Attitude-- Pick a good one

I was reminded about the importance of choosing a good attitude at a High Tea and women's networking event I attended a couple weeks ago. The feature speaker, Laurie Nelson from Family Services, did a great job of sharing some benefits of a positive attitude and how to work towards creating one. Here are the 5 key highlights I took away from her talk:

You’ll feel better
A positive attitude makes you feel better, more energetic, and people are more drawn to being around you. Some studies have shown that a positive attitude can help fight disease. Laurie quoted that optimists are 55% less likely to die than elderly pessimists. Even if these statistics are only half true, it would still be worth choosing a positive attitude!

We believe what we repeatedly hear
Laurie reminded us that our brains are wired to believe what we repeatedly hear, whether it’s positive or negative. That’s why affirmations are a great way to work on changing our attitude. Affirmations can be used to positively influence negative feelings, thoughts and emotions.

OK, if you were watching late night TV in the 90’s thoughts of Al Franken’s Saturday Night Live character, Stuart Smalley, are probably coming to mind, “I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!”? Sure, he provided a great chuckle, but say that sentence aloud in front of your mirror every day and see what kind of changes it can make in your confidence. As a bonus, I bet it makes you smile! Maybe that’s not the right affirmation for you, but you get the idea!

Affirmations really do work. They change us on a cellular level. They serve as visualizations for what we want to do in our own life and set the intention to reach it. When repeated, they help us focus and create a sense of expectation about accomplishing what we confess. It creates stronger beliefs and helps rewire our brains to I CAN and I WILL if said regularly with a strong belief. Language is very powerful and we believe what we continually say.

Change YOUR tune
Garbage in, garbage out!! Affirmations are a terrific way to put more good stuff in. Here are 5 elements of a good affirmation to help you in creating your own:

1. Affirmations must be specific & measurable (just like a good goal)
2. Make it personal (“I…” or “I am…”)
3. Use the present tense
4. State your affirmation in the positive for a positive outcome
5. SUPER CHARGE your affirmation by adding EMOTIONS and feelings

Don’t forget to write them down and say them aloud!

Choose happiness…
Make a habit of associating with happy successful people. Just like our Moms told us, “You become like those you associate with!”

While we can't change some of our situations, we CAN choose how we respond to them. Reframing less desirable circumstances in a positive way can help us learn from the experience and look for hidden opportunities.