In our daily lives, we are hardly aware of the many things happening around us. When you focus deeply on the negative aspects around you, it makes your brain dwell on them and restricts us from thinking positively and thus being happy.
how you can train the brain to be happy
Let us look at a few ways to train your mind to think wisely for better mental health.
Affirming yourself positively
This is an excellent way to mentally record the thoughts that you want to circulate in your mind throughout the day. When you tell something positive to yourself, your brain functions to fulfill that. For example, think of an affirmative saying-
‘It is a beautiful day or “I can do this and repeat it mentally all day long. This will help you to establish a firm belief in what you say to yourself and thus help you function more efficiently.
Making a positive routine before starting the day
We usually prepare ourselves for the whole day in the morning. So, thinking positive at that time helps you all day long. Learn to do it properly. When you wake up every morning, make sure to spare a few minutes and make a list- written or mental.
Note down 5 reasons why you are grateful to be alive and appreciate them. This will set a positive tone for the day and help you focus on the good things around you.
Building a mental ladder
This is a very effective way to help your brain cope with depression and anxiety and is very useful for people who are in a seriously damaged mental condition. Creating a ladder mentally means taking small steps to take yourself out from a terrible shaft of physical or mental pain.
Choose things that make you happy and bring back the lost liveliness in you. Enjoy every little moment and don’t let the burden of your emotional stress weigh you down.
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Appreciation what you eat
If you are privileged enough to get a full and healthy meal whenever you need it, be grateful for that. Consider yourself lucky to be able to afford this necessity while many people struggle for it so much.
This is a part of many traditions around the world. When you think about how good your life is right now, it makes you happy and makes your day mindful. You just focus on the present and you are not disturbed mentally.
Differentiating between your needs and wants
Satisfaction is the core key to balanced mental health. When you focus more on your wants than your needs, it breaks your heart when you do not get what you want. Understand the difference between these two and have clarity.
This will help you to learn why it is important to let go of certain things that may not be crucial for our existence and are just unnecessary luxuries. This way, you can set your priorities and decide your goals.
Avoid multitasking
One of the biggest mistakes we make that can ruin our mental strength is multitasking. When you try to do that, you are dividing your attention to several works at the same time and this can make you feel overwhelmed and disturb your power to be attentive and create a mess.
It is always better to focus particularly on one task, put your mind and body to it completely and finish it, and then move on to the next task.
Spending time with nature
Nature is our best refuge. When we work under pressure or stuff ourselves within the four walls of our homes or office cubicles, our mind functions less efficiently. As a result, we become disturbed and diverted.
During these times, consider taking a short walk outside in the garden. Spend some time while being connected to nature and natural elements. This is an excellent way to help you refocus and uplift your mood so that your brain operates with better efficiency.
Learning to pause
In the competitive age where everyone is a part of a rat race, our mental peace is hugely disturbed by our inability to pause and reflect on things happening around us, which is a very important thing to do if you want peace and a better state of mind.
Therefore, take some time regularly to pause and think about positive things that happened to you. Don’t let the bad things affect you mentally and learn to face situations with courage.
Having a gratitude journal
Keep aside a journal and write in it every day. Make a list of things and people you are grateful to have in your life. You can use a spiral-bound diary or a plain notebook- anything. Pen down your positive thoughts into it and express yourself completely.
This will reduce the burden in your mind and relieve you of the things causing stress and anxiety. Your thoughts are expressed in your words and you can reread them to feel better.
Appreciate your abilities and focus less on the inabilities
Most often, we are constantly bugged by the things we can’t have in our life or things that are not happening the way we planned them to be. As we grow, life gives us painful experiences and problems that we fail to handle wisely.
This can be resolved if you focus more on what you can do and less on what you cannot. Put in your best efforts but never be afraid to accept the result, whatever it may be.
Related: How To Make Happy To Someone
Always keep learning
There are no limitations to learning. Try learning something new every time you feel upset or feel diverted from your focus. When you start learning a new thing, you have to use your body and mind completely to achieve the best results for yourself.
This will sharpen your brain’s ability to perform and will also keep it away from negative thoughts that can sway your mental well-being. Learning is the best way to utilize your brain’s capacity to the fullest.
Being active physically
Engagement in physical activity is an efficient way to keep you focused. It not only keeps you healthy and strengthens your body, but also works excellently to keep you challenged mentally and engaged in it at the moment.
Also, it will work brilliantly for your mental health and is a total stress buster and cure for depression. Try learning a new yoga pose, going to the gym, or to dance classes. Health and mental peace are correlated to each other.
Setting your targets
You need to plan properly for better execution. Set certain goals for yourself- both long-term and short-term ones. Chalk out plans to make progress about it. Review your plans regularly, and see if you are progressing accordingly or you need a slight change of plan.
When you have a fixed goal, your mind focuses on achieving it and keeps you completely engaged. This way, you are hooked to your tasks, you grow while learning, and go through positive changes consistently.
Consider things that matter to you
Before stressing about a particular matter or incident, ask yourself if it truly matters to you. Also, check if it will have any long-term impact on your life- if you will still care about it five years from now.
