When moving through life, you are drawn to those situations and ideas which make you feel happy and fulfilled. Everyone has the right to arrange a life for themselves, which tailors to their best needs, and which leaves them feeling their absolute best.
What this means, however, is different for every person. The most positive and fulfilling life doesn’t have to mean surrounded by material things or being able to spend money on exciting experiences. Often, the simplest things can bring the greatest joy, which is why exploring positivity and personal fulfillment needs to start in the smallest way — with the smallest steps — in your own mind and viewpoint.
What Does it Mean to Be Positive?
Positivity can be a way of life if you take the right steps to embrace it. Being positive does not come naturally for a lot of people, and it can take active efforts to change your way of thinking and dispel negative thoughts. You may need to consult with someone with a counseling degree to improve your way of thinking.
Being positive means looking on the bright side of every situation. It doesn’t mean ignoring the bad or not experiencing negative emotions; it simply means focusing more on the good. In being more positive, it might be that you try and cope with negative emotions more positively. You can still allow yourself to feel pain and sorrow, but how you choose to deal with and recover from, this can be done positively.
In being a more positive person, you may find yourself succeeding with (or striving for) any of the following:
- Being truly in the present moment, and not allowing yourself to worry about the future
- Focusing on the good in every situation
- Being more optimistic about what life throws at you
- Focusing on your personal journey and achievements rather than any unnecessary pressure
- Being friendly and good-natured
- Seeing the good in the small, everyday things
- Reminding yourself of everything you have to be grateful for
- Being a compassionate and supportive presence for other people
1. Finding Your Own Fulfilment in Life
Positivity also comes from your own fulfillment. It doesn’t matter whether this fulfillment is based on huge life achievements or everyday small things, as it all counts and it all matters. You may feel fulfilled and positive simply by getting a good night’s sleep or having your favorite cup of coffee in the morning.
What matters is finding what fulfils you and ensuring that you’re introducing fulfilment into your everyday life to have a positive reaction about it. Speaking with someone with a counseling degree in sessions can also help you to speak out loud and explore the simplest things you have to be grateful for.
2. Helping Others
Personal fulfilment doesn’t have to mean focusing only on yourself and your own needs. There is a huge amount of fulfilment which can be gained through helping others and doing selfless acts for other people. The emotional and personal reward from helping others in need can be very fulfilling and help you to feel more positive about your life. This positivity can be increased both by feeling satisfied that you have done something to help, and something worthwhile, and it can also serve to help put your own life in perspective.
For example, when you spend time helping those in need who are in a difficult circumstance, it can serve to remind you of everything you truly have to be grateful for and allow you to have more of a positive perspective when it comes to your own life and own situation.
Therefore, you may want to explore opportunities to help others in a variety of ways. This could be big tasks, such as volunteering with charities or shelters, or it could be in small ways, such as small donations, helping those in need you come across on the street or simply lending your time and support to somebody who asks for it. You don’t need a counseling degree to be able to listen and speak to those in need who require advice, especially when it comes to friends and family.
3. Supporting Positive Mental Health
If you have a particular passion for helping others who are struggling, and particularly those who are struggling with their mental health, you may want to consider career options such as achieving a counseling degree to turn your passion into your job.
If you’re somebody who has experienced first-hand what it is like to lack positivity and struggle with mental health issues, then it’s only natural to want to turn your own experience into learning and support which can benefit others — and if you can do so whilst attaining a career you are passionate about at the same time, then why not?
If you haven’t personally struggled with mental health conditions, that doesn’t mean that you don’t want to work actively to support positive mental health. Helping others who are struggling can be done in many ways, and not just as a career avenue.
What’s important is having an open and compassionate mind. You don’t know what somebody is personally going through, and all you can do is make your own actions more open and supportive for those struggling with their own issues. Sometimes, all it requires is a kind smile to a stranger or asking somebody how they are feeling.
There are always key steps to support more positive thinking and mental health, whether for yourself, or those around you, and whether these are big steps such as speaking to individuals with a counseling degree, or small steps like treating people with basic kindness.
4. Achieving Your Goals
Personal fulfillment can be based on the goals you set for yourself and the knowledge that you have achieved those goals. It can also be fulfilling simply to know that you are taking the right steps to accomplish any large goals you set for yourself.
While it’s possible to be fulfilled in a general and natural way without any extra efforts, the largest part of fulfilment is going to come from the goals you set for yourself.
These goals can be anything which matters to you, and there is absolutely no rule on how impressive or large these goals need to be. Only you can know what you consider as a fulfilling achievement or goal for yourself.
If you have been struggling or in a particularly low mood, your goal may be to simply cook yourself a healthy meal instead of turning to junk food. Or it might simply be to get out of bed a little earlier. These might seem like very trivial goals, but for someone struggling significantly with low mood or their mental health, these are very important achievements, and can therefore be very fulfilling.
