waste because all activities are planned based on time allocated for those specific activities. Good time management can be achieved through prioritizing and focusing on the most important things.

Life situations are complex and demanding. Therefore, energy is a requisite for effectiveness and high productivity. Positive thinking avails more energy to carry out life activities because it reduces fatigue that is caused by stress (Peiffer, 2002, p.84 ) .

Stress and negativity drain the energy needed for life accomplishments by bringing feelings of disinterest and boredom, fatigue and create bad moods. Finally, positive thinking guarantees success because an individual is able to prioritize and focus on important things (Sasson, 2012, p.66). In addition, peace of mind improves concentration on tasks that determine success and well-being.

Farreer, G. (2004). A Gift of Positive Thinking . New York: Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Peale, V. (2012). The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking . London: Ebury Publishing.

Peale, V. (2003). The Power of Positive Thinking: 10 Traits for Maximum Results . New York: Simon and Schuster.

Peiffer, V. (2002 ). Positive Thinking: Everything you have always known about Positive Thinking but Were Afraid to Put into Practice . London: Thorsons.

Quilliam, S. (2008). Positive thinking . New York: Dorling Kindersley.

Sasson, R. (2012). Positive Thinking your Key to Success . Web.

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How to Think Positive

Marko Geber / Getty Images

You have probably heard a thing or two about the benefits of positive thinking . Research suggests that positive thinkers have better stress coping skills, stronger immunity, and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

While it is not a health panacea, taking an optimistic view rather than ruminating on negative thoughts can benefit your overall mental well-being. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to learn how to think more positively.

Benefits of Thinking Positively

Being a positive thinker can have a number of important health benefits. In one study, researchers found that people who had a more optimistic outlook had a lower risk of dying of a number of serious illnesses including:

• Breast cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Heart disease
• Lung cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Respiratory diseases

Studies have also shown that optimists tend to be both physically and mentally healthier than their more pessimistic counterparts. For example, research has shown that thinking more positively is associated with improved immunity, increased resilience to stress, and lower rates of depression.

How to Think More Positively

So what can you do to become a more positive thinker? A few common strategies involve learning how to identify negative thoughts and replacing these thoughts with more positive ones. While it might take some time, eventually you may find that thinking positively starts to come more naturally.

Avoid Negative Self-Talk

Self-talk involves the things you mentally tell yourself. Think of this as the inner voice inside your mind that analyzes how you perform and interact with the world around you. If your self-talk centers on negative thoughts , your self-esteem can suffer.

So what can you do to combat these negative self-talk patterns? One way to break the pattern is to start noticing when you have these thoughts and then actively work to change them.

When you start thinking critical thoughts about yourself, take a moment to pause and assess.

Paying attention to your self-talk is a great place to start when trying to think more positively. If you notice that you tend to engage in negative self-talk, you can start looking for ways to change your thought patterns and reframe your interpretations of your own behaviors.

It can be tough to stay optimistic when there is little humor or lightheartedness in your life. Even when you are facing challenges, it is important to remain open to laughter and fun.

Sometimes, simply recognizing the potential humor in a situation can lessen your stress and brighten your outlook. Seeking out sources of humor such as watching a funny sitcom or reading jokes online can help you think more positive thoughts.

Cultivate Optimism

Learning to think positively is like strengthening a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it will become. Researchers believe that your explanatory style , or how you explain events, is linked to whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.

Optimists tend to have a positive explanatory style. If you attribute good things that happen to your skill and effort, then you are probably an optimist.

Pessimists, on the other hand, usually have a negative attributional style. If you credit these good events to outside forces, then you likely have a more pessimistic way of thinking.

The same principles hold true for how you explain negative events. Optimists tend to view bad or unfortunate events as isolated incidents that are outside of their control while pessimists see such things as more common and often blame themselves.

By taking a moment to analyze the event and ensure that you are giving yourself the credit you are due for the good things and not blaming yourself for things outside of your control, you can start to become more optimistic.

Practice Gratitude

Consider keeping a gratitude journal where you can regularly write about the things in life that you are grateful for. Research has found that writing down grateful thoughts can improve both your sense of optimism as well as your overall well-being.  

When you find yourself dwelling on more negative thoughts or feelings, spend a few minutes writing down a few things in life that bring you joy. This simple activity can help shift your focus to a more optimistic mindset.

Keep Practicing

There is no on-off switch for positive thinking. Even if you are a natural-born optimist, thinking positively when faced with challenging situations can be difficult. Like any goal, the key is to stick with it for the long term. Even if you find yourself dwelling on negative thoughts, you can look for ways to minimize negative self-talk and cultivate a more optimistic outlook.

Finally, do not be afraid to enlist the help of friends and family.

When you start engaging in negative thinking, call a friend or family member whom you can count on to offer positive encouragement and feedback.

Remember that to think positively, you need to nurture yourself. Investing energy in things you enjoy and surrounding yourself with optimistic people are just two ways that you can encourage positive thinking in your life.

When to Seek Help

If you are finding it difficult to think positively and instead feel like negative thoughts or emotions are taking over your life, you should talk to your doctor or therapist. Negative emotions that are causing distress or interfering with your ability to function normally may be a sign of a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety .

A doctor or mental health professional can evaluate your symptoms and recommend treatments that can help. Psychotherapy and medications may be used to address symptoms and improve your ability to think more positively.

A Word From Verywell

Learning how to think positively is not a quick fix, and it is something that may take some time to master. Analyzing your own thinking habits and finding new ways to incorporate a more positive outlook into your life can be a great start toward adopting a more positive thinking approach.

Boehm JK, Kubzansky LD. The heart's content: the association between positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular health . Psychological Bulletin , 2012;138(4):655-91. doi:10.1037/a0027448

Kim ES, Hagan KA, Grodstein F, DeMeo DL, De Vivo I, Kubzansky LD. Optimism and cause-specific mortality: a prospective cohort study . Am J Epidemiol . 2017;185(1):21-29. doi:10.1093/aje/kww182

Segerstrom SC, Sephton SE.  Optimistic expectancies and cell-mediated immunity: the role of positive affect .  Psychol Sci . 2010;21(3):448-455. doi:10.1177/0956797610362061

Naseem Z, Khalid R. Positive thinking in coping with stress and health outcomes: literature review . Journal of Research and Reflections in Education , 2010;4(1):42-61.

Santos V, Paes F, Pereira V, et al. The role of positive emotion and contributions of positive psychology in depression treatment: systematic review .  Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health . 2013;9:221-237. Published 2013 Nov 28. doi:10.2174/1745017901309010221

Gillham JE, Shatté AJ, Reivich KJ, Seligman MEP. Optimism, pessimism, and explanatory style . In: Chang EC, ed. Optimism & Pessimism: Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2001:53-75. doi:10.1037/10385-003

Sansone RA, Sansone LA. Gratitude and well being: the benefits of appreciation .  Psychiatry (Edgmont) . 2010;7(11):18-22.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Positive Mindset: How to Develop a Positive Mental Attitude

Positivity doesn’t always refer to simply smiling and looking cheerful, however—positivity is more about one’s overall perspective on life and their tendency to focus on all that is good in life.

In this piece, we’ll cover the basics of positivity within positive psychology, identify some of the many benefits of approaching life from a positive point of view, and explore some tips and techniques for cultivating a positive mindset.

This piece is a long one, so settle in and get comfortable. Let’s get started.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values and self-compassion and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is a positive mindset and attitude a definition, characteristics and traits of a positive mindset: 6 examples, a list of positive attitudes, why is a positive attitude considered the key to success, the outcomes of a positive attitude, 33 tips on how to have & keep a positive mindset in life and at work, helping students to develop a positive attitude towards learning and school, 46 activities and games to develop positive mindset skills (incl. group exercises), 10 worksheets for training a positive mindset (pdf), 32 quotes and affirmations on positive mindset/attitude, inspiring speeches and videos, recommended books, a take-home message.

You probably have an idea of what a positive mindset or positive attitude is already, but it’s always helpful to start with a definition.

This definition from Remez Sasson (n.d.) is a good general description:

“Positive thinking is a mental and emotional attitude that focuses on the bright side of life and expects positive results.”

Another, more comprehensive definition comes from Kendra Cherry at Very Well Mind (2017B):

“[P]ositive thinking actually means approaching life’s challenges with a positive outlook. It does not necessarily mean avoiding or ignoring the bad things; instead, it involves making the most of the potentially bad situations, trying to see the best in other people, and viewing yourself and your abilities in a positive light.”

We can extrapolate from these definitions and come up with a good description of a positive mindset as the tendency to focus on the bright side, expect positive results, and approach challenges with a positive outlook.

Having a positive mindset means making positive thinking a habit, continually searching for the silver lining and making the best out of any situation you find yourself in.

So, now we know what a positive mindset is, we can dive into the next important question: What does it look like?

There are many traits and characteristics associated with a positive mindset, including:

• Optimism : a willingness to make an effort and take a chance instead of assuming your efforts won’t pay off.
• Acceptance : acknowledging that things don’t always turn out how you want them to, but learning from your mistakes.
• Resilience : bouncing back from adversity, disappointment, and failure instead of giving up.
• Gratitude : actively, continuously appreciating the good things in your life (Blank, 2017).
• Consciousness/Mindfulness : dedicating the mind to conscious awareness and enhancing the ability to focus.
• Integrity : the trait of being honorable, righteous, and straightforward, instead of deceitful and self-serving (Power of Positivity, n.d.).

Not only are these characteristics of a positive mindset, but they may also work in the other direction—actively adopting optimism, acceptance, resilience, gratitude, mindfulness, and integrity in your life will help you develop and maintain a positive mindset.

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If you found the list above still too vague, there are many more specific examples of a positive attitude in action.

For example, positive attitudes can include:

• It is looking adversity in the eye… and laughing.
• Getting what you get, and not pitching a fit.
• Enjoying the unexpected, even when it’s not what you wanted originally.
• Motivating those around you with a positive word.
• Using the power of a smile to reverse the tone of a situation.
• Being friendly to those you don’t know.
• It’s getting back up when you fall down. (No matter how many times you fall down.)
• Being a source of energy that lifts those around you.
• Understanding that relationships are more important than material things.
• Being happy even when you have little.
• Having a good time even when you are losing.
• Being happy for someone else’s success.
• Having a positive future vision, no matter how bad your current circumstances.
• Paying a compliment, even to a total stranger.
• Tell someone you know that they did a great job. (And mean it.)
• Making someone’s day. (Not just a child’s… adult’s like to have their day be special, too!)
• It’s not complaining no matter how unfair things appear to be. (It is a waste of time… instead, do something!)
• Not letting other people’s negativity bring you down.
• Giving more than you expect to get in return.
• Being true to yourself… always (Jarrow, 2012).

Now we know a little bit more about what a positive mindset looks like, we can turn to one of the biggest questions of all: What’s the deal with having a positive attitude?

What is it about having a positive mindset that is so important, so impactful, so life-changing?

Well, the traits and characteristics listed above give us a hint; if you comb through the literature, you’ll see a plethora of benefits linked to optimism, resilience, and mindfulness.

You’ll see that awareness and integrity are linked to better quality of life , and acceptance and gratitude can take you from the “okay life” to the “good life.”

The Importance of Developing the Right Thoughts

Developing a truly positive mindset and gaining these benefits is a function of the thoughts you cultivate.

Don’t worry—this piece isn’t about the kind of positive thinking that is all positive, all the time. We don’t claim that just “thinking happy thoughts” will bring you all the success you desire in life, and we certainly don’t believe that optimism is warranted in every situation, every minute of the day.

Developing the right thoughts is not about being constantly happy or cheerful, and it’s not about ignoring anything negative or unpleasant in your life. It’s about incorporating both the positive and negative into your perspective and choosing to still be generally optimistic.

It’s about acknowledging that you will not always be happy and learning to accept bad moods and difficult emotions when they come.

Above all, it’s about increasing your control over your own attitude in the face of whatever comes your way. You cannot control your mood , and you cannot always control the thoughts that pop into your head, but you can choose how you handle them.

When you choose to give in to the negativity, pessimism, and doom-and-gloom view of the world, you are not only submitting to a loss of control and potentially wallowing in unhappiness—you are missing out on an important opportunity for growth and development.

According to positive psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, negative thinking, and negative emotions have their place: they allow you to sharpen your focus on dangers, threats, and vulnerabilities. This is vital for survival, although perhaps not as much as it was for our ancestors.

On the other hand, positive thinking and positive emotions “ broaden and build ” our resources and skills, and open us up to possibilities (Fredrickson, 2004).

Building a positive framework for your thoughts is not about being bubbly and annoyingly cheerful, but making an investment in yourself and your future. It’s okay to feel down or think pessimistically sometimes, but choosing to respond with optimism, resilience, and gratitude will benefit you far more in the long run.

According to Seligman (2006), optimism can be cultivated by challenging the negative stories we create in our minds. This “learned optimism” can be beneficial to feel happier and healthier, to release stress, and to increase performance and motivation.

The ABC Model, originally developed by Albert Ellis and later adapted by Martin Seligman, is an approach to help us think more optimistically. This model can be used for yourself or with your clients. Often, this technique can be found in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) as the approach results in restructuring beliefs through self-awareness.

This technique can be used in daily life situations – An obstacle in your way reflects Adversity . The way you think about Adversity turns into your Beliefs , which impact how you react (Consequence). The Consequences are not inevitable since you can challenge the way you think about them (Seligman, 2006).

Seligman added the components “Disputation” and “Energization” to the original ABC model in order to not only be aware of your thinking patterns but to be able to overcome pessimistic thinking and cultivate a more optimistic outlook.

To be optimistic, you have to change what you believe about yourself and the situation you are encountering. Positive beliefs result in a more positive consequence, which then leads to a more positive outlook.

Aside from enhancing your skills and personal resources, there are many other benefits of cultivating a positive mindset, including better overall health, better ability to cope with stress , and greater well-being (Cherry, 2017A).

According to the experts at the Mayo Clinic, positive thinking can increase your lifespan, reduce rates of depression and levels of distress , give you greater resistance to the common cold, improve your overall psychological and physical well-being , improve your cardiovascular health and protect you from cardiovascular disease, and help you build coping skills to keep you afloat during challenging times (2017).

You’ve probably heard of all these generic benefits before, so we’ll get more specific and explore the benefits of a positive mindset in several different contexts:

• The workplace
• Dealing with disability (for both those with a disability and those around them)
• Nursing and healthcare
• Recovery from cancer

10 Benefits of a Positive Mental Attitude in the Workplace

No construct better captures the essence of a positive attitude in the workplace quite like psychological capital (or PsyCap for short). This multicomponent construct is made up of four psychological resources:

PsyCap was first conceptualized as “positive psychological capital” by renowned management and leadership researchers Luthans and Youssef in 2004. The concept quickly took off among positive organizational psychologists, and by 2011 there were already hundreds of citations of PsyCap in the literature.

The first meta-analysis of all the research on PsyCap was conducted in 2011, and it outlined some of the many benefits of PsyCap in the workplace:

• PsyCap was positively related to job satisfaction , organizational commitment, and psychological well-being.
• PsyCap was also positively related to organizational citizenship (desirable employee behaviors) and multiple measures of performance (self-rated, supervisor evaluations, and objective measures).
• PsyCap was negatively related to cynicism, turnover intentions, job stress, and anxiety .
• PsyCap was also negatively related to negative employee deviance (bad employee behaviors; Avey, Reichard, Luthans, & Mhatre, 2011).

It seems pretty straightforward that positive attitudes like optimism and resilience lead to positive outcomes for the organization and for the employees!

Another study by a few of the giants in the field of positive psychology (Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, and Ed Diener, 2005) investigated the relationship between happiness and benefits to employees. They showed that positive attitudes in the workplace also benefit the employee in addition to the organization:

• Happier employees are more productive than other employees.
• Happy salespeople have higher sales than other salespeople.
• Happy employees are more creative than other employees.
• Happy employees are evaluated more positively by their supervisors.
• Happy employees are less likely to show job withdrawal (absenteeism, turnover, job burnout, and retaliatory behaviors).
• Happy employees make more money than other employees.

So, a positive attitude can have great benefits for the organization as a whole and for all of its employees.

It turns out that a positive attitude can also result in benefits for leaders and their followers (as well as spreading positivity throughout the organization).

The Importance of a Positive Mindset for Leadership

As important as a positive mindset is for the rank-and-file, it’s easy to see why it is vital for those in a position of leadership.

Researchers Hannah, Woolfolk, and Lord (2009) outlined a framework for positive leadership that rests on the idea that leaders with a positive self-concept (a positive idea of who they are and a habit of thinking positively about themselves) are more able to bring the “right stuff” to their leadership role.

In their theory, a leader with a positive mindset is not only more likely to be actively engaged and to perform at a high level, he or she is also more able to influence followers toward a more positive mindset through role modeling and normative influence.

A study completed around the same time provides support for the relationship between leader and follower positivity; trust in management influenced positive PsyCap, which had a big impact on performance for leaders and followers (Clapp-Smith, Vogegesang, & Avey, 2008).