If the answer is no, then stop bothering yourself about it and focus on something constructive. This is a great way to get rid of negative emotions and screen your thoughts so that you only care about the things that matter.
Make positive conversations
When you interact with a person- your parents, a friend, or a colleague- always try to say things that are positive to you and them. Having an optimistic interaction every day will be beneficial to your mental health and inner growth.
If the other person shows a negative attitude in what they say, rectify them and explain why it is important to have a positive attitude in life. This way, other people will consider you to be a wise person.
Playing
Spare some time every day or on weekends and spend quality time with your kids playing cricket or basketball. Playing any sport is not only beneficial in maintaining good health but also developing your mental health.
This is a great way to get rid of the negative thoughts that run through your mind and disturb your inner peace. You don’t always need to play a sport- you could also play with your dog or something you can play by yourself.
Not fearing that people may judge you
We get absorbed in more negative thinking when we care more about the opinion of other people and live by the fear that they might judge our actions and words. It is meaningless to try to understand what others think about us and this is not the correct way to evaluate yourself.
Doing this will just be a waste of time and energy. Remind yourself once in a while that their opinions don’t decide if we are right or wrong.
Related: Things Know About Meditation
Leading a balanced and healthy lifestyle
Our bodies and minds are highly interconnected and it is important to maintain one very well to keep the other one okay. You must have a healthy lifestyle. Create a balanced diet, keep yourself hydrated, take proper rest, and exercise regularly.
When your body functions properly, this has a positive impact on your brain and improves your ability to focus on positive things- your goals and necessities. This is very important if you want a change in your thought pattern.
Being surrounded with positivity
Avoid being in contact with people who spread negative thoughts and are toxic. The only way to create a positive outlook to be happy is to minimize contact with such individuals. When we spend much time around these negative people, it harms our thoughts and beliefs and can bring us down and feel hopeless and depressed about ourselves.
Misery always needs company, we must remember that. Always be with people who are optimistic and who help you with positive thoughts.
Keep yourself busy
Meaningful experiences in life that teach us the correct way to lead our lives to be happy come from doing the right kind of things. When you stay idle for a long time, your mind is unoccupied and consequently, it changes its thought pattern towards other negative elements.
The main trick in making positive changes in our minds and therefore lives is to learn how to create the perfect balance between doing many things and not doing sufficient things regularly.
Having a proper routine
And not just for your daily activities. Customize a routine for yourself that includes having time to apply ways to get rid of the negative thoughts filled in your mind. It can be done through the simplest of activities like meditating every day, spending time with your family and with yourself, incorporating minor changes in lifestyle patterns.
Choose anything suitable for you and practice it consistently till you get better at that. Start slowly but be consistent with your efforts.
Not being stubborn
When we stick to our interpretation of something, we start feeling negative about it. Never ignore the possibility that things may appear different if you just accept a little shift of perspective.
Try to look at the same thing from a different point of view. If you cannot resolve the situation, ask another person to help you out. Muse over their opinion before you disregard it. Being stubborn about your interpretation will take away a lot of your mental peace.
Not assuming things
We tend to jump to conclusions through mental shortcuts when we don’t even have enough information to do that. This is a completely incorrect approach to life and will eventually cause unnecessary stress and anxiety to your mind.
When you hear something or know something, be patient before you make a comment or make a decision. Think about it thoroughly and try to gather more information. Be sure that you have the correct data and then take a step further.
Considering happiness to be a choice
All of us face bad days because life is never constantly smooth for us. We face heartbreaks, failures, and losses. The problem with mental peace lies in that we do not know the correct way to cope up with these negative aspects.
Ask your brain to remind you every day that being happy is a choice. Try to see every obstacle as a part of life. Choose to be happy yourself and you’ll see no negative emotion can divert you.
Avoid spiraling of negative thoughts
Once that train of negative thoughts starts running in your mind, there’s no going back to being normal. One terrible thought will lead to another and this will continue until you fall into a pit of depression and self-doubt.
Never allow the spiral to take shape and do not panic. Take a few deep breaths and calm yourself down. If you see it taking form, identify it correctly first so that it no longer ruins your ability to be happy.
Name your emotion
Practicing self-reflection is great training for the brain. It gives you clarity of thought and helps you to better understand your problem and thus, find a solution. Don’t let the emotions create a heap in your mind to a level where you no longer understand what’s happening to you.
Identify what you feel exactly- sad, angry, or depressed. This improves your communication skills with the people in your life and helps you to avoid unfavorable situations and thus, be happy.
Verdict
It takes a lot of effort to train our brains to think in the proper direction so that our mental peace is undisturbed. It is a very complex process, but some of these steps can help you to create a structure of the path you would follow to do it. Follow them rigorously and you will see better results instantly.
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“Mindfulness, meditation, and positivity – these three words describe me the best. I founded “BeHappyHuman” blog dedicated to spreading happiness and inner peace through mindfulness and meditation techniques. As a self-taught practitioner, I have been exploring these practices for the past decade and my passion lies in sharing their benefits with others. My mission is to help individuals achieve greater happiness.