On the Bright Side

by Karly Peters

I have to laugh as this article has been in progress for a month now and ideally is something I quickly hammered out since I’m a Certified Professional Coach and additionally I mentor my clients on positive thinking!  Well, over the last couple of months I’ve suffered many losses in my life and I’ve found myself in some darker places that I only see on rare occasions.  Regardless of my knowledge and passion for helping other, I too still fall into negative thoughts every now and then – I’m human after all!

Positive thinking is rooted in your self-talk which is the continuous stream of thoughts running through your head.  The thoughts can be positive, negative, logical, or misconceptions.  Anyone can change their self-talk, you simply choose to and then practice.

First, start by determining what you’re focusing on.  How will you recognize and eliminate the negative?  How will you ensure you believe your positive self-talk?  What are the barriers to changing your thoughts?  What are the resources for changing your thoughts?

Then, once you’ve pinpointed your focus and/or the potential trigger, start to practice by taking a moment to pause and reflect immediately when noticing you’re being negative.  Ask yourself what exactly has gotten you so upset and then quickly direct your thoughts towards the silver lining (refocus your attention on the positive).  Practice and repeat, repeat, repeat.

In the next blog post are some specific tips.