Further, trust in management was linked to positive leadership and performance. While trust in management isn’t necessarily indicative of a positive mindset in both leader and follower, it is certainly a likely outcome of a generally positive attitude in the workplace.

Forbes writer Victor Lipman (2017) puts findings like these in simpler terms:

“It’s always easier to follow someone with a positive outlook.”

In other words, positive attitudes in a leader will draw followers and encourage motivation and engagement in subordinates. Lipman also notes that having a positive outlook and being resilient is vital in leadership positions because there is a lot of stress involved in managing and leading others.

Leaders must always be “on” and spend much of their time “performing” as a strong, confident leader and perhaps even a public face. This role is a tiring one, and being optimistic and resilient will help leaders stay sane and healthy in challenging contexts.

The Promotion of Positive Attitudes Towards Disability

Having a positive attitude is also a boon for those educating, interacting with, and caring for a disabled student, loved one, or patient.

A positive attitude toward disability facilitates disabled students’ education and helps them assimilate into postsecondary education (Rao, 2004).

This makes it even more troubling to learn that, according to a 2012 study on UK primary schools, only 38% of them had a Disability Equality Scheme in place and only 30% had included a plan to “promote positive attitudes towards disabled people” (Beckett & Buckner). Further, 76% of schools reported that their staff had not received any training in the promotion of positive attitudes towards students with disabilities.

With so many resources available for promoting positive attitudes toward disability, there is ample opportunity to rectify this lack; for example, research by The Children’s Society in the UK identified several ways to promote positivity:

• An inclusive ethos within the school.
• Staff teams who are knowledgeable, skilled, and committed.
• Better training, guidance, and support for teachers, including Disability Equality training and ongoing INSET for all staff.
• High levels of awareness across the whole school community.
• Disability equality teaching being part of a wider strategy and included across the curriculum and not just within subjects such as PSHE, Citizenship and Religious education.
• A designated member of staff to coordinate teaching across the curriculum
• A better understanding of why promoting disability awareness and equality is important.
• Links with disabled people within the school community and beyond, as well as links with special schools.
• The availability of good resources.
• Awareness of, and the challenging of, stereotypes.
• A critical approach to the use of ‘disablist’ language which reinforces discriminatory attitudes and negative stereotypes.
• Promotion of the social model of disability.
• The inclusion of positive and diverse images in all materials used within the school and undertaking an audit of existing materials and resources to ensure they promote positive attitudes (More information on these suggestions can be found here ).

A 2009 study also established that formal instruction in disability awareness combined with hands-on fieldwork experiences with people who have a disability can have a significant impact on the positive attitudes toward those with disability (Campbell, Gilmore, & Cuskelly).

The research found that teachers-in-training who participated in a one-semester course involving direct work with students who had Down syndrome greatly improved their knowledge of the syndrome as well as their attitudes toward those with Down syndrome.

All of these findings show that having a positive attitude towards those with a disability is not only the right thing to work toward, but it also has a significant positive influence on both those with disability and those around them.

Unsurprisingly, it’s also important for nurses and other health professionals to cultivate a positive attitude towards their patients with a disability—something that nurses sometimes struggle with (Tervo & Palmer, 2004).

Positive Attitude in Nursing and Health Care

On the subject of nursing and healthcare, this is another context where having a positive mindset (towards oneself and one’s patients—disabled or otherwise) can have a positive impact.

In fact, having a positive attitude is so important for nursing, expert Jean Watson describes nursing as the “Caring Science” (2009). Indeed, positivity and caring are ingrained in the field; just take a look at the five core nursing values:

• Human dignity
• Social justice (Fahrenwald et al., 2005)

These five values lay the foundation for a caring, positive mindset that is the hallmark of good nursing practice. Nurses who embrace these core values and adopt a positive mindset toward themselves, their work, and their patients can help them find the meaning and fulfillment that likely prompted them to enter the field in the first place.

Having a positive mindset in health care not only acts as a facilitator of meaning and purpose in the lives of healthcare professionals but it also:

• Improves the professional’s performance and helps patients find healing and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• Reduces the frequency of accidents by enhancing focus.
• Helps the professional build a good reputation and advance in their career (Swanson, n.d.).

Luckily, there are evidence-backed ways for nurses to implement a more positive outlook, including:

• The “Three Good Things” exercise, in which the nursing staff maintains a “three good things” sheet that gets passed around all the nurses at the end of their shift; each staff member writes down at least one good thing that happened that day, and the charge nurse selects three of these positive things to share with the oncoming-shift nurses to help them start their day with positivity.
• Increasing social connections with patients by placing a “getting to know you” board in each patient room; on admission, nurses can encourage the patient to share something about themselves (not their illness or hospitalization, but about who you are).
• Encouraging random acts of kindness by nurses—a practice which has the potential to spread to patients and other healthcare professionals as well.
• Enhancing gratitude through a staff peer recognition board.
• Practicing loving-kindness meditation at staff meetings.
• Identifying and applying one’s Signature Strengths (Roberts & Strauss, 2015).

Speaking of the importance of positivity in health care, the benefits can extend to the patients as well.

Positive Attitude and Cancer Recovery

You’ve probably heard the common phrases and encouragements used when discussing someone’s cancer diagnosis.

A cancer patient will likely be told at least a few times that “You have to stay positive!” and “You can fight this if you maintain a positive attitude.”

This idea that being positive will help cancer patients to fight the disease is a common one, although the literature is a bit iffy on whether this phenomenon is real (Coyne & Tennen, 2010; O’Baugh, Wilkes, Luke, & George, 2003).

Although it is unclear whether simply cultivating a positive mindset will help a patient beat cancer, there’s no doubt that getting support, focusing on a healthy mental state, and maintaining a positive attitude will help patients reduce their tension, anxiety, fatigue, and depression, and improve their overall quality of life (Spiegel et al., 2007).

Cancer Treatment Centers of America expert Katherine Puckett agrees that positivity can be helpful for patients being treated for cancer, but clarifies that other emotions are perfectly acceptable as well.

“So often I have heard a loved one say to a cancer patient who is crying, ‘Stop crying. You know you have to be positive’… However, when we make space for people to express all of their feelings, rather than bottling them up inside, it is then easier for them to be optimistic. It is okay to allow tears to flow—these can be a healthy release.” (Katherine Puckett, as reported in Fischer, 2016).

This indicates that the most important factor regarding positivity in cancer recovery is that it is authentic . False smiles and superficial cheerfulness will likely do nothing for the cancer patient, but working on cultivating an authentically positive mindset and focusing on the activities and techniques that build well-being can have a significant impact on a cancer patient’s quality of life and—possibly—their chances of beating cancer.

Do a quick Google search on how to cultivate a more positive mindset, and you’ll see that there are tons of suggestions out there! We’ve gathered some of the most popular and most evidence-backed methods here, but don’t hesitate to search for more if you need them.

Larry Alton (2018) from Success.com lists 7 practical tips to help you get more positive:

• Start the day with positive affirmations (scroll down to see some example affirmations).
• Focus on the good things, however small they are.
• Find humor in bad situations.
• Turn failures into lessons—and learn from them!
• Transform negative self-talk into positive self-talk.
• Focus on the present instead of getting mired in the past or losing your way in the future.
• Find positive friends, mentors, and co-workers to support and encourage you.

A successful author, speaker, and coach Brian Tracy (n.d.) echoes some of these tips and adds a couple more:

• Remember that it’s your response that determines the outcome of a situation.
• Use positive affirmations or phrases to chase off negative thoughts.
• Find inspirational quotes and messages to bolster your positivity.
• Decide to be happy by being grateful and assuming the people around you have the best of intentions.
• Challenge yourself to maintain a positive attitude when something goes wrong—show the world how resilient and positive you are!

For a more specific list of habits and actions you can take to develop a more positive mindset, try these 10 suggestions from Megan Wycklendt (2014) of Fulfillment Daily:

• Keep a gratitude journal .
• Reframe your challenges as opportunities for growth .
• Get good at being rejected—it happens to everyone!
• Use positive words to describe your life.
• Replace have with get (e.g., I have to go to work → I get to go to work).
• Don’t let yourself get dragged down into other people’s complaints.
• Breathe—consciously, purposefully, and mindfully.
• Notice the righteous and good in times of tragedy and violence.
• Have solutions ready when you point out problems.
• Make someone else smile.

Finally, these 11 techniques from Dr. Tchiki Davis (2018) can also help you adopt a more positive attitude:

• Ask yourself, “Do I think positively?” Take a test or quiz on positivity to see where you stand.
• Strengthen your memory for positive information by using positive words more often.
• Strengthen your brain’s ability to work with positive information with exercises that involve positive words.
• Strengthen your brain’s ability to pay attention to the positive by routinely redirecting your focus away from the negative to the positive.
• Condition yourself to experience random moments of positivity (use classical conditioning on yourself to build positive associations).
• Think positive—but not too much—and think negative when you need to; sometimes we need to grieve, think about the negative consequences, and use negative emotions to motivate and engage us.
• Practice gratitude (perhaps with a gratitude journal).
• Savor the good moments (stop to “smell the roses” and celebrate the positive).
• Generate positive emotions by watching funny videos
• Stop minimizing your successes and acknowledge the efforts you put in.
• Stop all-or-nothing thinking; this cognitive distortion is not in line with reality since things are very rarely “all good” or “all bad.”

To pass along the benefits of developing a positive mindset to students, you can encourage them to try the techniques listed above.

However, there are some methods for improving students’ attitude towards learning and school that may be even more effective.

Elliot Seif from the ASCD’s Edge website outlines 13 ways you can help students cultivate this mindset:

• “Reduce the emphasis on traditional testing as the key assessment tool, and focus on more “natural” and diverse assessment approaches such as essays and papers, reflective journals, oral presentations, and other demonstrations of their learning.
• Create the expectation that effort makes a difference in learning. Help students understand that when someone works hard, they are more likely to succeed. Give students more opportunities to put effort into areas that interest them and that they enjoy.
• Include narratives on report cards that focus on individual strengths and interests.
• Where possible, instead of or in addition to reading textbooks, find and have students read and choose books that are interesting to them, that opens them up to the world around them, that makes them think!
• Focus primarily on student strengths and student success. For each student, consider “ the glass as half full ” rather than “the glass as half empty”. Encourage students as much as possible. Understand that not all students will be strong in all areas and that it is important to help each student find his or her strengths and interests and to build on them. Also, see “failure” as an opportunity for student growth. Make it clear to students that not doing well is a cause for looking inside yourself to see how you can do something better (and that you will do the same). Give students more specific feedback, along with opportunities to redo their work and improve it. Provide mentors and tutors and other help and support for students who need it.
• Be willing to “slow down the learning process”. Focus learning on what you think is important. Figure out ways to teach an idea differently, and work on something for a longer period than you normally do if your students are not “getting it”. Figure out alternative ways to teach something if your approach isn’t working.
• Focus a good deal of your teaching on “learning how to learn” skill development. Read up on how to teach study skills, learning to learn skills, research skills, inquiry skills. Make sure that your students grow both in terms of content they learn and the “learning to learn” skills they need to develop in order to learn well in the future.
• Make “asking questions” central to your teaching and to your learning environment and school culture. Write course descriptions around key questions. Use essential questions to focus units, or have students develop essential questions as the focus for learning. As you teach, encourage students to ask clarifying and elaborative questions. Make it clear to students that no question is too small or too silly. Build open time for students to ask questions on the topics they are studying. Use “wait time” when you are asking for questions. Teach students study strategies such as SQ3R[i] that encourage students to turn statements (such as text headings) into questions.
• Give students more choices and options – in the classroom, by offering many electives, through multiple extra-curricular options. Choices/options should give students opportunities to develop and expand their interests, see connections and relevance in what they are learning, and expand their talents.
• Use inquiry strategies, research skill-building activities, interactive learning and projects as critical parts of teaching. Incorporate more interest-based projects into your curriculum.
• Where possible, make learning experiences more “authentic”. For example, consider how learning about the American Revolution might be tied to a current event happening in the world. Visit the area surrounding the school to demonstrate how math might be used for everyday activity. Through surveys, encourage students to provide feedback on whether they feel that their learning is interesting, motivating, and relevant and whether they are being encouraged to develop their talents and interests. Conduct student surveys to determine what types of school and classroom activities are most motivating and interesting. Create activities and experiences that enable students to get outside the school and learn from the outside world and perform community service.
• Create more ways to integrate learning across the curriculum and consider ways to redesign the curriculum. Use themes to create more interdisciplinary units. Connect separate subject areas, such as by teaching American history and literature in tandem so that history topics and specific literature that touch on similar time periods or themes are taught at the same time. When redesigning or renewing the curriculum, examine whether curriculum materials or programs have a significant component built around developing curiosity, motivation, relevance, and interest.
• See yourself as helping students build “pathways to adult success”. How can your subject, your grade level, your school contribute to making these pathways smoother? How can you provide students with a concrete understanding of their future options? Can you take field trips to different places of business? Colleges and universities? Bring in speakers?” (Seif, 2013)

However, these techniques are not always within a teacher’s (or parent’s) realm of control. If you these techniques are too overwhelming or the scope is out of your control, try these 7 strategies that you will likely have the power to implement:

• Be an example. Model a positive, encouraging attitude in all that you say, do and believe.
• Create a positive learning space for your student.
• Help your student visualize a positive outcome from every scenario before starting.
• Eliminate negative verbiage from your students’ dialogue (e.g., respond to “I can’t do it” with “Why can’t you do it? What’s holding you back? How can I help?”).
• Help your students change negative thinking patterns (encourage them to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones).
• Play the role of your students’ biggest fan (encourage them and help them develop self-confidence ).
• Incorporate a rewards system to encourage positivity at all times (Werrell, 2016).

For more tips and suggestions from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, check out their excellent resource on instilling positive attitudes and perceptions about learning here .

There are many positive thinking exercises and games that can give you a boost.

Some of the most popular ones are listed here, but feel free to search for more if none of them align with your interests—there are a lot to choose from out there!

Zdravko Lukovski from the Enlightenment Portal website has 10 exercises and activities that you can implement in your own life or encourage your clients to try in order to think more positively:

• Listen to your favorite music—it’s that easy! Music has a fairly unique ability to put you in a positive state of mind, so take advantage of that fact.
• Express your thankfulness and gratitude for all the good things in your life. Appreciate them, and write them down to help you remember.
• Remember to breathe. Breathe deeply, slowly, and mindfully to transport your mind to a positive, calm place.
• Don’t live according to a label—labels come from others, not from yourself, and you are so much more than a simple label could ever represent. Be authentic, and it will be much easier to be positive.
• Check your internal dialogue, and challenge that critical inner voice to make room for happiness.
• Engage in positive activities like meditation , yoga , hiking, playing a sport, or whatever other activity you enjoy.
• Take back control of the things you can change—and put in the effort required to actually change—but learn to accept the things you cannot change.
• Go easy on yourself. Don’t kick yourself when you’re down; everyone fails, and it doesn’t mean you’re not good enough.
• Pay attention to your diet, and ensure that you eat healthy food that will contribute to a healthy and positive mind.
• Embrace change—it’s happening whether we want it to or not, so it’s best to embrace it. Make an effort to step outside of your comfort zone (2015).

This list from Thought Catalog’s Kathy Mitchell (2017) has some of the same ideas as Lukovski, but she adds a few more activities as well:

• Listen to upbeat music.
• Have sex (that can certainly be an engaging and life-affirming activity!).
• Travel, even if it’s not very far—the point is to interact with different people and get to know other cultures.
• Eat healthy foods.
• Be thankful and cultivate gratitude.
• Journal and/or use a notebook to write things down—especially positive things.
• Breathe mindfully and deeply.
• Use positive words and avoid phrases like “I can’t” and “I won’t.”
• Practice positive affirmations or mantras.
• Try the Best Possible Self exercise (imagine yourself in your best possible future, and write about it).
• Volunteer and commit your time and efforts to helping others.
• Take control of the things you can, and accept the things you can’t.
• Remind yourself “Never a failure, always a lesson;” make every failure a learning opportunity.
• Try the mirror technique—say something positive about yourself (and truly mean it) every time you see yourself in the mirror.
• Socialize and spend time with others, including family, friends, your spouse or significant other, and new friends or acquaintances.

If you’re more interested in games you can play to boost positive thinking, try these suggested games from Mary Osborne (2017) at Live Strong.

Recognizing Positive Behavior

Gather your team (or family, friends, etc.) and review a list of a generic individual’s positive behaviors (like giving credit to others, smiling, saying thank you, and listening nonjudgmentally).

Next, ask players to identify their reactions to positive behaviors like these.

When everyone has listed their responses to these behaviors, talk about them as a group to show that engaging in positive behaviors like these will attract clients, customers, and coworkers rather than repel them.

The “Glad” Game

This game comes from the Disney movie Pollyanna, in which the main character actively cultivates positive thinking.

Have one person bring up a negative event, like losing a job or breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend.

The other players are challenged to turn the first person’s thoughts to the positive; for example, they can say something like, “ But now that I’ve lost my job, I’ll have more time to _______ .” The first person must come up with a word or phrase that fits the blank.

This game will encourage you to find the silver lining and look for opportunities instead of wallowing in despair.

