Positive Thinking Can Change Your Life

You need to believe it to achieve it.

• Visualize yourself doing the actions that will make you successful (studying, planning,

etc.). When you visualize your success, you are creating another layer of belief in your

mind that you can do it.

• Decide to do your personal best in every situation, class, etc.

• Having a good attitude attracts positive people for you to surround yourself with. This is

important because we all need other people to help us accomplish our goals.

• Work on filtering out your negative thoughts to make more room for the positive ones.

Every time you think of something negative, counter it with a positive thought. For

example, if you think “I’m terrible at math,” follow that with “I need help in this course

so I’m going to ask another student to study with me. If I study more, I can succeed.”

Positive thinking fuels your motivation (Link: Taking Action When You’re Stuck) (Link:

Developing Self Discipline); you will feel better physically and get more studying done.

• Positive thinking changes the chemistry of your brain so that your planning improves,

you become more focused on your goals (Link: Planning and Goal Setting) and you have

more energy.

• Display your positive thoughts outwardly in your non-verbal behaviors. Sit up straight

with your chest up and your shoulders back because your bodily posture influences your

mental attitude. Make eye contact with the people around you and smile or nod. Walk

with confidence by holding your head up instead of looking down at the floor.

Author: Shirley “Mandy” Sexton, Ph.D.