How do I stay positive during tough times?

“Having a positive mental attitude is asking how something can be done rather than saying it can’t be done.” – Bo Bennett

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

Circumstances are callous. They can come to anyone, rich or poor, man or woman, child or adult. Some are born with it, some are led into it, some are simply misfortune. Consequently, it shatters our hope and everyday we have to find a reason to get out of our beds and face the world and the circumstances with it.

We are humans after all, we fight and we survive. But, how do we fight the circumstances beyond our control ?

By Keeping the Positive Attitude.

Here are the some tips to cultivate a habit of being positive –

1. Prepare your environment

Leo Babauta always has great advice on building habits, and this is one of my favorites. The environment we try to build new habits in (or break old ones, even) has a huge effect on how successful we are. Environment in this case includes the people we spend time with and the messages we hear or tell ourselves, as well as our physical environment.

2. Start smaller than you think – The “floss only 1 tooth” – approach

Another of my favorite pieces of advice from Leo’s blog Zen Habits is to make your habit so small that you can’t say no. If you do this to start with, you can focus more on building a habit, rather than on results or how big your habit is.

3. Take note of 1 positive moment every day

Noticing the positive things that happen in your everyday life has been proven to be a successful method of increasing your positive thinking. This doesn’t just happen when you’re doing the exercise: the effects can actually last much longer.

4. Try to Meditate – 2 minutes is enough

Meditating is beneficial for the body and mind. It not only improves mindfulness and positive thinking while you’re doing it, but it has been shown to decrease illness and improve mindfulness and feelings of purpose in life up to three months after being practiced daily for a short period.