Egg-Balancing Game

The egg-balancing game can be frustrating, but it can impart an important lesson in staying optimistic and open-minded.

Give your player(s) a raw egg and a flat, somewhat textured tabletop (use a tablecloth or placemat if you need to). Tell them to find a way to balance the egg in an upright position on the table. They might say it’s not possible, but assure them that it is!

Let them try for a while—they might actually be able to do it—but give them a small mound of salt to balance the egg in if they are struggling for too long. If you use the salt, remind them that this is an important thing to remember: sometimes things that seem impossible actually are possible when you think outside the box!

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Hunt for Happiness

This game is described as a “positive-thinking scavenger game” and it can be used with both children and adults.

Have the players make a list of things that they feel make life worth living or, for younger children, things that make them smile.

Once everyone has a list ready, send them off on a scavenger hunt to collect as many items on the list as possible. If it’s too big to collect and bring back, you can mark your “collection” of it on the list.

You’ll have to get creative to check off everything on the list, especially abstract things like “love,” but that’s part of the challenge. As a bonus, it will also help you boost your creative thinking in addition to your positive thinking.

To read more about these games, click here .

For Children

There are even more games and activities to help children develop a positive mindset. If you’re a teacher, parent, coach, or anyone else who interacts with kids, give these activities a try.

Big Life Journal has a great infographic that lists the ways you can help children develop a positive attitude. You can find the whole blog post here , but we’ll outline the 7 activities they describe:

• Engage your child in loving-kindness meditation. You can teach him or her the four traditional phrases directed towards loved ones if you’d like: “May you feel safe. May you feel happy. May you feel healthy. May you live with ease.”
• Encourage your child to help others, whether that takes the form of assisting an elderly neighbor with yard work or chores, helping a friend with homework, or participating in a canned food, clothing, or toy drive.
• Have your child create and write in an “Awe Journal.” Tell them to write down any sights or moments from their daily life that they find beautiful, extraordinary, awesome, or just all-around wonderful.
• Encourage your child to set goals, visualize their path forward, and plan for obstacles before they come face-to-face with them (this is the WOOP approach: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan).
• Share your own positive experiences with your child. Laugh with them, hug them, and set aside quality time to simply be together.
• Identify your child’s strengths and encourage him or her to put them to good use and develop them further with productive, fun activities.
• Guide your child through the process of coming up with positive affirmations like, “I am kind. I am enough. I am loving. I am good.” (Cullins, 2018).

Another collection of activities that can help children (and the whole family) develop and maintain a positive mindset comes from Sharon Harding at the Rediscovered Families website:

• Keep “Quote Books,” or notebooks for your children to write in. Every week, choose a positive quote to share with your kids and encourage them to write it down along with their thoughts, drawings that correspond to the quote, or insights from a family discussion or activities based on the quote.
• Try the “Success of the Day” activity, in which each family member is encouraged to talk about a success they had that day, like helping someone, standing up for a peer, finishing a project, or committing (or receiving) a random act of kindness. Your children can keep a journal of their successes to look back on and draw inspiration from.
• Create Warm Fuzzy Jars for each of your children; whenever they do something kind or helpful, they can place a pom-pom ball in their jar to represent the warm fuzzy feeling they gave to another person. When their jar is full, they get to choose a special or fun activity to do—with either parent, both parents, their sibling, or the whole family.
• Write Morning Love Notes (sweet notes for them to read in the morning and get a good start to their day) for your children, and encourage them to write them for their siblings.
• Choose an Act of Kindness to help your kids understand the impact a simple kindness can have. Try something like shoveling a neighbor’s walkway when it snows, bringing a meal to a family in need, or volunteering.
• Creating art that helps them to manage their feelings and turn their mind towards the positive (more info here ).
• Have each family member create a Slinky Character Trait Person. Encourage each family member to identify some positive character traits in each other and write them on the slinky person. You can find more detailed instructions here .
• Help each child make a vision board to share their hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations with each other.
• Complete the Buggy and Buddy motivational art activity to help your children boost their creative confidence and self-esteem .
• Make gratitude stones and encourage your children to practice gratitude every day. All you’ll need is a small, smooth stone and some paint to create a heart on the stone. Tell your children to carry them around and use them as a reminder to think about the things they are grateful for. You can also use them in other ways, detailed here .

If games and activities aren’t really your “thing,” there are lots of other ways to cultivate a positive attitude.

One effective technique is completing worksheets designed to help you develop a positive mindset.

A few of the many worksheets on this topic are described below.

Strengths Exploration

Becoming more positive can start with a fun and uplifting exercise—identifying your strengths.

This worksheet lists 36 individual strengths, with room to add 4 more, that you can use to pick out which strengths you embody. You can choose as many as you like, but try to keep the list to those traits that you think are your biggest strengths .

Once you have your strengths identified, move on to the rest of the worksheet: learning about your strengths in specific areas, how you apply them now, and how you can use them more often.

The second page concerns your relationships—romantic relationships, family relationships, and relationships with friends. There are three questions to guide you here:

• List the strengths you possess that help you in your relationships.
• Describe a specific time your strengths were able to help you in a relationship.
• Describe two new ways you could use your strengths in relationships.

On the third page, you will answer the same questions but with your profession in mind instead of relationships.

The fourth page repeats these questions but with a focus on personal fulfillment (hobbies, interests, pleasurable activities).

You can find this worksheet here .

Gratitude Journal

Cultivating a regular practice of gratitude will help you to become more positive, and this worksheet will guide you in establishing your practice.

First, the instructions for the sheet are as follows: “Two times a week, write a detailed entry about one thing you are grateful for. This could be a person, a job, a great meal with friends, or anything else that comes to mind.”

Next, the worksheet includes some tips for effective journaling, like:

• Don’t rush to write down the first things that come to your mind. Take time to truly think about what you’re grateful for. Expect each entry to take between 10-20 minutes.
• Writing about the people who you’re grateful for tends to be more powerful than writing about things.

To help get you started, you can use one of the journaling prompts listed in the worksheet, including:

• Someone whose company I enjoy…
• A fun experience I had…
• A reason to be excited about the future…
• An unexpected good thing that happened…

The next two pages provide you space to write up to four entries. It’s best if you get a journal specifically for this purpose, but this space can get you started until you obtain a journal.

Click here to download this worksheet .

Positive Journal

Similar to the gratitude journal, a positive journal is an effective way to use journaling to improve your mindset.

The worksheet encourages you to make a point of recognizing positive experiences throughout your day, however big or small. At the end of each day, use the worksheet to record three positive things that happened.

It’s good to have an actual journal for your positive entries (either the same journal you use for recording the things you are grateful for or a separate one), but this worksheet includes space for entering three positive things for 7 days to help you get started.

Click here to read the instructions in more detail.

Protective Factors

The Protective Factors worksheet will get you thinking about all of the positive traits, attributes, and skills that contribute to your resilience and overall mental health. Identifying these factors is essential to knowing when and how to use them.

The instructions are to review each of the protective factors listed and marking where you are on the scale (from weak to strong). These factors include:

• Social Support
• Coping Skills
• Physical Health
• Sense of Purpose
• Self-Esteem
• Healthy Thinking

Once you have given thought to each protective factor, the next page poses some questions about them:

• Which protective factor has been the most valuable to you during difficult times?
• Specifically, how have you used this protective factor to your advantage in the past?
• What are the two protective factors that you would like to improve?
• Describe how things might be different if you able to improve these protective factors.
• List specific steps or actions that might help to make these goals a reality.

To download this worksheet and learn about your own protective factors, click here .

Looking Back, Looking Forward

This worksheet will help you to identify times in your life when things have gone well, when you got things right, and when you thrived.

First, for the “Looking Back” portion, you will be instructed to choose a timeframe to reflect on (for example, “the past year” or “since starting my new job”).

Next, you will answer several questions about the positive events and accomplishments from this time period, including:

• List your accomplishments from this timeframe, even if they seem minor.
• Describe a great day from this timeframe. What made this day special?
• How have you grown, or what lessons did you learn, during this timeframe?
• What are you grateful for from this timeframe? Try to list at least three examples.
• What was a challenge that you overcame during this timeframe?

For the “Looking Forward” portion, you will complete a similar exercise but with a future time period in mind.

Instead of the questions above, you will answer these five questions:

• What would you like to achieve during this timeframe?
• What are you looking forward to during this timeframe? Try to list at least three examples.
• What relationships would you like to strengthen during this timeframe?
• What can you do to help others during this timeframe?
• Ideally, how will your life be different at the end of this timeframe? Give specifics.

Once you have completed this worksheet, you will have a list of good things and accomplishments already behind you, and a list of good things you have to look forward to and work towards. Click here to get started.

Why I’m Grateful

This is a great worksheet for cultivating gratitude, and it can be used with children or adults.

It lists six prompts for you to complete that will help you focus on the good things in your life:

• I am grateful for my family because…
• Something good that happened this week…
• I am grateful for my friendship with… because…
• I am grateful for who I am because…
• Something silly that I am grateful for…
• Something else I am grateful for…

To start thinking about all the things you have to be grateful for, click here .

Positive Activities for Behavioral Activation

This worksheet is focused on the therapeutic technique of behavioral activation—encouraging the patient to get more active, engage in positive activities, and gain the rewards inherent in these activities.

It instructs you to create a list of activities that you find personally rewarding and leaves space for you to do so.

Next, it instructs you to rate the ease of each activity on a scale from 1 (difficult) to 10 (easy) and the reward you get from each activity on a scale from 1 (not at all rewarding) to 10 (very rewarding).

Completing this worksheet will leave you with a list of activities that you can refer to whenever you need a quick boost, and help you learn about what you enjoy most.

Click here to download this worksheet.

Positive Experiences

The Positive Experiences worksheet is a simple one in theory, but it can be difficult to actually complete. The difficulty comes with an equivalent reward though; you can get a great boost in your mood, self-esteem, and self-confidence from completing it.

The only instruction is to consider each of the positive traits listed and write briefly about times when you have displayed each of them.

The positive traits include:

• Selflessness
• Determination

If you’re feeling particularly down, you may be tempted to skip one or two, but fight this urge! You have definitely displayed each of these traits at one time or another—don’t sell yourself short!

Positive Steps to Wellbeing

This resource is actually a handout, but you can certainly make it interactive by taking notes or using check marks to indicate what you have tried, or what you would like to try.

It lists 12 things you can do to improve your wellbeing. These 12 activities include:

• Being kind to yourself
• Exercise regularly
• Take up a hobby and/or learn a new skill
• Have some fun and/or be creative
• Help others
• Eat healthily
• Balance sleep
• Connect with others
• Beware drink and drugs
• See the bigger picture
• Accepting: “It is as it is”

To read more about how each of these activities contributes to your wellbeing, download the handout here .

Positive Self-Talk/Coping Thoughts Worksheet

The positive self-talk/coping thoughts worksheet is a great way to turn your focus from the negative to the positive and come up with positive statements you can use to cope in future stressful or difficult situations.

Example coping thoughts and positive statements listed on the worksheet include:

• Stop, and breathe, I can do this.
• This will pass.
• This feels bad, and feelings are very often wrong.
• I can feel bad and still choose to take a new and healthy direction.
• I feel this way because of my past experiences, but I am safe right now.

After reading the example statements, the worksheet encourages you to write down some coping thoughts or positive statements for difficult or distressing situations in your life. You can write them directly on the worksheet, but it may be most helpful to copy them onto a note card and carry them with you.

While we’re on the subject of positive statements, we should also mention that quotes and affirmations can be an excellent way to encourage positive thinking.

Affirmations

If you’re interested in affirmations, try the Mind Tools Content Team’s (n.d.) list of positive thinking affirmations:

• I have plenty of creativity for this project.
• My work will be recognized in a positive way by my boss and colleagues.
• I can do this!
• My team respects and values my opinion.
• I am successful.
• I am honest in my life, and my work.
• I like completing tasks and projects on time.
• I’m grateful for the job I have.
• I enjoy working with my team.
• I’m bringing a positive attitude to work every day.
• I am excellent at what I do.
• I am generous.
• I am happy.
• I will be a leader in my organization.

If none of these appeal to you on a deep level, refer to their tips on developing your own personal affirmations:

• Think about the areas of your life that you’d like to change.
• Write affirmations that are credible and achievable (based on reality).
• Use your affirmations to turn negative into positive (note a persistent negative thought and choose an affirmation that is the opposite).
• Write your affirmations in the present tense—affirm yourself in the here and now, not a vague future version of yourself.
• Say it with feeling! Your affirmations should be personally meaningful to you (Mind Tools Content Team, n.d.).

If you’re having trouble coming up with your affirmations or you just like to hear a different perspective on positive thinking, you might find some quotes helpful.

Lydia Sweatt (2017) from Success.com shares 13 great quotes on optimism and having a positive attitude.

“Optimism doesn’t wait on facts. It deals with prospects.”

Norman Cousins

“Be fanatically positive and militantly optimistic. If something is not to your liking, change your liking.”

Rick Steves

“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”

Helen Keller

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.”

Noam Chomsky

“One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”

Lucille Ball

“An optimist understands that life can be a bumpy road, but at least it is leading somewhere. They learn from mistakes and failures, and are not afraid to fail again.”

Harvey Mackay

“Optimism is a kind of heart stimulant―the digitalis of failure.”

Elbert Hubbard

“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

John Wooden

“Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.”

Benjamin Franklin

“Optimism refuses to believe that the road ends without options.”

Robert H. Schuller

“What is hope but a feeling of optimism, a thought that says things will improve, it won’t always be bleak [and] there’s a way to rise above the present circumstances.”

Wayne W. Dyer

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Winston Churchill

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

Martin Luther

Quotes can be fantastic motivators, but you probably agree that a rousing speech or inspiring video can be even more effective.

Check out these TED Talks and YouTube videos on positive thinking when you need a boost.

Jim Rohn’s A Positive Attitude Attracts Success

Brendon Burchard’s How to Reprogram Your Mind (for Positive Thinking)

Carol Dweck’s TED Talk The Power of Believing That You Can Improve

Shawn Achor’s TED Talk The Happy Secret to Better Work

If you’re more of a fan of books than videos, never fear—we’ve got book recommendations too!

Here are just a few of the many books on developing a positive mindset:

• Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin E. P. Seligman ( Amazon )
• Attitude: Your Most Priceless Possession by Elwood N. Chapman ( Amazon )
• The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life by Shawn Achor ( Amazon )
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck ( Amazon )
• Getting Back to Happy: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Reality, and Turn Your Trials into Triumphs by March Chernoff and Angel Chernoff ( Amazon )
• Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life by Martin E. P. Seligman ( Amazon )
• Mindset: How Positive Thinking Will Set You Free & Help You Achieve Massive Success in Life by Benjamin Smith ( Amazon )
• Hard Optimism: How to Succeed in a World Where Positive Wins by Price Pritchett ( Amazon )

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If you’re still with me after this very long read, thanks for sticking with it! I hope you will find that the time invested in reading this piece was worth the information you gleaned from it.

The one takeaway from this piece that I really hope sticks with you is this: Positive thinking is a powerful tool that can result in a lot of benefits for you and those around you; however, thinking positive 100% of the time is unrealistic and could even be disastrous.

We have a lot of different emotions and thoughts, and we have such a wide variety for a reason. There are times when being a bit pessimistic can help us, and it is a good idea to let out the negative emotions you experience once in a while (especially if the alternative is bottling them up).

If you’re an optimist by nature, cultivate gratitude for your inherent positivity, but make sure you don’t push aside the negative feelings that crop up. They’re part of life too.

If you’re a pessimist by nature, don’t despair of ever thinking positively. Try a few of the techniques that seem most applicable and give yourself a break if it takes some time. Remember, the goal is not to become a “ Pollyanna ,” but to become the best version of yourself that you can be and maintain a healthy and happy mental state.

How do you feel about the positivity movement? Are you naturally optimistic, pessimistic, or somewhere in between? Do you have any thoughts about how to cultivate a positive mindset? Let us know in the comments section below!

Thanks for reading, and best of luck in developing a positive mindset!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

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• Tervo, R. C., & Palmer, G. (2004). Health professional student attitudes towards people with disability. Clinical Rehabilitation, 18 , 908-915.
• www.therapistaid.com
• Tracy, B. (n.d.). Transform your life with the power of positive thinking. Brian Tracy International: Personal Success. Retrieved from https://www.briantracy.com/blog/personal-success/positive-attitude-happy-people-positive-thinking/
• Watson, J. (2009). Caring Science and human caring theory: Transforming personal and professional practices of nursing and health care. Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, 31 , 466-482.
• Werrell, B. (2016). 7 tips to encourage a positive attitude in students. Connections Academy. Retrieved from http://blog.connectionsacademy.com/7-tips-to-encourage-a-positive-attitude-in-students/
• Wycklendt, M. (2014). 10 simple habits to grow a positive attitude. Fulfillment Daily. Retrieved from http://www.fulfillmentdaily.com/10-habits-to-grow-a-positive-attitude/

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Positive Attitude — The Power of Self-Confidence: Positive Thinking

The Power of Self-confidence: Positive Thinking

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• Stress management

Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve your health. Practice overcoming negative self-talk with examples provided.

