Life can be tough, and its challenges often lead people to victimhood, negativity, and straight-up complaining. It’s difficult to avoid these kinds of toxic mindsets and build up a more nourishing view of your life. If you’re struggling to build a better outlook on life, you’re not alone, and the tips below will help you start to change for the better.
Push Yourself to Improve
Seeking a new outlook on life will almost always involve a challenge. When you are stuck in your comfort zone it’s hard to recognize that you are holding yourself back. Seeking improvement starts with getting uncomfortable.
The internet is full of advice on how to start getting out of your comfort zone. There are even whole social media challenges and movements designed to help people begin altering their path on an upward trajectory. If you find yourself asking questions such as “What is 75 Hard and similar challenges?” then you are on the right track when it comes to improving your life and your outlook.
Recognize Change is Gradual
When you start to take risks and make changes to improve your outlook, you shouldn’t expect to see immediate results. Sure, sometimes you can get lucky and things turn around right away. However, in most cases, you need to endure some struggle and continue to apply your habits and systems to see a change.
Being able to weather the storms that come with personal development is a skill that you have to build along your journey. Change does not happen all at once. Instead, it is often a slow, gradual process that you learn to inhabit and enjoy. The more resilient you become, the more you will learn to love overcoming the difficulties inherent in self-improvement.
Practice Gratitude
Gratitude is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal when changing your outlook on life. Your thoughts and beliefs dictate the reality you create for yourself, so why handicap yourself by limiting your views? Instead, try thinking about everything you have in abundance, rather than all the things you desire.
Oftentimes, your desires are important because they fuel you to create the kind of life you want for yourself. But desires can also be toxic if you allow them to control you and knock you off of your purpose. Gratitude acts as an antidote to this mindset, giving you a fresh perspective on your wants and needs.
Start a Workout Routine
Your physical form often mirrors what’s going on with your mental state. To get your view on outlook moving in the right direction, it helps to move your body in a more positive way too. A workout routine that gives you the time and space you need to build mental fortitude and de-stress is a major key to personal growth. The Thrive experience can also be a great step in the right direction.
If you are new to exercise, start small and focus on staying consistent with your routine. No, contrary to what you might see online, you don’t need to have a chiseled body that’s the talk of the town. With a workout routine, the more important piece is that you stay consistent and keep making progress, whatever that means to you.
Try to make your workouts fun. If they sound like a chore, then you are more likely to escape them. Play a sport you love, or call up a friend to enjoy a nice hike and you will find it far easier to maintain a strong, consistent workout plan.
Surround Yourself With Likeminded People
Transforming your outlook on life is challenging, especially for those who identify as pessimists. If you are only around other people who also see life in a negative light, then it will be nearly impossible to improve your outlook. Change your circle of influence, and you will see positive changes in your overall views and perceptions of the world.
To get started on meeting new people, try participating in your hobbies even more than you normally might. This can give you the excitement you need to make new connections and influence those around you. It’s also a good idea to think about distancing yourself from people in your life who are causing you to feed your negativity.
Try Journaling Every Day
Journaling is an excellent way to chart out your life and see your progress in real-time. Without any logs of your personal development journey, it can be easy to get discouraged and give up. With a regular journaling habit, you will find that writing out your thoughts, however insignificant they may seem at first, is one of the best ways to gain a brighter perspective on them.
You can even turn your journaling into a more creative outlet for yourself as well. Feeling down about a certain person or event? You can use your journal to write a poem or story that summarizes the experience and releases some of the pressure of your thoughts about it.
Adjust Your Diet
Similar to exercise, diet is one of the core tenets of your physical experience. If you are always eating junk food and other items that irritate your gut and cause inflammation, it’s likely that a negative mindset will follow. Change your diet and you give yourself a far better chance to change your outlook on life.
Start small by reducing the amount of sugar and fried foods you are eating. This alone should produce a noticeable difference in your energy levels and mood. From here you can begin tweaking further by adding in more raw foods, vegetables, and lean proteins. Find what works for you and keep it simple when adjusting your diet.
Create a Vision for Your Life
Sometimes negative outlooks are simply the result of an aimless life. A goal and unifying vision are necessary components of a life well-lived, and without them, it’s probable for negativity to seep its way into every day. Building up your life requires a purpose, a mission, a direction, and setting out on your voyage today is never out of reach.
If you are struggling to think about what you want out of life, start simple. What actions or hobbies bring you the most joy? Go through and write down each one of them, no matter how small they may seem to you. This can be something as simple as laughing with the people you love most.
From here you can begin to form goals around these joys. Bring them all together and you have a vision that will propel you forward.
Speak With a Professional
In some cases, you may need to seek the help of a licensed professional. If you find that things are getting too dark and you’re not sure you can make it on your own, there is no shame in reaching out for help. When you can talk through your issues with another person who is there to listen, you will notice a major reduction in your stress.
Creating a new, more positive outlook on your life is a process that will not be easy, but it’s worthy of your time, attention, and focus. You have one life on this planet, so making the most of it is always a top priority. Remember these tips and tricks when you’re seeking to build a better outlook on your life.
