Setting positive expectations is an excellent way to improve the quality of your life. In addition, it helps you manage stress and worry, two things often associated with negative thinking patterns. This article will discuss how you can set positive expectations for yourself to achieve them better.
1. Be More Selective in Your Music Choices
When you're looking for music to listen to, opt for something that will lift your spirits. Studies have found that different kinds of music influence our moods and performance. For example:
- Classical music can help with productivity and brain function.
- Country music is associated with happiness and sociability.
- Ambient sounds (such as rain) are conducive to sleep and relaxation.
2. Learn to Manage Your Stress
Feelings of stress often lead to feelings of negativity and make it hard to think positively. However, some stress level is a good thing because it helps us stay alert, motivated, and focused on the task. Stress becomes a problem when we are so overwhelmed that we can't focus on what's most important in our lives (e.g., health, relationships, etc.). Understanding what causes stress is essential to plan accordingly when encountering problems. For example, if you hate public speaking, then don't volunteer for it!
For people around us to be more optimistic, we need them to believe that their future holds something positive or encouraging, so they will continue moving forward instead of giving up when faced with challenges.
Surrounding yourself with positive influences may seem obvious. Still, sometimes people forget about this step when trying new things out of fear or anxiety about social rejection by other members outside their immediate circle.
3. Set Realistic Expectations for Yourself
Setting realistic expectations for yourself is essential because it allows you to understand and accept your boundaries.
When we have too high expectations, we can become disappointed, frustrated, and angry when they are not met. This can lead to low self-esteem or self-confidence and other mental health problems like depression. In addition to this, it makes us feel bad about ourselves because we do not believe that we have achieved what was expected of us or that it should be easy for us to achieve our goals all the time if we just tried hard enough.
The truth is that everyone has different strengths and weaknesses - some people naturally have better memory skills than others while some might struggle with spelling but excel at maths! It would help if you recognized these differences in yourself so you can work on improving them rather than you beating yourself up over them (which won't help anyone!).
4. Develop an Annual Goal or a Theme for the Coming Year
Create a focus word or phrase specific to what you want to accomplish. For example, if you want to earn more money and be more successful in your business, then maybe the focus should be "play" or "playful".
You can't control every aspect of your life. Some things will not be in your control, and some will depend on unknown factors. However, you may find that you have more control over your life than you think. Sometimes, a little self-reflection or looking back at the past year can give you a better idea of where to go in the coming year.
It is important to set positive expectations for yourself when looking ahead to the coming year so that you can have an idea of what to expect and what changes need to be made. When you know what is expected of yourself, it becomes easier to work towards those goals and make changes as necessary.
5. Stay Focused on the Positive by Talking
You can also stay focused on the positive by talking about things that interest you, your passions, etc.
Talk about things that interest you. If a friend is interested in something and shares it with me, I will often ask them questions and discuss it. This helps me focus on the good in my life rather than what's wrong with it.
Talk about your passions/what makes you happy/things that make you feel grateful/excited/proud of yourself. Talk about what excites or interests someone else (this could be anything from books to music to sports). Focus on things that are going well right now. I think it's important to talk about what's going well in your life. If you're feeling down, it can be easy to focus on the negative and overlook the good things. If a friend is interested in something and shares it with me, I will often ask them questions and discuss it. This helps me focus on the good in my life rather than what's wrong with it.
6. Make Sure Your Goals Are Smart (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound)
The SMART acronym is an excellent way to ensure you set clear, well-defined goals.
- Specific: What specifically are you aiming to achieve?
- Measurable: How will you know when it's been completed?
- Attainable: Is this something that could realistically be done in the time frame given?
- Relevant: Are other factors at play that might make this less achievable (e.g., lack of resources)?
- Time-bound: When do you plan on achieving it?
Conclusion
The key to positive thinking is focusing on the good things in your life. It cannot be easy at first, but you will get better at it with practice. The more you practice positive thinking, the more natural it becomes and the happier you'll be!
About the Creator
Hassan
I'm a data scientist by day and a writer by night, so you'll often find me writing about Analytics. But lately, I've been branching into other topics. I hope you enjoy reading my articles as much as I enjoy writing them.
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Comments (2)
The only thing more helpful for me, would be if you wrote "Kelli" specifically to each goal...lol Seriously, keep up the good work
This is really helpful! I like the idea of setting a theme for the year - going to try that out as we approach 2023.