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you're optimistic or pessimistic — and it may even affect your health.

Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. And effective stress management is associated with many health benefits. If you tend to be pessimistic, don't despair — you can learn positive thinking skills.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

Positive thinking doesn't mean that you ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information or expectations due to preconceived ideas of what may happen.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress and pain
• Greater resistance to illnesses
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and stroke
• Reduced risk of death from cancer
• Reduced risk of death from respiratory conditions
• Reduced risk of death from infections
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

It's also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don't smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

Identifying negative thinking

Not sure if your self-talk is positive or negative? Some common forms of negative self-talk include:

• Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all the positive ones. For example, you had a great day at work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. That evening, you focus only on your plan to do even more tasks and forget about the compliments you received.
• Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is canceled, and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.
• Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst without facts that the worse will happen. The drive-through coffee shop gets your order wrong, and then you think that the rest of your day will be a disaster.
• Blaming. You try to say someone else is responsible for what happened to you instead of yourself. You avoid being responsible for your thoughts and feelings.
• Saying you "should" do something. You think of all the things you think you should do and blame yourself for not doing them.
• Magnifying. You make a big deal out of minor problems.
• Perfectionism. Keeping impossible standards and trying to be more perfect sets yourself up for failure.
• Polarizing. You see things only as either good or bad. There is no middle ground.

Focusing on positive thinking

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it does take time and practice — you're creating a new habit, after all. Following are some ways to think and behave in a more positive and optimistic way:

• Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it's work, your daily commute, life changes or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way. Think of a positive thought to manage your stress instead of a negative one.
• Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.
• Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You can also break it up into 5- or 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. Get enough sleep. And learn techniques to manage stress.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.
• Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you're thankful for in your life.

Here are some examples of negative self-talk and how you can apply a positive thinking twist to them:

Practicing positive thinking every day

If you tend to have a negative outlook, don't expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you.

When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you're better able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking.

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• Forte AJ, et al. The impact of optimism on cancer-related and postsurgical cancer pain: A systematic review. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2021; doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.09.008.
• Rosenfeld AJ. The neuroscience of happiness and well-being. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 2019;28:137.
• Kim ES, et al. Optimism and cause-specific mortality: A prospective cohort study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2016; doi:10.1093/aje/kww182.
• Amonoo HL, et al. Is optimism a protective factor for cardiovascular disease? Current Cardiology Reports. 2021; doi:10.1007/s11886-021-01590-4.
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition. Accessed Oct. 20, 2021.
• Seaward BL. Essentials of Managing Stress. 4th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021.
• Seaward BL. Cognitive restructuring: Reframing. Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. 8th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2018.
• Olpin M, et al. Stress Management for Life. 5th ed. Cengage Learning; 2020.
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Essay on Positive Thinking

Students are often asked to write an essay on Positive Thinking in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Positive Thinking

What is positive thinking.

Positive thinking means looking at the bright side of things. It’s like seeing a glass half full instead of half empty. People who think positively expect good things to happen. They smile more and worry less.

Benefits of Positive Thinking

When you think positively, you feel happier. It can make you healthier and help you do better in school or sports. Friends enjoy being around cheerful people. Positive thoughts can turn a bad day into a good one.

How to Think Positively

To think positively, focus on good things. If something bad happens, try to find something good about it. Practice gratitude by being thankful for what you have. Surround yourself with happy people and laugh often.

Also check:

250 Words Essay on Positive Thinking

What is positive thinking.

Positive thinking is the practice of focusing on the good in any given situation. It means you approach the challenges of life with a positive outlook. It does not mean ignoring the bad things; instead, it means facing them with the belief that things will improve.

When you think positively, your mind finds peace, joy, and strength. This can lead to better health, as stress can harm your body. Positive thinkers cope with life better and have happier relationships. Also, when you think good thoughts, you see more chances and have the courage to try new things.

How to Practice Positive Thinking

To practice positive thinking, start by using words that suggest strength and success. Focus on solutions, not problems. Be around people who are upbeat and encourage you. Also, take care of your body, as a healthy body can help you have a happy mind.

Challenges to Positive Thinking

Sometimes, thinking positively can be difficult. Bad things happen, and it’s hard to be cheerful all the time. But even when things are tough, try to find one good thing about the situation. It can be small, like the sun shining or having a friend nearby.

Positive thinking is a powerful tool for living a happy life. It helps you deal with stress and brings good things into your life. Remember, it’s okay to have bad days, but try to find a little bit of good in every day.

500 Words Essay on Positive Thinking

Positive thinking is like a sunny day that makes us feel warm and happy inside. It means looking at the bright side of life and expecting good things to happen. When you think positively, you focus on the good in people, situations, and yourself. It’s like wearing special glasses that help you see the world in a more cheerful and hopeful way.

The Power of a Positive Mind

Our mind is very powerful. What we think can affect how we feel and what we do. If you think you can do well on a test, you’ll study hard and be less nervous. This is because your mind believes you can succeed, and it tells your whole body to work towards that. Positive thoughts can give you the energy to try new things and not give up when things get tough.

Positive Thinking and Health

Believe it or not, thinking positively can also help keep your body healthy. People who think positively often get sick less because their happy thoughts can strengthen their immune system. This is the part of your body that fights off germs. Also, when you’re positive, you might eat better, exercise more, and sleep well, all of which help you stay healthy.

Turning Problems into Lessons

Everyone faces problems sometimes. Positive thinking helps you deal with these problems better. Instead of getting upset or giving up, you can think of problems as chances to learn something new. For example, if you don’t do well on a test, instead of thinking you’re not smart, you can think of it as a way to find out what you need to study more.

Spreading Positivity to Others

Positive thinking is not just good for you; it’s also something you can share with others. When you’re positive, it’s like being a light in someone else’s day. You can make other people feel good with your smile or kind words. This can make your friends and family want to be around you more.

You can practice positive thinking every day. Start by saying nice things to yourself in the mirror, like “I can do this” or “I am a good friend.” Also, when something bad happens, try to find one good thing about it. And don’t forget to smile and say nice things to others, too. It’s like planting seeds that will grow into beautiful flowers.

In Conclusion

Positive thinking is a key to a happy life. It helps you do better in school, stay healthy, solve problems, and make friends. Remember, it’s okay to have bad days, but try to find a little bit of sunshine in them. Like a muscle, the more you use positive thinking, the stronger it gets. So, keep your thoughts as sunny as possible, and watch how they light up your life and the lives of those around you.

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• Positive Psychology

Think Positive: 11 Ways to Boost Positive Thinking

The complete guide to positive thinking, according to science..

Posted March 6, 2018 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

• What Is Positive Psychology?
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When you harness the power of positivity, it's amazing the impact it has on your life. It can decrease stress and make every moment worth experiencing. By thinking positive, you just can't help but be optimistic , even when everyone around you is miserable. As a result, you are happier, less depressed , and more satisfied. I believe in positive thinking so much that I touch on the topic in just about every chapter of my book, Outsmart Your Smartphone , and I created a whole happiness program based on Positive Psychology to help you boost happiness .

The benefits of positive thinking are vast. So how do you train your brain to think positive?

1. Ask yourself, "Do I think positively?"

Not sure whether you're a negative nelly? Take this well-being quiz , which not only gives you a score on "positivity," but can help you identify the other skills that can most help you improve your happiness and well-being. If you're someone who needs to work on your positivity, keep reading.

2. Strengthen your memory for positive information.

Did you know that you may be able to increase your positivity just by memorizing lists of positive words? It's because when you force your brain to use positive words frequently, you make these words (and their basic meaning) more accessible, more connected, and more easily activated in your brain. So when you go to retrieve a word or idea from your memory , positive ones can come to the top more easily.

Not sure which words are positive? Psychologists have painstakingly measured thousands of words to determine how positive and negative they are. I've compiled only the most positive of the positive words into a positive word workbook for adults , and a positive word workbook for kids . If you're struggling to think positive, try this strategy first. It can help develop your brain in ways that may make the other positive thinking strategies easier to implement.

3. Strengthen your brain's ability to work with positive information.

Once your brain has built strong neural networks for positive words, try to extend these networks by asking your brain to use positive information in new ways. For example, you could memorize positive words and set an alarm that reminds you to recall these words, in reverse order, an hour later.

Or, you could print out these positive words on cards (from my positivity workbook ), cut them into two pieces, shuffle them all together and then find each card's match. For example, the word " laughter " would be cut into "laug" and "hter." To match the word pieces, your brain has to search through lots of positive information to find what it's looking for. This positive memory recall task may make it easier when you try to think positive.

4. Strengthen your brain's ability to pay attention to the positive.

Are you one of those people who notices the bad stuff—like when someone cuts you off in traffic or your food doesn't taste quite as good as you wanted it too? Then you likely have trained your brain to focus on the negative, and your brain has gotten really good at it. It can be really challenging to undo this training. So instead, train your brain to be even better at focusing on the positive.

Just routinely focus on positive information and direct your attention away from the negative. Need help paying attention to the positive? Check out these positivity games .

5. Condition yourself to experience random moments of positivity.

Did you know that you can condition yourself for positivity? If you've ever taken an intro to psychology course, you've probably heard about the study of Pavlov's dog. Here is a quick refresher:

Pavlov had a dog. Pavlov would ring a bell to tell his dog that it was almost feeding time. Like most dogs, Pavlov's dog would get really excited when he was about to get fed. So he'd drool all over the place. What happened? Well, suddenly Pavlov's dog started getting excited just by the sound of that bell, even when food wasn't present. Eating food and the sound of the bell became linked in the dog’s brain. Something as meaningless as a bell was now making the dog excited.

This effect is called classical conditioning . It's the idea that when two stimuli are repeatedly paired, the response that was first elicited by the second stimulus (food) is now elicited by the first stimulus alone (the bell). This happens all the time without us even realizing it. For example, the favorite food for many of us is something that we ate as a child with our families. What likely happened was the positive feelings of being with family and the particular food got paired in our brains. As a result, we now get the warm-fuzzy feelings that we got from spending time with family just from eating the food alone, even if our family is not currently present when we eat it.

Although your environment is conditioning you to react in particular ways all the time, if you know what you're doing, you can use classical conditioning to boost your positivity . You do exactly what Pavlov did. You just repeatedly link boring things (like a bell ringing) with positive thoughts and feelings over and over again. Pretty soon, these boring things will generate positivity automatically. That's classical conditioning at work. This can help you think positive because when you are going about your life, maybe even feeling bummed about stresses or challenges, you’ll have these little positive moments that keep you energized and in a good mood.

6. Think positive, but not too much, and think negative when you need to.

Of course, thinking positive has its benefits. But thinking positive isn't always the best response. Negative thoughts sometimes have benefits, too.

When we are sad or grieving, thinking negative thoughts and showing the emotions that these thoughts create helps us communicate to others that we need their support and kindness. When we are treated unfairly and get angry, our thoughts can help motivate us to take action, make changes in our lives, and change the world. Casually pushing these negative emotions aside without seriously considering their origins can have negative consequences. So when you focus on the negative, ask yourself, is this negative emotion resulting in action that improves your life ? If so, then keep it. If not, then work on changing it.

7. Practice gratitude

I'll be the first to admit that there are an infinite number of things to be angry, sad, or anxious about. But the truth is that there are also an infinite number of things to feel passionate, joyful, and excited about. It's up to us to decide which we want to focus on.

One way to train your brain to focus on the positive it to practice gratitude. Gratitude is when we feel or express thankfulness for the people, things, and experiences we have. When we express gratitude at work, we can more easily gain the respect and camaraderie of those we work with. When we are grateful for our partners or friends, they are more generous and kind to us. When we are grateful for the little things in our day-to-day lives, we find more meaning and satisfaction in our lives.

Need to build a gratitude habit? Try these 5 ways to practice gratitude .

8. Savor the good moments

Too often we let the good moments pass, without truly celebrating them. Maybe your friend gives you a small gift or a colleague makes you laugh. Do you stop to notice and appreciate these small pleasures that life has to offer? If not, then you could benefit from savoring.

Savoring just means holding onto the good thoughts and emotions we have. You can savor by holding on to the emotions you're feeling in positive moments. Or you can savor by thinking about positive experiences from long ago. Savoring is a great way to develop a long-lasting stream of positive thoughts and emotions.

9. Generate positive emotions by watching fun videos

The broaden-and-build theory suggests that experiencing positive emotions builds our psychological, intellectual, and social resources, allowing us to benefit more from our experiences and be happier . So how do we infuse our lives with small bursts of positive emotion?

One way is to watch positive or fun videos. Watching cat videos or inspirational videos can generate a quick boost of positive emotions that can help fuel an upward spiral of positive emotions. Just be sure to mentally hang onto the positive emotions that emerge, through strategies like savoring, so that you take your good mood with you when you leave the couch. And be careful not to get sucked in for too long or you may end up feeling guilty for not getting more done.

10. Stop minimizing your successes

We have a bad habit of downplaying our successes and not fully appreciating our wins. For example, we may say, “Anyone could memorize positive words,” or “I didn’t increase my happiness as much I wanted to.” But this fails to recognize the effort that you put in—effort that not everyone would put in. These phrases minimize your small successes instead of celebrating them.

I struggle with this one a lot. People will praise me for building my own business—a business that helps people increase their happiness and well-being. But I’ll say, “Anyone could do it. I just got lucky.” This kind of thinking downplays all the small efforts I put in to make my business successful. Anyone could do it, but they didn’t ; I did.

The same is true for you. Even reading this post all the way to this point means you are putting effort in to improve your ability to think positive. Give yourself some credit for that. As you pursue positive thinking, happiness, or well-being—whatever your goal is—take note of your wins. After every small win, celebrate a little bit.

11. Stop all-or-nothing thinking

All-or-nothing thinking is when we view a situation as all good or all bad. This is another tough negative thinking habit to overcome. For example, I might think I’m a failure because I have not been particularly successful at helping kids cultivate the skills that help them think positive and increase happiness. I even had to shut down my first business which aimed to cultivate well-being in kids.

On the other hand, I have had great success in working with businesses to help them develop their happiness apps, writing content for these products and courses, and selling workbooks to help people learn happiness skills . What do you think? Does this make me a failure or success? If I was prone to all-or-nothing thinking, then I'd have to choose one or the other.

There is always room for improvement, but be careful not to start thinking you’re a complete failure just because you’re not a complete success in all the ways you hoped to be. You win some, you lose some. That’s life.

For more tips, visit berkeleywellbeing.com .

Tchiki Davis, Ph.D. , is a consultant, writer, and expert on well-being technology.

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Mindfulness and Positive Thinking

Optimism is a trait that should become more common, judging by Winston Churchill’s famous quote that “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Recent research indicates that optimists and pessimists approach problems differently, and their ability to cope successfully with adversity differs as a result.

Martin Seligman defines optimism as reacting to problems with a sense of confidence and high personal ability. Specifically, optimistic people believe that negative events are temporary, limited in scope (instead of pervading every aspect of a person’s life), and manageable. Of course, optimism, like other psychological states and characteristics, exists on a continuum. People can also change their levels of optimism depending on the situations they are in. For simplicity’s sake, the studies discussed herein will talk about people at the higher end of the spectrum as optimists and people on the lower end as pessimists. This section will review what is known about the benefits of optimism and evidence suggesting optimism is a learnable skill.

Optimistic Explanatory Style: Making Sense of Bad Events

Imagine two students who receive the same poor grade on an exam. The first student thinks, “I’m such a failure! I always do poorly in this subject. I can’t do anything right!” The second student thinks, “This test was difficult! Oh well, it’s just one test in one class. I tend to do well in other subjects.” These students are exhibiting two types of what psychologists call “explanatory styles”. Explanatory styles reflect three attributions that a person forms about a recent event. Did it happen because of me (internal) or something or someone else (external)? Will this always happen to me (stable) or can I change what caused it (unstable)? Is this something that affects all aspects of my life (pervasive) or was it a solitary occurrence (limited)? Pessimistic people tend to view problems as internal, unchangeable, and pervasive, whereas optimistic people are the opposite. Pessimism has been linked with depression, stress, and anxiety (Kamen & Seligman, 1987), whereas optimism has been shown to serve as a protective factor against depression, as well as a number of serious medical problems, including coronary heart disease (Tindle et al., 2009). Optimistic mothers even deliver healthier, heavier babies (Lobel, DeVincent, Kaminer, & Meyer, 2000)! Optimism seems to have a tremendous number of benefits; consider several detailed below.

Optimism and Physical Health

Few outcomes are more important than staying alive,  and optimism is linked to life longevity. Maruta, Colligan, Malinchoc, and Offord (2000) examined whether explanatory styles served as risk factors for early death. With a large longitudinal sample collected in the mid-1960s, the researchers categorized medical patients as optimistic, mixed, or pessimistic. Optimism was operationalized using parts of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The researchers found that for every 10 point increase in a person’s score on their optimism scale, the risk of early death decreased by 19%. Considering that, for a middle-aged person of average health, the difference between sudden death risk factors for smokers and non-smokers is 5-10%, the protective effect of optimism found in this study is massive.