So, when thinking about goals, consider every day, the person to you, and the larger objectives. This could be your day to day routine, what you want to achieve in your personal life, and what you are looking to achieve based on any career plans. Perhaps you are looking for a career tailored around positive thinking and support, such as gaining a counseling degree.
While setting these goals, it’s important always to remember that personal fulfilment means personal for a reason. Don’t compare yourself to what others are seen to be achieving or to what they have and concentrate on what you need to do for yourself. In this way, positivity will more easily follow.
5. Consider What You Have to Be Grateful For
When you allow your mindset to become a little more negative, this usually means that you’re focusing on everything you don’t have, and everything which is bothering you. To work in a more positive mindset, it’s important to switch your way of thinking, to concentrate on what you have rather than what you don’t.
Remind yourself what you are very lucky to have, and what you have to be grateful for. It’s often taken for granted what you do have daily. A warm, safe bed and food in the kitchen, for example, might be something you take for granted.
Speaking to others is a wonderful way to be reminded of what you have to be grateful for, if you don’t have the right mindset to do it yourself, such as someone with a counseling degree.
6. Keeping a Gratitude Journal
Actively keeping a gratitude journal is a great way to hone in on positivity and remind yourself to be fulfilled. The simple act of writing something down can be cathartic and also enable you to look back over everything and remind yourself of the positives when times get tough.
A gratitude journal can list anything you want it to record, from being grateful about your great breakfast to being thankful you have paid employment. This all allows your mind to focus only on the positives and helps to train your mind to be more optimistic and content.
7. Being Mindful
Practicing mindfulness is a great way to train your mind to focus only on the present. After all, negative thoughts easily consume you when you begin to worry about the past or the future, and when you develop anxiety over situations to come. Being mindful means that your mind is brought back to the present every time it begins to wander, meaning you can concentrate more fully on what is happening in the here and now, in a positive way.
Practicing meditation techniques is great for developing mindfulness, as it allows you to control your mind and concentrate on everything that is around you at the moment, such as your own breathing, the sounds you can hear, and the atmosphere around you.
Try to incorporate mindfulness in everything you do. Concentrate on even the simplest tasks to allow your mind to focus and keep out negative thoughts. If you’re enjoying a mealtime, switch off any distracting technology and concentrate on how your food tastes and taking your time with it instead of hurrying your meals.
Those with a counseling degree often recommend mindfulness as part of cognitive treatment for mental health.
8. Taking Care of Your Mental Health
It’s easy to talk about being more positive and finding fulfilment when you’re in the appropriate mindset to seek it; however, this becomes increasingly difficult when you are struggling with mental health issues and when you have exceptionally low mood. It’s consistently the case where positivity and fulfilment are exactly the steps which can best tackle mental health problems such as depression. Still, they are also exactly the steps which also feel the most impossible to succeed in when you have a mental health illness.
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is always an opportunity to be positive and fulfilled and came out the other side. Be sure to speak with professionals with a counseling degree to find support for your issues and work through them to develop more positive habits. Seek all the help and treatment you need, such as sessions from professionals with a counseling degree, and take it one step at a time. As mentioned above, be supportive of yourself in the smallest acts, such as simply getting out of bed, as this is a huge achievement for someone who is struggling.
Find your fulfilment in small ways and build it up at your own pace.
How to Be More Positive
If you’re seeking ways to be more positive, there are many steps you can take to implement a better mindset.
1. Take pride in your appearance.
This doesn’t mean focus on your looks all the time; it simply means take joy from your appearance. Make an effort to wear something which makes you feel great. The better you feel, the more positive your mind will be. Consider, for example, how different you would feel avoiding a shower and lounging around in sweats all day, compared to taking a nice hot bath and putting on some freshly cleaned clothes.
2. Be grateful.
As mentioned above regarding keeping a gratitude journal, be sure to remind yourself every day of the things you have to be positive about.
3. Adopt more positive habits.
Sit up a little bit taller, have a better posture, hold your head high when you walk, or smile at strangers; the more you actively introduce positive habits, the more you will convince your mind to think more positively.
4. Surround yourself with positive things.
No matter how much you train yourself to think positively, it’s always the unfortunate truth that the people and situations around, you have the power to make you feel negative. While you naturally shouldn’t set much by what other people think, it’s still not pleasant to only be surrounded by toxic or negative people or situations. Try to change anything which you know is dragging you down. There is nothing wrong with severing ties with people who don’t truly care about you. Fill your home with things you love, and only allow people you love into it.
5. Seek professional support to adjust your mindset.
There is only so much you can do alone if you are struggling with mental health problems, so be sure to seek sessions with those who have a counseling degree to get the best support you need for changing your mindset.
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