Some days it can be more than a little difficult to maintain a positive attitude.

Everything from personal and family problems, to work to the news of the world can bring down and make us feel blue. It’s the kind of thing that happens to all of us at one time or another. Sometimes this kind of thinking can last for a just a few hours and other times it can drag on for much longer. Let’s lay out a few strategies for improving your mood through more positive thinking.

10. Surround Yourself With Positive People

Surrounding yourself with positive people doesn’t mean you have to abandon friends who are going through hard times. Sometimes it is important to take stock of who is a generally good and positive influence on your life. Surrounding yourself with people who care and looking to support you in achieving your goals is essential to maintaining a positive attitude.

9. Take Up Some Hobbies

One of the things that get us through difficult times is purpose and hobbies are a great way to add additional purpose to your life. Hobbies also give us an opportunity to exercise your mind and bodies in a wholly voluntary way with little or no stress. Hobbies can give you that break from your troubles you need to really improve your outlook.

8. Improve Your Diet

Over the years scientific studies have suggested that diet has a profound effect on our mood and thought patterns. Some foods like omega-3 oil heavy fish and green leafy vegetables have been directly linked to decreased instances of depression.

7. Find Reasons to Smile

The physical act of smiling has been shown to have a positive effect on mood. Expressing happiness is a great way to engage more with positive feelings.

6. Avoid Upsetting Things

This advice may sound simple, but once you sit down and really think about it, there are probably quite a few subtle negative influences that affect your mood. When taken individually these influences might not seem like much, but they add up. Avoiding an annoying co-worker, upsetting news and frustrating traffic routes can do a world of good.

5. Try Yoga

Taking up Yoga can do a world of good for both your mind and body. Yoga can improve your mood by lowering blood pressure and increasing the flow of natural chemicals and hormones that keep mood balanced.

4. Meditation

Meditation can give to you the time and space to consider yourself and your situation. Relaxing your mind and centering yourself for a period of time can be both productive and restorative.

3. Watch How You Talk to Yourself

It’s easy to give in to negative self talk. Next time you find yourself in a difficult situation instead of saying to yourself “this is difficult”, try something like “there are some difficult challenges here, but I can overcome them”.

2. Humor

Humor is a great way to overcome stress and negative self-talk. In some situations finding humor can give us the courage to face things that are otherwise hard to think or speak of.

1. Above All Keep Trying

I believe that most important key to positive thinking is to consistently make a sustained effort to increase positive thinking. It may take a long time, as significant positive change usually does, but the more you persist, the more likely you are to see the changes that you are seeking.

I hope these ten tips for positive thinking have proven helpful to you. These are just some of the many steps that you can begin taking today to improve your outlook today!

by Catalogs.com Info Guru Lauren DeJesus-Glasgow