Optimism also plays a role in the recovery from illness and disease. Multiple studies have investigated the role of optimism in people undergoing treatment for cancer (e.g., Carver et al., 1993; Schou, Ekeberg, & Ruland, 2005). These studies have found that optimistic people experience less distress when faced with potentially life-threatening cancer diagnoses. For example, Schou and colleagues (2005) found that a superior “fighting spirit” found in optimists predicted substantially better quality of life one year after breast cancer surgery. Optimism also predicted less disruption of normal life, distress, and fatigue in one study of women who were undergoing painful treatment for breast cancer (Carver, Lehman, & Antoni, 2003). In this case, optimism appeared to protect against an urge to withdraw from social activities, which may be important for healing. People who tend to be more optimistic and more mindful had an increase in sleep quality (Howell et al. 2008). There is also evidence that optimism can protect against the development of chronic diseases. A sample of middle-aged women was tested for precursors to atherosclerosis at a baseline and three years later. The women who endorsed greater levels of pessimism at the baseline assessment were significantly more likely to experience thickening arteries, while optimistic women experienced no such increase in thickness (Matthews, Raikkonen, Sutton-Tyrell, & Kuller, 2004).

Optimism can have an effect on a person’s immune system, as well. In one study, elderly adults were immunized for influenza (Kohut, Cooper, Nickolaus, Russell, & Cunnick, 2002). Two weeks later, their immune response to the vaccination was measured. Greater optimism predicted greater antibody production and better immune outcomes. Five studies have also investigated optimism and disease progression in people infected with HIV. Ironson and colleagues (2005) found, in a large sample, that optimism and positive HIV immune response were linearly related: people highest in optimism had the best suppression of viral load and a greater number of helper T cells, both important parts of the progression of HIV. Furthermore, another study found that optimistic men who were HIV-positive had lower mortality over a longitudinal study (Blomkvist et al., 1994). Another study that examined the link between optimism and immune system functioning was conducted by Segerstrom and Sephton (2010). This study examined a sample of entering law students over five time points in their first year of law school. Dispositional optimism (the tendency to be generally optimistic about your life) and optimism about law school, in particular, were assessed, along with measures of positive and negative affect (to determine whether any relationships between optimism and immune system functioning could be better explained through positive or negative affect). This study found that optimism predicted superior cell-mediated immunity, an important part of the immune system’s response to infectious agents. Furthermore, an individual’s changes in optimism levels from time point to time point were associated with changes in immune functioning: as optimism increased from one time point to another, immune function increased, as well. Furthermore, negative affect did not predict changes in immune function. What this means is that optimism appears to have a unique value among the factors that compose a person’s immune system. Taylor and colleagues (1992) found that optimism predicted better psychological coping post-HIV-diagnosis, as well as more perceived control over personal health and well-being . Thus, it appears that an optimistic outlook appears not only to be strongly positively related to a healthy immune system but also to better outcomes for people with compromised immune systems.

Optimism has also been investigated in health-related behaviors. In examining the risk of developing alcohol dependence, one study found that optimism protected against drinking problems in people with a family history of alcoholism (Ohannessian, Hesselbrock, Tennen, & Affleck, 1993). As family history is one of the greatest risk factors for developing substance dependence, optimism’s protective effects against its influence may be very important for public health efforts. Beyond helping to prevent substance use problems from developing, optimism may predict better outcomes from efforts to quit using. In a study by Strack, Carver, and Blaney (1987), optimism predicted greater success in treatment for alcohol abuse, with optimistic people more likely to remain in treatment and abstinent than pessimists. Pregnant women who are higher in optimism have been shown to be less likely to abuse substances while pregnant (Park, Moore, Turner, & Adler, 1997). Optimism appears to be an important factor in risky health behaviors: both whether people choose to engage in them and whether they choose to quit.

The studies described above share a common theme: optimism can have profound effects on a person’s physical health. The mere act of expecting positive outcomes and being hopeful can boost a person’s immune system, protect against harmful behaviors, prevent chronic disease, and help people cope following troubling news. Optimism can even predict a longer life. Among psychological constructs, optimism may be one of the most important predictors of physical health.

Optimism and Psychological Health

Evidence suggests that optimism is important in coping with difficult life events. Optimism has been linked to better responses to various difficulties, from the more mundane (e.g., transition to college [Brissette, Scheier, & Carver, 2002]) to the more extreme (e.g., coping with missile attacks [Zeidner & Hammer, 1992]). Optimism appears to play a protective role, assisting people in coping with extraordinarily trying incidents. Furthermore, optimism has been found to correlate positively with life satisfaction and self-esteem (Lucas, Diener , & Suh, 1996). Segerstrom and Sephton (2010) also examined whether optimism predicted positive affect. Their hypothesis that changes in optimism would predict changes in positive affect was borne out, as increases in optimism were associated with increased positive affect, and vice versa. Interestingly, changes in optimism were not related to changes in negative affect. Thus, it appears that optimism is uniquely related to positive affect. This means that optimists are generally happier with their lives than pessimists.

Optimists are also able to recover from disappointments more quickly by attending to positive outcomes to a greater extent than negative ones. Litt and colleagues (1992) examined optimism and pessimism in couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) attempts. In this study, 41 women and their husbands were interviewed two weeks prior to the IVF attempt and two weeks after a subsequent pregnancy test. Among the women who received a negative pregnancy test, optimists were better able than pessimists to cope with failed fertilization attempts by endorsing thoughts like “this experience has made our relationship stronger”. Pessimists were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and to feel personally responsible for the failure of the IVF attempt. This study suggests that optimists are better able to cope with disappointment by attending to positive aspects of the setback.

Optimists are also more likely to engage in problem solving when faced with difficulties, which is itself associated with increased psychological well-being (e.g., Taylor et al., 1992). HIV-positive patients who were more optimistic were more likely to plan their recoveries, seek further information, and avoid self-blame and escapism (both of which are associated with worse psychological functioning). Optimists also tend to accept the reality of difficult situations while also framing them in the best possible light (Carver et al., 1993). While pessimists tend to cope through denial and abandoning impeded goals, optimists rely on acceptance and the use of humor. Optimism may even play a role in the well-being of caregivers for people with chronic illnesses. Caring for a loved one with a severe, terminal illness can have serious negative effects on psychological well-being. However, optimism appears to protect against the worst of these effects, as optimism has been associated with less depression and greater well-being in studies of people caring for others with cancer (Given et al., 1993), Alzheimer’s (Hooker et al., 1992), and mental disorders (Singh et al., 2004). The association between optimism and coping with other, less extreme difficulties has been investigated, as well. For example, in one study of college freshman, measures of optimism, hope, and well-being were administered immediately upon beginning college (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992). At the end of the semester, measures of well-being were again administered. Optimism at the beginning of college predicted a smoother, psychologically healthier transition to college life, as well as larger groups of new friends .

With all of the research presented above, it is clear that optimism is a powerful tool in our repertoire to keep us healthy, happy, and alive. This news is great for people who are “natural” optimists, but what about others who don’t generally “look on the bright side”? Can “natural” pessimists learn to become more optimistic?

Can a Pessimist Become an Optimist?

Martin Seligman, father of positive psychology , began his career studying depression, stress, and anxiety. From his work in these areas, he discovered that the optimistic explanatory style described above acted as a protective factor against the development of depression when faced with difficult circumstances. For a psychologist, understanding what makes some people more immune to suffering is beneficial, but it’s also somewhat unsatisfying if those benefits cannot be extended to other people. Thus, Seligman set out to understand whether or not optimism could be learned. Various studies on changing explanatory styles were conducted, and the general theme of their findings was that optimism could, indeed, be learned (Gillham, Reivich, Jaycox, & Seligman, 1995). Following this line of research, a curriculum was developed for school children to attempt to inculcate in them an optimistic explanatory style. Children were selected as the population of interest as their personalities are more malleable than adults, as they are still forming and have not “solidified”. Thus, they represent a perfect population for testing the idea that psychological interventions can modify a person’s personality. The program, called the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP), operates under the idea that instilling optimism in young people might serve to protect them from developing depressive symptoms in the future as sort of a “psychological immunization”. It relies on teachers and school counselors to administer 12 sessions of intervention, in which students are taught, among other things, how to change the types of thoughts that are consistent with the pessimistic explanatory style. Multiple studies have used strict randomized controlled trial criteria to evaluate the efficacy of this program. One study (Gillham et al., 2007) examined the use of the PRP in nearly 700 middle school students across three schools. Children were assigned to the PRP, to a program (Penn Enhancement Program [PEP]) that focused on stressors common in adolescent life, including self-esteem, peer pressure, and family conflict, or to a control condition in which students received no intervention. Students were assessed on measures of depressive symptoms and well-being two weeks after the final session and then every six months for the subsequent three years. In two of the three schools, 20% fewer students in the PRP condition reported elevated depressive symptoms three years post-intervention when compared to the control group, and nearly 10% fewer when compared to the PEP. This evidence seems to support the idea that optimism can be developed and nurtured in young people, though similar programs have not been developed for adults. More research is necessary, but it appears that optimism can be trained or learned. Thus, there is a promising argument to be made that anyone can learn to derive the numerous benefits of optimism.

Optimism Conclusions: Where do we go from here?

Countless studies have been conducted on optimism, and the vast majority of them support the same conclusions: optimism is healthy! Optimists live longer, have better functioning immune systems, cope better with difficult circumstances, and even have healthier babies. Are there downsides? There are a few. For instance, there is some evidence that under certain circumstances, optimism can actually suppress immune functioning. For a certain subset of the law student sample profiled in Segerstrom and Sephton (2010), more difficult stressors coupled with higher levels of optimism actually predicted worse immune functioning (Segerstrom, 2006). The reasons for this are unclear, but one explanation might be that optimism was mostly linked to negative outcomes in law students who stayed close to home for law school. For these students, there might be greater competing pressures between social goals (spending time with friends and loved ones) and performing optimally in graduate school. With a finite amount of time and energy, coupled with the tendency of optimists to persevere in the face of difficulty, these students might simply be exhausting their body’s resources. Optimism has also been linked to health behaviors that can have negative consequences. For example, one study found that optimistic teenage girls were less likely than less optimistic peers to seek information about HIV testing. Furthermore, they were less likely to actually get tested (Goodman, Chesney, & Tipton, 1995). These examples indicate that optimism may have its downsides, but the good outcomes related to it far outweigh the negatives.

It’s apparent from the PRP studies that optimism can be nurtured in children, but what about adults? Studies that have investigated this question have relied on one-on-one cognitive behavioral therapy to improve levels of optimism, but no large-scale intervention has yet been developed. Further research is necessary to determine whether non-clinical interventions can be used to foster optimism. It stands to reason that changing automatic negative thoughts should be possible in PRP-style interventions for adults, but this is a question that will need to be answered with solid data.

Ultimately, there is a large, scientifically valid body of research that indicates that optimistic people are generally better off in life than pessimists. This is a growing area of research, and the future of positive thinking research is promising.

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Gratitude: Parent of all virtues

The great Roman orator Cicero wrote, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Indeed, all of us can think of times in our lives when we’ve expressed heartfelt thanks to others for gifts of time and effort. Being grateful feels good. Gratitude, the state or feeling of being thankful, is an almost universal concept among world cultures. In fact, nearly all of the world’s spiritual traditions emphasize the importance of giving thanks to benefactors, supernatural or otherwise (Emmons & Crumpler, 2000 † ). Robert Emmons, a leader in the field of gratitude research, defines gratitude as the feeling that occurs when a person attributes a benefit they have received to another (Emmons, 2004). Feeling grateful has a number of benefits. Feelings of gratitude are associated with less frequent negative emotions and more frequent positive emotions such as feeling energized , alert, and enthusiastic (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002). Beyond emotions, there is evidence that gratitude is associated with pleasant physical sensations, as well. Algoe and Haidt (2009) found that people experienced pleasant muscle relaxation when recalling situations in which they’d felt grateful. It is apparent that the mere act of giving thanks can have remarkable impact on a person’s well-being.

Taking time to appreciate your mother for all the care she provided growing up; reconnecting with an old friend to express your gratitude for always being there for you; seeking out and thanking a favorite teacher who helped you grow – specific acts of gratitude can have a variety of positive consequences, but what about people who are more grateful by nature than others? Given the centrality of thanksgiving in religious traditions, grateful people tend to be more spiritual than their less-grateful counterparts. People who are generally grateful report being more agreeable and less narcissistic compared with less grateful people. People who are more grateful also report being happier (Watkins, Woodward, Stone, & Kolts, 2003).

Characteristics of grateful people

What separates more grateful people from less grateful people? Recent evidence shows that a lot of the differences may be in how grateful people approach situations in which they’ve received some form of aid. When presented with the same short stories in which participants are told they’ve received help from another people, more grateful people tend to see their benefactors as more selfless and having exerted more effort to help, as well as placing higher value on the help they received (Wood, Maltby, Stewart, Linley, & Joseph, 2008). To further support this hypothesis, these authors sought to replicate their findings in people’s daily lives. Students kept diaries of moments in their everyday environment when they were helped by another person and then asked to rate how selfless and sincere was the benefactor, how much effort did the benefactor expend, how grateful did they feel toward their benefactor, and how valuable was the help received Findings from these random moments in everyday life supported the hypothesis that more grateful people rate all of these factors higher than less grateful people. These findings suggest that grateful people interpret events in a unique way, and this interpretation style might account for the benefits extracted from gift giving experiences.

Extrapolating from the interpretations that differentiate more and less grateful people, Wood and colleagues (2008) used a longitudinal design to investigate how gratitude related to social support, stress, and depression. Longitudinal studies follow the same group of people over time, which allows researchers to examine temporal relationships between different variables. This has the benefit of strengthening hypotheses about causal relationships between variables. In this study, the researchers asked people to rate the overall gratitude, social support, depression, and stress in their life. Everyone was contacted again to complete the same questionnaires three months later. How grateful people initially felt predicted greater feelings of social support and less stress and depression three months later. Thus, it appears that grateful people find themselves feeling a sense of belonging and a relative absence of stress and depression. Psychologists have repeatedly shown that perceptions are more important than objective reality and grateful people possess benign interpretations of themselves, other people, and the world.

There are interpersonal benefits associated with gratitude, as well. Feelings of gratitude are associated with increased feelings of closeness and a desire to build or strengthen relationships with a benefactor (Algoe & Haidt, 2009). Acts of gratitude require us to admire good characteristics of other people. Doing so encourages us to become closer to them. It has the added benefit of improving mood: reflecting upon the good another had done for them elevated the moods of participants in Algoe and Haidt’s (2009) study, who were asked to recall a time in which another person had assisted them in an exemplary way. In addition, the act of contemplating times in which another person had helped these participants resulted in participants expressing a desire for moral growth and to help others, themselves. Thus, it appears that being grateful can actually encourage people to do something good for another person. Gratitude, therefore, might have important benefits to society as a whole.

It has become clear that there are a number of advantages associated with being grateful. Among other things, grateful people are happier, have stronger feelings of social support, and feel less stressed and depressed. As being grateful has so many positive attributes, it seems that intervening to increase people’s levels of gratitude may be a good way to increase their feelings of well-being. In the next section, we discuss the research that has attempted to do just that.

Becoming more grateful: Does it work?

While it’s clear that gratitude and well-being are connected, the research presented above is correlational in nature. What this means is that, while those studies tell us there is a connection between being grateful and being happy, it is impossible to say which one leads to the other. Based on that evidence, it could simply be that people who are already happier are more grateful. To better identify a causal relationship, carefully controlled experiments are required.

Fortunately, there has been an abundance of such research in the last decade. Emmons and McCullough (2003) conducted some of the first experimental studies of the effects of gratitude on well-being. In one study, college students were randomly placed into one of three conditions, (gratitude, hassles, or events), each of which lasted for nine weeks. Participants were given weekly packets in which they were to write down different things depending on their condition. In the gratitude condition, students were asked to write down several experiences for which they were grateful. In the hassles condition, students wrote down annoyances they experienced in the previous week. Finally, in the events condition, students wrote down a number of events that affected them in the past week. No instruction was given about what types of events to include, and responses ranged from “learned CPR” to “cleaned out my shoe closet”. The events condition acted as a neutral control condition to which the other two were compared. Students also completed a series of measures assessing physical symptoms and overall well-being. Students in the grateful condition reported significantly greater life satisfaction, greater optimism for the upcoming week, fewer physical symptoms, and, perhaps most surprisingly, exercised significantly more than students in either the events condition or the hassles condition. However, the gratitude intervention did not have a significant impact on positive or negative emotions. Thus, while being grateful caused students to assess their lives as more satisfying and made them more optimistic about their futures, it didn’t change the overall emotional tone of their daily lives.

A subsequent study replaced the weekly exercises from the previous study with daily diaries that were used for two weeks. This study kept the gratitude and hassles conditions, but replaced the events condition with instructions to write about ways in which the students were better off than other people. This study found a significant difference in levels of positive affect between people in the gratitude condition and people in the hassles condition, which is a bit like comparing healthiness between people who have eaten fruits and vegetables for a week with people who have eaten only cheeseburgers and fries. Based on these two studies, the causal link between gratitude and well-being is clearly present. However, it is thus far difficult to make the claim that being grateful makes a person happier.

While the research by Emmons and McCullough (2003) suggests that being more grateful doesn’t necessarily increase positive emotions more than not doing anything at all, that study was conducted with a sample of undergraduates. Perhaps children, whose brains and personalities are more malleable than those of college students, would derive greater benefit from grateful acts. To investigate this, Froh and colleagues (2008) examined the effects of counting blessings in a sample of sixth and seventh graders. Classes were assigned to the same conditions as in Emmons and McCullough (2003). Findings were similar to that study, as well, with the gratitude intervention resulting in happier students when compared to the students who wrote about their hassles, but not when compared to the neutral control students. However, these researchers examined other outcomes, as well. Froh and colleagues found that students who were told to be grateful were more excited about and satisfied with school than the students in the other conditions. Given the importance of school satisfaction in academic performance, this is a promising area of research for researchers and educators alike.

The studies covered thus far have shown a number of benefits associated with increasing gratitude in people of different ages. What they have not yet shown, however, is that making people more grateful makes them happier. To further investigate this area, Froh and colleagues (2009) hypothesized that gratitude interventions weren’t increasing levels of positive affect because many of the people who composed the samples in previous research were already happy. Perhaps people who are happier reach a “ceiling” point, beyond which it is very difficult to become even happier. This theory is consistent with research by social psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, who found that people adapt quickly to positive changes in their lives and thus derive diminishing happiness returns from them. Perhaps, for people who are less happy to begin with, feelings of gratitude are more novel, and thus less happy people experience a greater benefit from gratitude exercises. Froh and colleagues (2009) examined the effects of expressed gratitude in students ranging from third to twelfth grade. Their findings indicated that the students with the lowest levels of positive affect received substantial benefits from expressing gratitude when compared to a neutral control condition. In other words, the students who had the most to gain in terms of positive emotion gained the most positive emotion, a surprising and exciting result. Furthermore, it’s possible that people with greater positive emotions to begin with are more open and receptive to changing their life orientation and enhancing their existing relationships. This includes being in a state of mind to be better attuned to positive events and more open to savoring them, integrating these experiences into their visions of how their overall lives appear. Taken in this context, it appears that, while nearly everyone derives benefits from giving thanks, different people experience different rewards.

Altogether, the studies profiled here have shown that gratitude can be increased through targeted interventions and that those increases have important implications for people’s well-being. But the question remains: can encouraging people to be more grateful really make them happier? Sheldon and Lyubomirsky (2006) set out to answer this question with a four-week experimental study. In this study, students were asked to either count their blessings everyday or write about details of their lives. At two-week and four-week intervals, the participants completed “check-ups”, in which they rated their levels of well-being, positive emotions, and negative emotions. The most exciting result from this study is that people in the gratitude condition increased in positive affect when compared to the control condition. This is a novel result, as prior research had shown only that gratitude interventions were effective in increasing positive affect compared to exercises that asked people to write about bad things that had happened to them. However, a caveat applies: in these analyses, the gratitude condition was paired with another experimental condition, in which students were asked to envision their “best possible selves” in their ideal future lives. Both of these interventions resulted in higher levels of positive affect, but there was no difference between them. Furthermore, all conditions experienced a decrease in negative affect across the four weeks of the study, with no significant differences between them. While these results are exciting, it would be advantageous to attempt to replicate them in other samples to more fully establish an effect.

There is a possibility that the way in which the gratitude intervention is delivered matters. Lyubomirsky and colleagues (2005) conducted a study in which they asked participants in the experimental condition to contemplate “things for which they are grateful” over the course of six weeks. Participants in the control condition completed only assessments of their happiness levels. In addition to the experimental and control condition, participants were asked either to complete the tasks once a week or three times a week. Results indicated that participants who completed the tasks only once a week showed increases in levels of well-being compared to the control group, but participants who completed the tasks three times a week showed no difference in happiness. A possible explanation for this could be that people who “counted their blessings” multiple times per week became bored with the intervention, and it thus lost its ability to increase happiness.

Each of the above studies has used multiple gratitude exercises to attempt to effect change. However, one study has examined the effects of a single gratitude-enhancing event: the letter of gratitude. Seligman and colleagues (2005) asked visitors to their website to write a letter to a person that they felt they had never properly thanked for a past kindness . These people were then asked to deliver this letter in person to their benefactor. These people experienced a substantial increase in happiness compared to people who wrote about their early memories. Furthermore, the increase was significant through one month post-intervention. These findings are perhaps the most excited yet profiled. However, that excitement must be tempered by the fact that the sample used in this study was visitors to a website about happiness. These people might be especially motivated to complete the exercise, or there may be important differences in people who seek out such tasks. While these results are promising, it will be important to attempt to replicate these findings in more typical samples. Fortunately, one can take away a positive spin from this study, as well: this experiment found substantial increases in happiness from a single intense gratitude-enhancing activity. While the increase in happiness was relatively short-lived, it suggests that there might be ways to use gratitude to improve happiness long term.

The take-home message from these studies is this: gratitude interventions have a number of positive effects, ranging from improving people’s feelings of thankfulness to increasing levels of school satisfaction. Each of these outcomes is valuable in its own right. However, the answer to the question, “Do gratitude interventions make people happier?” remains an (optimistic) “Maybe, but we don’t know for sure.”

Conclusions: Where do we go from here?

Of all the areas studied in the relatively young field of positive psychology , gratitude has perhaps the widest body of research. Grateful people have been shown to have greater levels of positive affect, a greater sense of belonging, and lower levels of depression and stress. Furthermore, efforts to make people more grateful have their own benefits. Gratitude is clearly an important part of a “good life”, and it therefore demands further careful research. Each of the studies profiled here has strong scientific merit, and their results should give us a sense of cautious optimism as we move forward in the study of thanksgiving.

Here are comprehensive reviews of each key study:

Burpee, L. C., & Langer, E. J. (2005). Mindfulness and Marital Satisfaction. Journal of Adult Development, 12(1), 43–51. doi:10.1007/s10804-005-1281-6.  Introduction: This study examines if mindfulness is correlated with overall marital satisfaction and compare this relationship with previously studied variables, such as perceived spouse similarities and various demographic factors.

Prevalent theories and multiple earlier studies have postulated, that both personality and behavioral congruency in couple are strong indicators for marital satisfaction, as these spouses share similar personality characteristics and tend to be less argumentative. Burpee and Langer’s 2005 study takes a novel approach to the existing theoretical explanations for marital bliss, suggesting that mindfulness may explain perceived congruence fully, since mindful individuals are characterized by the ability to consider alternative perspectives, draw novel distinctions across situations, reevaluate their stance and question automatic behavior, defying the limits of categories and premature cognitive commitments” (p.45). The authors further hypothesize that the fundamental quality of open-mindedness that is related to the construct of mindfulness could be strongly related to developing a positive and satisfying relationship and possibly increasing general well-being.

Method: The study consisted of 95 married participants (55 women and 40 men) between the ages of 25 and 74, who provided extensive demographic information, life satisfaction and marital satisfaction questionnaires and a mindfulness scale. The measure of of mindfulness was based a scale developed by Langer (2001) and assessed four dimensions: novelty seeking, novelty producing, flexibility and engagement.

Results: The mean normalized marital satisfaction score was 80.16 (SD=6.62) and the mean normalized mindfulness score was 69.76 (SD=8.28) and a further analyses identified a positive correlation between mindfulness and marital satisfaction. Interestingly, perceived spouse similarities were not associated with marital satisfaction.

A predictive equation analysis indicated that nearly 8% of marital satisfaction was due to mindfulness. The authors then examine if the four dimensions of mindfulness identified with the scale hold different correlations with marital satisfaction. The novelty producing (M = 48.15, SD = 8.50; r = .26, r2 = .07, p < .05) and novelty seeking variables (M = 57.51, SD = 7.83; r = .22, r2 = .09, p < .01) were both statistically significant and positively correlated with satisfaction in marriage, whereas flexibility scores did not indicate significant relationship. Demographic variables combined accounted for 20% of marital satisfaction (R=.45, R2=.198, p<.05). When separate demographic variables were analyzed, regression analyses revealed that mindfulness is particularly important among certain demographic subgroups: participants older than 40 years of age, those married only once and for more than 9 years, participants with children, those with pets, those with none ore one sibling, and those with no older siblings.

Conclusion: There is a strong relationship between mindfulness and marital satisfaction, which shows that spouses who are open to new experiences, mentally engaged  with overall high mindfulness scores have more satisfying relationships. Mindfulness was also more likely to contribute to less arguments for the couple. There was no significant relationship between marital satisfaction and perceived personality similarities. Burpee and Langer discuss possible explanations for the importance of mindfulness to smooth marital interactions, hypothesizing that mindful individuals are less threatened by change, less likely to react impulsively to conflict, but rather reevaluate situations.

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: The researchers mention how married couples with children experience less marital satisfaction, but are not equipped to examine possible explanations. For a future study they could look more closely at the relation to children and marital happiness. Further, the article provides no mention of alternative explanations for the findings or attempts to account for confounding variables. It is possible that mindful individuals exhibit certain personality traits or behavioral tendencies that contribute to general relationship satisfaction. Future studies should attempt to examine personality traits more closely. In addition, it is important to question if mindfulness improves relationships across the board or affects marital satisfaction specifically.

Caprara, G. V., Steca, P., Gerbino, M., Paciello, M., & Vecchio, G. M. (2006). Looking for adolescents’ well-being: Self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of positive thinking and happiness. Epidemiologia e psichiatria sociale, 15(01), 30–43.  Introduction: Researchers have been interested in subjective well-being (SWB) for a long time. Over the last decade there has been an increased interest in the relationship between positive thinking, happiness and SWB. The authors of this study recognize the importance of these constructs and their relationship but they also suggest that self-esteem and optimism should be included as constructs of interest. Both these variables have been found to be correlated with psychosocial well-being and various other positive outcomes. Another important variable that they find crucial is self-efficacy, which is pivital in adolescents as well as in young adults and contributes to learning, work, sports, health, social adjustment, and well-being.

The study is valuable it utilizes both a longitudinal design for a large number of adolescent subjects and the impact of self efficacy, happiness and SWB in a critical developmental period. Such a longitudinal design can provide insights about optimal adolescent development and youth’s happiness in relation to other social and psychological constructs. Further, the study examines the concurrent impact of a number of factors on adolescent happiness and how it is experiences in daily events over a period of time.

Method: Participants in the study were 664 Italian adolescents with the mean age of 16.73 years, with widely diverse socioeconomic status. The participants were asked to complete questionnaires  at two different times. The self efficacy measures (affective self-efficacy beliefs, interpersonal-social self-efficacy beliefs and psychometric characteristics of self-efficacy) were only administered at Time 1. The remaining measures were subjective well-being, self-esteem, optimism, life satisfaction and happiness.

Results: Boys had a stronger sense of efficacy in managing negative affect (F=23.10, p<.001). They also had higher levels of self-esteem at TI (F=11.96, p<.01). Girls had a stronger sense of efficacy in regulating positive affect (F=8.91, p<.01). Positive thinking at both times represented a hidden factor pertaining to self-esteem, optimism, and life satisfaction. Positive thinking and self-efficacy were stable and both times, but related.

Conclusion: “Perceived self-efficacy for affect regulation and for the management of interpersonal relationships influence adolescents’ subjective well-being.” Both affective and interpersonal self-efficacy play a role in subjective well-being and increase positive thinking of both themselves and their lives. The data also indicated that managing appropriate affect with their relationship with family and friends contributes to subjective well-being.

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: One limitation discussed by the researchers is the use of self-reports, which can be unreliable or invalid in its subjectivity. The fact that data was collected from Italian adolescents alone questions the external validity of the study, as findings may not be generalizable to adolescents in other parts of the world. Future development of standardized inventories with tested validity and reliability can help compare findings across nations. 

Carmody, J., & Baer, R. A. (2007). Relationships between mindfulness practice and levels of mindfulness, medical and psychological symptoms and well-being in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 31(1), 23–33. doi:10.1007/s10865-007-9130-7.  Introduction: There is a vast amount of research supporting the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness training, but he number of identified facets of mindfulness varies between studies. An exploratory factor analysis of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) by Baer et al. (2006) has specifically identified the five factors with the highest loading: observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experiences and non-reactivity to inner-experiences. These five facets have shown good internal consistency and correlations to variables, known to be related to mindfulness, such as emotional intelligence, openness to experience, experiential avoidance and thought suppression. The study examines the effects of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR) and in-home mindfulness training on psychological wellbeing and stress reduction.

The study demonstrates a rigorous scientific analyses based on self-report measures in a pre- and post-treatment conditions. While the method is not a controlled experiment with a control group and random assignment, it provides a valuable insight about practical clinical applications of mindfulness and its tendency to increase subjective well-being. The authors provide a detailed account of methodology and statistical analyses, as well as subject exclusion criteria and demographics, managing to capture implications of specific mindfulness training methods for a well-defined population sample. The use of standardized measures allows future studies to replicate the study.

Method: Participants in the study were  174 adults (63% female) from the University of Massachusetts Medical School MBSR program who had suffered from a range of chronic pain, anxiety and stress. The average age of the participants was 47 years (SD=10.26). The participants attended 8 instructional sessions, filling a questionnaire  after each session. The  measures used in the study were  demographics questionnaire, mindfulness inventory (FFMQ), home mindfulness practice (assessed with homework logs), psychological symptoms (Brief Symptom Inventory, BSI), medical symptoms (Medical Symptom Checklist, MSCL), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS), and psychological well-being (Scales of Psychological Well-Being) (p.26).  One goal of the researchers was to measure mindfulness pre- and post-MBRS, as well as effects of home mindfulness practice. Effects on well being pre- and post-mindfulness training were also examined.

Results: Practicing the body scan was associated with higher levels of mindfulness. Yoga practice had an association with changes to four to five facets: well-being, perceived stress level, and sever psychological symptoms. Sitting and meditating was associated with increase of two of mindfulness facets: awareness and non-reactivity. These findings show that greater practice is associated with more mindfulness and well-being, as well as decrease in stress and its symptoms. “Meditation practice time was a significant predictor of decrease in psychological symptoms (R = .30, F = 11.39, p < .01), and of increase in mindfulness (R = .42, F = 21.95, p < .001). Increase in mindfulness also was a significant predictor of decrease in symptoms (R = .49, F = 46.50; p < .001)” (p.30). Meditation practice time was a significant predictor of decrease in perceived stress (R = .26, F = 8.30, p < .01) and of increase in mindfulness (R = .42, F = 46.50, p < .001). Meditation practice time was a significant predictor of well-being (R = .42, F = 24.14, p < .001).

Conclusion: The results show that mindfulness increased over the course of MBSR and  indicate that home practice meditation exercises (body scan, yoga, sitting) were significantly correlated to most facets of mindfulness, and several measures of symptoms and well-being. The increase in mindfulness was associated with decrease in psychological symptoms and decreased stress, pointing to the overall beneficial effect of mindfulness on well-being.

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: A noted limitation of the study is the fact that the participants were well educated and and financial resourceful which limits the generalizability of the findings. There is also a possibility that the participants did not complete the practice forms on days that they were not assigned homework. The lack of true experimental design with control group and random assignment poses a limitation for the internal validity of the results. Future study designs should attempts to compare mindfulness training with alternative approaches, whether therapy, standard medical treatments, self-help groups and no interventions to establish if mindfulness is a truly unique and successful in promoting well-being, or comparable to other approaches. 

Fredrickson, B. L., & Joiner, T. (2002). Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being. Psychological science, 13(2), 172–175.  Introduction: Positive emotions make people feel better. The researchers believe that this is not the only reason to care about positive emotions. They argue that positive emotions make you feel good in the present and will also make you feel good in the future. The research is based on Frederickson’s  broaden-and-build theory (1998, 2001) suggesting that negative emotions narrow thought action repertoires while positive emotions broaden the parameters of creative thinking, attention and cognition, thus increasing emotional well-being. This study examines of positive emotions do trigger an upward spiral towards well-being.

The study is important in the way that it tests and expands an existing theoretical model that discusses the relationship between emotional content and subsequent emotional well-being, suggesting the longitudinal effects of emotional states.

Methods: Participants were 138 undergraduate students (mean age of 20, SD=1.3; 71% Caucasian; 54% female), who completed measures of affect and coping in two sessions, five weeks apart. The measures used were the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) and the Coping Responses Inventory (CRI; Moos, 1988).

Results: Consistent with their first hypothesized, Fredrickson and Joiner observed that positive affect (PA), but not negative affect (NA) enhanced broad-minded coping between the two testing sessions. PA at T1 was significantly related to changes in broad-minded coping between sessions (pr=.19), t(134)=2.25, p=.05, but T1 NA was not. The second research question examined if the relationship between PA and broad-minded coping works in both directions, so that this type of coping can be associate with increase PA, but not reduced NA. Their predictions were supported by two regressions equations, revealing that students who coped better initially also indicated higher increased PA by the second session (pr=.32),t(135)=3.83,p<.05, but there was no significant association with changes in NA. The other two research hypotheses examined if PA and good broad-minded coping will increase over time, pointing to their idea of upward temporal spiral of aspects of emotional well-being. Series of regression analyses, controlling for mediators confirmed these hypotheses so that PA at T1 was a significant predictor for PA at T2 (pr=.45), t(135) = 5.82, p<.05  and broad-minded coping at T1 predicted coping at T2 (pr=.54), t(135)=7.37, p<.05.

Conclusion: The data shows that positive emotions do more than just make people feel good in the present, but may also increase positive emotions in the future. A similar conclusion is drawn for broad-minded coping skills, which are considered healthy, flexible and adaptive.  Further, the two appeared to be related and mutually enhancing of one another over time.

Limitations and Future Directions: The authors do not discuss limitations. However, it is important to remember the sample consisted solely of undergraduate students in young adulthood, who are not only considered a high-functioning group, but developmentally tend to increase their repertoire of coping skills and are likely to be motivated and striving to improve. The homogeneity of the sample poses a limitation for the external validity of the findings. It would be beneficial for future studies to examine if the theoretical principles and variable associations can be replicated for other demographic groups. In addition, the temporal effect examined was only observed in the relatively brief period of five weeks. Future studies could examine if the same associations would persist over longer periods of time. The authors also discuss clinical implications of the results that can aid  clinician working with depressed patients, possibly increasing depressed individuals’  coping and therapeutic skills as well as positive emotionality.

Hollis-Walker, L., & Colosimo, K. (2011). Mindfulness, self-compassion, and happiness in non-meditators: A theoretical and empirical examination. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(2), 222–227. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.09.033 Introduction: Literature has shown that mindfulness is a natural quality that promotes adaptive human functioning. The introduction was broken into three different parts. The first being the nature of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a Buddhist concept that is a practice of being self aware of here and now. A lack of mindfulness is as if you are putting your brain in auto pilot. Mindfulness also involves a non-judging and non-identifying attitude. The second part is self-compassion. The only way to achieve self-compassion is by having compassion for others and being able to share in the pain and alleviation of others. According to Buddhist psychology, higher levels of self-compassion and mindfulness relates to higher levels of happiness. The third part of the introduction was eudaimonism, which focuses on pleasure more than humanistic realistic experiences.

Hollis’ study from 2011 was identified as key study because it examined the relation between mindfulness, psychological well-being, self-compassion, and five factor model. It was determined that high on mindfulness scored high with self –compassion and psychological well-being

Methods: The study consisted of 123 undergraduate students with the mean age of 21 and the majority being females. To be considered the participants could not have been regularly practicing meditation. The participants were given an online self reported questionnaire to complete that examined these measures: Mindfulness, Psychological Well-Being (PWB), Self-Compassion, and the Five-Factor Model of Personality.

Results: Mindfulness was positively correlated to PWB (r=.75), self-compassion (r=.69), agreeableness (r=.36), openness (r=.35), negatively with neuroticism (r=-.66), extraversion (r=.42), and conscientiousness (r=.46). Mindfulness (the IV) significantly predicted self-compassion (the proposed mediator) (b = .69, R2 = .47, p < .001) and PWB (the DV) (b = .75, R2 = .55, p < .001). Mindfulness regression weight on PWB was reduced but remained significant (b = .46, R2 = .64, p < .001)

Conclusion: Participants who scored high on mindfulness also scored high with self-compassion, psychological well-being, agreeableness, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness, and low on neuroticism. Self compassion was also a partial mediator of happiness and well-being.

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: The researchers suggest that self-compassion be employed by therapists as means to increase the clients happiness. They also want to focus more study on self-compassion to see what specific aspects are doing the work. 

Howell, A. J., Digdon, N. L., Buro, K., & Sheptycki, A. R. (2008). Relations among mindfulness, well-being, and sleep. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(8), 773–777. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.08.005  Introduction: Lack of sleep normally involves anxiety, mood disorders, substance-related disorders, psychotic disorders, and cognitive disorders. Mental health is a combination of: emotional well-being, psychological well-being, and social well-being. A final marker of mental health is mindfulness, which is the idea of being aware of oneself. Mindfulness is known for promoting high levels of well-being. There is not much research though on mindfulness, well-being, and sleep. Studies have shown how sleep and happiness/well-being are positively correlated but this article wants to focus on how mindfulness plays a role. Another aspect of the study that the researchers want to study was the individual’s circadian rhythm and see how that correlates to well-being.

Howell’s study from 2008 was identified as a key study because it examined the relationship between sleep and mindfulness. It was found that mindfulness had a direct association with well-being and sleep quality Method: The study consisted of 305 undergraduate students between the ages of 18-30 years. The students completed and the online questionnaires examining these four measures: well-being, mindfulness, sleep quality, and circadian rhythm preference.

Results: The participants age was a correlate of mindfulness r(280) = .21, p < .001. A higher year of study was associated with psychological well-being, r(267) = .12, p < .05, social well-being, r(270) = .17, p < .01, overall well-being, r(242) = .14, p < .05, and mindfulness, r(279) = .14, p < .05. Grade point average was a positive correlate of emotional well-being, r(240) = .19, p < .01, psychological well-being, r(228) = .16, p < .05, overall well-being, r(210) = .16, p < .05, and sleep quality, r(214) = .16, p < .05. The three well-being scales had a positive correlation with sleep-quality.

Conclusions: This is the first study to compare sleepy quality and circadian preference. Mindfulness had a positive association to sleep quality and morningness. The researchers found that mindfulness had a direct association with well-being and sleep quality. Sleep quality also predicted a higher score of well-being.

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: They study was limited to the population size and gender of the participants. The researchers did not account for the students ethnicities and the majority of them were Canadian. The researchers suggest for future research to emphasis more on mindfulness and well-being in regards to sleep.

Huppert, F. A., & Johnson, D. M. (2010). A controlled trial of mindfulness training in schools: The importance of practice for an impact on well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(4), 264–274. Introduction: There has been a lot of recent debate on whether schools focus enough on the students well-being. Mindfulness has been often studied recently and it has proven to promote positivity and an increased well-being. There has not been much emphasis on school children but more with adults and the studies done with school children focus on adolescents with emotional issues. The researchers hypothesize that mindfulness training may increase positive feelings. Mindfulness has also shown a significant association to improving mental health, chronic pain, immune functioning, and other health related factors.

Huppert’s study from 2010 was identified as a key study because it examined the benefits of mindfulness in adolescents and its effect on their happiness.

Method: The participants consisted of 173 14 to 15 year old boys from a religious studies class. The participants were separated into a mindfulness group and a control group. The mindfulness group attended four 40 minute classes, once a week. These classes were an introduction to the prinicpal and practices of mindfulness meditation. Each week there was always a new concept of mindfulness being introduced. The control group continued to go to their Religious studies class for the duration of the study. Both groups completed an online questionnaire before and after the 4 weeks. The questionnaires examined mindfulness (CAMS-R), resilience (ERS), well-being (WEMWBS), and personality (the Big Five).

Results: “For the mindfulness scale (CAMS-R), there was a significant overall effect of personality (F (5,149) = 10.38, p <0.001) with conscientiousness ( = .244, p < .001) and emotional stability ( = .403, p < .001) contributing positively and significantly to the mindfulness score. For the Ego Resiliency Scale there was a significant overall effect of personality (F (5,149) = 16.57, p < .001), with extraversion ( = .232, p < .001), agreeableness (marginal, = .126, p < .10), conscientiousness ( = .195, p < .001), emotional stability ( = .169, p < .05) and openness to experience ( = .383, p < .001) all contributing positively and significantly to resilience. For the WEMWBS there was a significant overall effect of personality (F (5,149) = 21.72, p < .001), with extraversion ( = .355, p < .001), conscientiousness ( = .141, p < .05), emotional stability ( = .340, p < .001) and openness to experience ( = .182, p < .001) contributing positively and significantly to well-being.”Practice was found to contribute significantly to the prediction of change in mindfulness ( = .245, p < .05) and to the change in well-being ( = .23, p < .05). The change in well-being was also associated with several of the baseline personality measures; agreeableness ( = .32, p < .01), emotional stability ( = -0.24, p < .05), and openness to experience (marginal, = 0.19, p < .10).

Conclusion: The researchers found that within the mindfulness group the more that the participants practiced the higher the psychological well-being and happiness was. They also found that the mindfulness group had higher percentage of individual practice outside the group as well as an improvement in psychological well-being

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: The researchers gave advice on what can be done to improve future studies. They believe that there should be a consistency with the teachers mediating the control and the mindfulness group. The researchers also mention how the control group should also be a placebo control. There should be a more detailed reliable measures of personality. The next step the researchers plan to take is to have more class sessions and to involve girls. 

Majumdar, M., Grossman, P., Dietz-Waschkowski, B., Kersig, S., & Walach, H. (2002). Does mindfulness meditation contribute to health? Outcome evaluation of a German sample. The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 8(6), 719–730. Introduction: Alternative medicine has become an appealing choice for individuals with medical conditions. There is an urgency to find one that is cost effective, efficient, and appropriate. Mindfulness falls under all three of those categories. Mindfulness meditation do not have any roots in the clinical application as well as religious beliefs. It is meant to become non-judgemental on your perceptions, thoughts, and feelings to attain an appreciation of the positive and negative experiences. Recent studies have proven that MBSR has reduced psychological symptomatology, anxiety, pain, psoriasis, depression, etc. while increasing perception of control and empathy. This study is the first systematic evaluation of MBSR in Germany.

Majumar’s study from 2002 was identified as a key study because it examined the relation between chronic physical and psychological pain to mindfulness. It was discovered that participants were less symptomatic when practicing mindful meditation.

Method: The participants consisted of 21 individuals between the ages of 22-62 years. The participants all had chronic physical, psychological, and psychosomatic illnesses. The participants were involved in an eight week session and they were given self-reported questionnaires at the beginning and end of the eight weeks. They had to attend sessions weekly and for 2.5 hours and also had to complete 7 hours on the 6th week. The sessions involved mindfulness practice of the body and emotions. There was also a three month follow up interview. The questionnaires measured: psychological distress, emotional well-being, physical complaints, sense of coherence, and life satisfaction.

Results: The researcher found that general physical well-being greatly increased from pre-treatment to post-treatment (p < .001 and p < 0.047). The baseline for physical complaints was at a 7 and after the follow up went down to a 6. 91% of the clients reported to continue practicing mindfulness after the sessions were over. 90% of the participants said that mindfulness complemented medical and psychotheraputic treatments.

Conclusion: All of the health variables in this study that were clinically assessed had raise from pre-test to post-test. The data proved that suffering was alleviated with symptom reduction or with advanced coping skills. The clients also reported high levels of satisfaction with the study. Mindfulness meditation is a great tool to help aid various chronic disease and psychosomatic disorders.

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: Since mindfulness meditation is new to Europe this was a pilot study which tend to consist of a small amount of participants. The researchers also suggest for future studies to focus on other aspects like, phenomenological explorations of mindfulness and states of consciousness. 

Singh, N. N., Lancioni, G. E., Winton, A. S. ., Wahler, R. G., Singh, J., & Sage, M. (2004). Mindful caregiving increases happiness among individuals with profound multiple disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 25(2), 207–218. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2003.05.00  Introduction: The quality of life (QOL) in individuals with mental retardation has always been poor. The basics to QOL are: subjective well-being, functioning in daily life, and external resources. Subjective well-being is based on satisfaction with life which can be determined by happiness. A individual with mental retardation may find happiness in leisurely activities. Studies have shown that these activities increase the amount of times an individual smiles. The question is can caregivers increase the happiness of these individuals by changing their own behavior during one on one interactions.

Singh’s study from 2004 was identified as a key study because it showed the importance of caretakers, of mentally ill patients, practicing mindfulness. It was discovered that the more mindful the caregiver, the happier the patient.

Methods: This study consisted of two types of participants the residents and the caregivers. The resident participants were three adult males Bruce (45), Steve (54), and Dave (55). All three men were diagnosed with mental retardation. The caregiver participants were six African American women who worked the day shift. The caregivers were split into top three (Jane, Penny, Cindy) and bottom three (Linda, Kris, Rachel). Each of the residents were randomly assigned two of the caregivers: Jane and Penny with Bruce, Cyndie and Linda with Steve, and Kris and Rachel with David. The residents were given three leisure phases and they each lasted about 15 minutes. The researchers gathered baseline data during this time. Three of the caregivers were trained in mindfulness and were asked to practice it. Data was collected at four, seven and twelve weeks.

Results: At the baseline Bruce’s happiness was pretty high, with Jane it was 10.3 and Penny 11.3. Jane was trained and mindfulness and during the practice phase Bruce’s happiness increased to 25.2 while Penny’s increased to 12.5. The second group Cyndie and Linda were paired with Steve. At baseline Cyndie had 3.6 while Linda had 11.4. Cyndie was trained in mindfulness and during the third phase Steve’s happiness raised to 15.1 with Cyndie and 11.6 for Linda. The final pair was Rachel and Kris who were paired with Dave. At baseline Rachel had 2.8 while Kris had 2.4. Kris was the trained caregiver and after the third phase Dave’s happiness raised to 3.1 for Rachel and 13.0 for Kris.

Conclusion: The data shows that levels of happiness of the three mentally ill men had a very significant increase during their leisure sessions. It goes to show that providing more mindfulness training to caregivers could increase the happiness of the patients that they are caring for.

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: The researchers had a very small sample size to work with making it difficult to be representative of the rest of the population. For future directions they suggest involving therapists and others involved in providing human services. The researchers also did not examine the change in the caregiver which they believe could be relevant for future studies. 

Witek-Janusek, L., Albuquerque, K., Chroniak, K. R., Chroniak, C., Durazo-Arvizu, R., & Mathews, H. L. (2008). Effect of mindfulness based stress reduction on immune function, quality of life and coping in women newly diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 22(6), 969–981. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2008.01.012  Introduction: Cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths to women in the United States. Many negative symptoms can come from it, not only physical but psychological, anxiety, depression, fear, etc. The psychological effects alone can greatly reduce their quality of life (QOL). Even after receiving treatment there are still severe psychological disturbances. There have been many attempts to promote wellness and to reduce distress for cancer patients. The most promising treatment may be MBSR. Mindfulness training has already been proven to reduce psychological distress and that it might have the possibility of reversing the effects of psychological and immune disturbances.

Witek-Janusek’s study from 2008 was identified as a key study due to the evidence showing that revealed the psychological importance for mindfulness based stress reduction in cancer patients for their quality of life.

Method: The study consisted of 77 women between the ages of 35-75 years of age diagnosed with breast cancer who did not receive chemotherapy. The women were recruited from cancer centers and eligibility was determined by their physicians. The women were then split up into the MBSR intervention (N=44) and control group (N=31). The participants in the MBSR group met for three hours a week for eight weeks, and then a full day after the fifth week. The participants learned breath awareness, mindful yoga, and sitting and walking meditation. Immune, QOL, coping, and cortisol were examined at four different times. The first point (T1) was 10 days after surgery, (T2) was midway through the MBSR training, (T3) was after completion of MBSR, and (T4) took place a month after it ended.

Results: A) Immunological Assessments: The women in the MBSR group had an increase in the NKCA by T4 (98% CI = 43.6 to 62.2 LU). The MBSR group produced less IL-4 (p =0.001), as well as an increase in IL-6 (p=0.008). B) Plasma Cortisol: Women with cancer in the MBSR group had lower levels of cortisol by (p=0.002) while the cancer free participants in both groups had an elevation of (p<0.05). C) QOL and Coping Assessments: The participants in the MBSR group expressed more satisfaction in psychological – spiritual QOL compared to the non-MBSR group. The most noteable time periods of change were at T3 (p=0.06; 98% CI=3.43 to 4.57) and T4 (p=0.001; 98% CI=2.99 to 4.01). They also had an increase in satisfaction with family at T3(p=0.06; 98% CI = 2.75 – 3.21) and T4 (p=0.046; 98% CI = 1.72 – 3.80). Out of the eight coping styles assessed only two were effective, optimistic and supportant coping.

Conclusion: Women who participated in this study and were involved in MBSR found more satisfaction in QOL than those who weren’t. There was also an increase in global QOL during the MBSR. Specific improvements in QOL were psychological-spiritual and family domains. There also were improvements in immune functioning, coping, and effectiveness.

Noted Limitations and Future Directions: The study used restricted diagnostic and treatment inclusion criteria. The participants were are all the same gender and race. There has not been another study that effects on MBSR on recently diagnosed cancer patients undergoing treatment. The researchers suggest for future studies to focus more on the QOL of life and MBSR in cancer patients. 

Mindfulness and Positive Thinking in Relationships

Burpee, L. C., & Langer, E. J. (2005). Mindfulness and marital satisfaction.  Journal of Adult Development, 12 (1), 43–51. doi:10.1007/s10804-005-1281-6

Mindfulness and Positive Thinking in Workplaces

Irving, J. A., Dobkin, P. L., & Park, J. (2009). Cultivating mindfulness in health care professionals: A review of empirical studies of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).  Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 15 (2), 61–66. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2009.01.002

Mindfulness and Positive Thinking in Schools

Caprara, G. V., Steca, P., Gerbino, M., Paciello, M., & Vecchio, G. M. (2006). Looking for adolescents’ well-being: Self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of positive thinking and happiness.  Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale, 15 (01), 30–43.

Denny, K. G., & Steiner, H. (2008). External and internal factors influencing happiness in elite collegiate athletes.  Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 40 (1), 55–72. doi:10.1007/s10578-008-0111-z

Health Implications of Mindfulness and Positive Thinking

Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2004). The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences.  Journal of Research in Personality, 38 (2), 150-163.

Grossman, P., Niemann, L., Schmidt, S., and Walach, H. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits.  Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57 (1), 35–43. doi:10.1016/S0022-3999(03)00573-7

Howell, A. J., Digdon, N. L., Buro, K., & Sheptycki, A. R. (2008). Relations among mindfulness, well-being, and sleep.  Personality and Individual Differences, 45 (8), 773–777. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.08.005

Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: a practice-friendly meta-analysis.  Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65 (5), 467–487. doi:10.1002/jclp.20593

General Studies on Mindfulness and Positive Thinking

Brown, K. W., and Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (4), 822–848. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822

Chittaro L., and Vianello, A. (2014). Computer-supported mindfulness: Evaluation of a mobile thought distancing application on naive meditators.  International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 72 (3), 337–348.

Fredrickson, B. L., & Joiner, T. (2002). Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being.  Psychological Science, 13 (2), 172–175.

Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (1998). Positive moods derived from leisure and their relationship to happiness and personality.  Personality and Individual Differences, 25 (3), 523–535.

Hollis-Walker, L., & Colosimo, K. (2011). Mindfulness, self-compassion, and happiness in non-meditators: A theoretical and empirical examination.  Personality and Individual Differences, 50 (2), 222–227. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.09.033

Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J. M. (2011). Emotional intelligence mediates the relationship between mindfulness and subjective well-being.  Personality and Individual Differences, 50 (7), 1116–1119. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.01.037

Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. A. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration.  Clinical Psychology Review, 30 (7), 890-905. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005

CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF MINDFULNESS

Relationships

Barnes, S., Brown, K. W., Krusemark, E., Campbell, W. K., & Rogge, R. D. (2007). The role of mindfulness in romantic relationship satisfaction and responses to relationship stress.  Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 33 (4), 482–500.

Shapiro, S. L., Astin, J. A., Bishop, S. R., & Cordova, M. (2005). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Health Care Professionals: Results From a Randomized Trial.  International Journal of Stress Management, 12 (2), 164–176. doi:10.1037/1072-5245.12.2.164

Huppert, F. A., & Johnson, D. M. (2010). A controlled trial of mindfulness training in schools: The importance of practice for an impact on well-being.  The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5 (4), 264–274. dpi:10.1080/17439761003794148

Carmody, J., & Baer, R. A. (2007). Relationships between mindfulness practice and levels of mindfulness, medical and psychological symptoms and well-being in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program.  Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 31 (1), 23–33. doi:10.1007/s10865-007-9130-7

Deyo, M., Wilson, K. A., Ong, J., & Koopman, C. (2009). Mindfulness and rumination: Does mindfulness training lead to reductions in the ruminative thinking associated with depression?  EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, 5 (5), 265–271. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2009.06.005

Grossman, P., Tiefenthaler-Gilmer, U., Raysz, A., & Kesper, U. (2007). Mindfulness training as an intervention for fibromyalgia: Evidence of postintervention and 3-Year Follow-Up Benefits in Well-Being.  Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 76 (4), 226–233. doi:10.1159/000101501

Majumdar, M., Grossman, P., Dietz-Waschkowski, B., Kersig, S., & Walach, H. (2002). Does mindfulness meditation contribute to health? Outcome evaluation of a German sample.  The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 8 (6), 719–735. doi:10.1089/10755530260511720

Singh, N. N., Lancioni, G. E., Winton, A. S. ., Wahler, R. G., Singh, J., & Sage, M. (2004). Mindful caregiving increases happiness among individuals with profound multiple disabilities.  Research in Developmental Disabilities, 25 (2), 207–218. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2003.05.001

Singh, N. N., Singh, A. N., Lancioni, G. E., Singh, J., Winton, A. S. W., & Adkins, A. D. (2009). Mindfulness training for parents and their children with ADHD increases the children’s compliance.  Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19 (2), 157–166. doi:10.1007/s10826-009-9272-z

Weinstein, N., Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). A multi-method examination of the effects of mindfulness on stress attribution, coping, and emotional well-being.  Journal of Research in Personality, 43 (3), 374–385. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2008.12.008

Witek-Janusek, L., Albuquerque, K., Chroniak, K. R., Chroniak, C., Durazo-Arvizu, R., & Mathews, H. L. (2008). Effect of mindfulness based stress reduction on immune function, quality of life and coping in women newly diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.  Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 22 (6), 969–981. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2008.01.012

General Applications

Malinowski, P. (2008). Mindfulness as psychological dimension: concepts and applications.  The Irish Journal of Psychology, 29 (1-2), 155–166. doi:10.1080/03033910.2008.10446281

Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis.  Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65 (5), 467–487. doi:10.1002/jclp.20593

Key studies concerning mindfulness and optimism/positive thinking were selected according to methodological rigor, type of investigation, and approach taken in understanding the relationship between mindfulness, positivity, and psychological well-being. Fredrickson’s study from 2002 was identified as a key study because it examine both positive and negative affect and determined that positive emotions make people feel good in the moment but also increase the chance of feeling good in the future. Hollis’ study from 2011 was identified as key study because it examined the relation between mindfulness, psychological well-being, self-compassion, and five factor model. It was determined that high on mindfulness scored high with self –compassion and psychological well-being. Huppert’s study from 2010 was identified as a key study because it examined the benefits of mindfulness in adolescents. Witek-Janusek’s study from 2008 was identified as a key study due to the evidence showing that revealed the psychological importance for mindfulness based stress reduction in cancer patients for their quality of life. Burpee’s study from 2005 was identified as a key study because it examined the relationship between marital satisfaction and mindfulness and proved that more mindful couples tend to have more satisfying relationships.

Singh’s study from 2004 was identified as a key study because it showed the importance of caretakers, of mentally ill patients, practicing mindfulness. It was discovered that the more mindful the caregiver the happier the patient. Carmody’s study from 2007 was identified as a key study since it observed how different forms of mindfulness will affect different aspects of well-being and positivity. Howell’s study from 2008 was identified as a key study because it examined the relationship between sleep and mindfulness. It was found that mindfulness had a direct association with well-being and sleep quality. Majumar’s study from 2002 was identified as a key study because it examined the relation between chronic physical and psychological pain to mindfulness. It was discovered that participants were less symptomatic when practicing mindful meditation. Caprara’s study from 2006 was identified as a key study because it observed the relationship between self-efficacy, optimism, and happiness. It was discovered that they were all positively correlated to one another.

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Positive Thinking Essays

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Positive Thinking Essay

Hi, my name is Britney and I am going to be 20 in July. I feel like I have learned things so early on, that for some people takes a lifetime. I have gained so much spiritual wisdom from Lekatt and others, now it’s all about practicing and living those principles. It is easier said than done but not impossible. We have all the time in the world and we are eternal. We all get bad thoughts but that doesn’t mean we should give up hope. Nothing is ever too far gone. There is hope for you yet! I wrote this essay because I needed to hear it myself. I am preaching to myself because I am still in the process of thinking positively. So I need to take my own advice! My writing is my gift to the world, so I am glad to help you!

Positive thinking is like exercising a muscle. Only it gives you a mental workout. The more you use it, the better you will be at it. It’s not possible to think positive all of the time, but you want the majority of your thoughts to reflect good and happy things.

People may not think positive because they might not know the right tools to use for becoming a positive person. Some things that will help you be positive are: coping skills, building up encouragement, changing your thoughts by developing good habits, surrounding yourself with positive people, and being spiritual.

Real positive thinking works by implementing coping skills. Here are some of mine. Pray, think positive thoughts, write poetry and letters, read the Bible, draw or color, listen to music, socialize, sleep, and take walks. Something any of us could try: hold on to the good in life, reflect on what God has done for you, think of funny movie lines, sing a happy song in your head, or go to your happy place.

I would also evaluate, think through, downplay, examine, and analyze your problems. Pick apart your problems and try to see what really matters, and what can be tossed aside over your shoulder. You can see what is important now, and what can wait till later. You can say, “I’ll deal with that when the time comes.” As a result, coping skills will help your problems be more manageable.

My dad said, “you can’t choose if a bird flies over you, but you can choose where it builds its nest.” If a bad thought comes into your head, just let it go right out again. “Put those thoughts in a drawer,” said Uncle Don. Coping skills involves self-talk. Here are some thoughts to think about: you can realize it’s your responsibility to be happy. Think how can I make this a positive?

You can become in love with life by thinking of life as an adventure. Every time you step out of your house is an adventure! Think about how the possibilities are endless. My Grandma Betty said, “The sky is the limit.” If you keep that perspective, nothing in life will seem dull or boring. You won’t even have time to worry or think negatively, because your mind will be so focused on the good in life.

Build up encouragement in your heart that you can store so God can bring it to your mind when you need it most. If the economy goes into a recession and you suffer a loss, you will have things stored up that you can draw on when you need to. Encouragement is like free checks that you can cash in anytime you want. You could either have a journal, scrapbook, binder, or something you can look at and remember when you need that extra boost of encouragement. You never know when catastrophes might strike next. People’s lives are constantly being uprooted by family problems, weather disasters, you name it. The reason why it is important to have encouragement that you can live off of until you fill your love tank again.

Changing your thoughts by developing good habits is important. Some things can become an obsession. Frodo Baggins in the “Lord of the Rings” became obsessed with the ring and the longer he had it the harder it became to resist it. It’s easier to break a habit when you first notice it, instead of waiting years and years to stop. People like my grandma who smoke find it hard to break the habit.

My Dad stopped smoking before he became addicted to it. The Bible talks about strongholds. It is anything that builds itself up and is keeping you from being free. I like the song by “Rush of Fools” that says, “Turn me around, pick me up, and undo what I have become.” This is saying that you can reverse what habits you have now. A conversation I had with a friend, “It takes time and a lot of affirmations to dim the old habits. So be patient with yourself,” said Leroy. “But I get into the old habit of talking to the voice in my head,”

Britney. “You have chosen the habit in the past and now you are struggling with it. To release it takes forming good habits where there were sad ones before. Therefore, having good habits will make you struggle a lot less in your life. You will save yourself a lot of mental pain.”

Have at least one positive person in your life because the people you are around most, are what you’ll become. You want to be a person that others can look up to. I picked up the habits and mannerisms of speaking of my friends, and my parents. I also started to sound like my mentor, with the words I chose and what I believed.

People who travel to different parts of the country that speak different accents will start sounding like they have the accent. I started sounding a little countryish when I went to Missouri after staying there a week. It is important to watch positive shows, listen to positive music, and speak positive things, because it becomes a part of who you are.

I am very sensitive to things, so it is crucial for me to remember this. The saying, “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,” is very true. Whomever you associate with will affect everything else in your life. If you associate with good positive people, you may save yourself from going down the wrong path, and/or dying a premature death.

“Do not imitate what is bad, but what is good,” 3 John 1:11. “Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.” Ephesians 5:1.

Even if you are friendless, you will always have your Creator with you. He said He will never leave you nor forsake you. That’s something to be positive about! I read an article that it is proven that people who go to church live longer and are more happy. I think the reason why they are happy is because they are connected in a community of people, their time is filled up with a good activity, and because they have people who look after them.

When they see someone suffering they step in to help. I think being spiritual removes the fear of death, and gives you peace about it. If you know that one day you will see your loved ones again and that they are safe with God, it makes the loss easier to bear. Even though the fear of public speaking is the number one fear, I am guessing that the fear of death falls closely behind it. It is not impossible to remove your fear of death. I still worry about it sometimes, but you can learn to accept that death is a part of life, and not the end to existence. Thus, spirituality helps you cope with life’s uncertainties.

Positive thinking changes your life by giving you skills to lessen your problems, gives you the strength to go on, helps you to lower conflict in yourself, because you have formed good habits. Positive thinking helps you be that person others can follow as an example, and spirituality adds a dimension to give you hope.

If you are looking for a makeover why not try positive thinking? If you are on drugs for mental problems you should go to the root, (which is your thoughts), and take that on first. I think medicine (for mental problems) needs to go to the back bench, and let these five steps act as a runner to send you on the road to victory.

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51 comments to Positive Thinking Essay

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It was too helpfull for me and u have written nice essay Very good

I?m impressed, I must say. Really rarely do I encounter a blog that?s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is outstanding; the issue is something that not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I stumbled across this in my search for something relating to this.

this essay helped me for my exam

its really awesome……

i love uuuuuuu

I liked this essay . It was helpful for me . It is superb,marvellous .In it many creative thinks we’re mentioned

Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read like this before. So nice to find somebody by incorporating authentic applying for grants this subject. realy thanks for starting this up. this site is a thing that’s needed on the web, somebody after some bit originality. helpful problem for bringing something new on the web!

I love your essay It is really helpful for me

Hello very cool blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your website and take thee feeds additionally? I am happy to seek out numerous helpful information right here in the publish, we need work out more techniques on this regard, hank youu for sharing. . . . . .

it’s so inspirational essay thanks a lot Britney

WoW It’s so most inspirational essay of I had ever read.I can’t believe about this essay was writing 20 years old girl.but I’m so happy about that And I wish you all the best..! Thanks a lot for this essay put on this website….

It’s a very good website and I really liked the essay hope u guys keep on thriving like this .. IM from India .

Thank u soooooooooooooo much! This essay gave me some serious insight! Thank u! Really understandable and spiritual. Especially the paragraph about death! I am so getting an A+! Thanks again!

It helps Me a lot

It’s good

I am not sure about the person who wrote it ,but the person who wrote this essay ,I think he/she is an awesome person bcz I have changed a lot after reading this essay , I would like to be thankful for the person who wrote this essay

Nice1, i have read it is very nice i’d never read such nice essay….

This is like the best Positive Thinking speech I’ve ever read. It really had a great impact on me. I was on the verge of giving up, but I stumbled to this website and I found this. THANK YOU SO MUCH 😀

Thank you so much! All of you are encouraging me to stay positive just by reading your positive comments. If you have any essay topic requests just let me know and I’ll see what I can write up! 🙂

i need to write on positive thinking need advice

Hi Zulekha, sorry for taking forever to respond. (I don’t always check the comments) If you are still looking to write on positive thinking or need advice for anything you can email me at: [email protected]

it’s amazing, i’m so blessed. Thank you very much 🙂

It’s amazing.I can’t belive myself that an 20 aged girl is writing an great essay on positive thinking.it is useful for youngster’s and elders you are great Britney Pieta.

Why thank you C. Lavanya! 🙂

I am so happy and honored to impact so many people with this essay. Thank you for making my day! 🙂

i like your essay.. its very informative… keep it up and post more of these types.

your essay is sooooooooo good. there’s nothing to suggest you. one thing i can say u keep it up.

Thanks sthanka. I had no idea that this essay would be this popular! I did it for an English class and got a B on it and I am happy to inspire you. 🙂

preety good blog for inspiring people , I would just tell you to get some sayings of famous people also to make it a bit more interesting……and by the way thanx!

Thanks Sanket. 🙂 Yea I had no idea that this essay would get this many views! I would have taken more time to make it perfect. haha Thanks for your suggestion about adding famous people quotes!

hi….i have read your essay it was really nice, and i got so much knowledge about positive thinking thanks for this

i want to earn money by writing my creative essays so what should i do?

Hey Zeeshan! Sorry for this late reply. If you start your own blog you can gradually work up your website viewer traffic and do it that way. You can get your essays in various kinds of publication journals. If you are in college you could write a story for them. Also it is good to join a writers group because they usually have yearly publications and the only thing you pay is a membership fee. Good luck!! 🙂

Dear Britney,

Many thanks for sharing your thoughts, it’s very inspiring, you are a beautiful person!

God bless Adriana

really its a nice essay.good thinks makes a perfect human beings…very soon my own colunm will b published.from jehangira distt swabi thanks…

really good essay

hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its an wonderful essay …………thanx and write more essays for your fans……

Hey thanks so much for the comment! 🙂 Here are a couple more essays from my blog if you want to read them!

http://aleroy.com/forums/index.php/topic,752.0.html

http://aleroy.com/forums/index.php/topic,515.0.html

hi ! I liked ur essay a lot It’s very inspiring!!! Thanx

oh i just love your essay it’s awsome………..

i have read it was very nice i’d never read such nice essay

Britney, YOU are a beautiful soul. Thank you for sharing your gift and thoughts, all very wise, useful and wonderful recipe for a better happier life for anyone choosing it. I hope you keep on writing and spreading your essense of LOVE thru your positive thinking and living to our world. God bless you!!!

Hi. I’m Brazilian and a really negative person, but i’m triyng not to be so. I’m in the way to changing, so i was looking for more information about how to became a positive person. Read your essay really helped me and inspired me to go now to bed and pray. Thanks for this. Congrat.

hi……..!!!!!!!! i have read ur essay….its really nice and giving me so much useful stuff for my future…….. thanx dear……..

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