Lies You Tell Yourself and
Positive Attitude Tips to Stop It!

There are negative things we say to ourselves about ourselves. The positive attitude tips here will help you do LESS of that and MORE self appreciation, giving back the energy and confidence you need to move forward toward your goals.  The simple, yet powerful mental adjustments I share are helping me and I hope they will be helpful to you.

Positive Attitude Tips: An Example of Unproductive Self Talk and How These 'Lies' Hinder Progress

Imagine.  You're up early and you're working out - running, walking and doing weights in the gym.  You feel proud of yourself for getting up early to work out. 

But then - you catch a reflection of yourself in a window. 

You don't like what you see.  And you start thinking negatively about how you look,  "I look out of shape.  How did I get this way?  I didn't use to have that bulge.  What's wrong with me?  No wonder my clothes are all tight. I don't look all that great and it's my fault.  Damn."

Those negative thoughts begin to trample all over the good feelings you had when you first got up to go workout.   These 'lies' that you tell yourself begin to get you get off balance - mentally and physically.  Your negative self talk causes you to become less focused and you end up doing some things that start to set the tone for the rest of your day, you:

• tweak your ankle while you're running,
• drop a dumbbell on your toe,
  
• can't find the healthy stuff to eat at lunch so you eat three bags of Cheetos from the vending machine,
  
• and begin to think that getting back in shape is going to be hard and maybe, for you, impossible.

Beating yourself up - focusing primarily around what's wrong (in ANY situation - personal or professional) is what I call PUSHING yourself to make changes from a negative mindset. 

And a PUSH (an aggravated and frustrated) mind loop keeps you stuck.  The things you tell yourself are lies because they are unproductive thoughts that make action feel hard, forced and difficult.  Not much good happens from that focus, mindset and mood.

Positive Attitude Tips for Changing Your Self Talk and Getting Momentum Toward What You Want

I'll demonstrate powerful positive attitude tips now with a 're-do' of the workout scenario from above showing how positive self talk can impact your day:

You're up early and you're working out.  You're feeling good about yourself.  You're proud that you set your clock and actually got up.  You love that you are moving your body  As you're running you see a reflection of yourself.  This time though, because you've decided to use the positive attitude tips you've been reading from Suzie's website you decide to guide your self-talk AWAY from negative thoughts and to think TOWARD more forward looking, positive thoughts:

"And, if being thin and fit was easy, everyone would be thin and fit. And everyone's not thin and fit. But I do know that I really do want to be thinner and more fit again. I have the resources and I have the ability and I have all sorts of support from my fitness videos, magazines, apps -heck I could, if I wanted, even hire a fitness trainer."

"I just need to change some things. And, I can do that, and then I know I'll see progress. There have been many other people who've been in this place and they made progress and met their goals and they're not any different from me.  I can do this. For now - I'll just stop looking at my reflection and I'll continue to put one foot in front of the other."

"And, I know there are style-things that I can do that will make me look and feel a little thinner, until I truly am. And I know at some point, I'll be feeling and looking leaner. But for now I'm going focus on feeling good about taking action today.  I'm going to take things one step at a time.  I know that small steps and actions add up to big progress, over time.  I CAN get where I want to be."

"I am in charge of this stuff and I am a good, capable person. I can manage this, I can do this, I have all sorts of resources. I CAN do this."

One of the Best Positive Attitude Tips:  Work on Creating Positive Thought Momentum

Did you read aloud the positive self talk of the exerciser, above?  Could you feel the momentum building? 

Changing where you focus and how you talk to yourself sounds simple but it can feel awkward and challenging at first.  But as you do it, as you focus on giving yourself the benefit of the doubt and using more  positive self-talk, you begin to create positive thought momentum. And, when you do that, EVERY situation you're grappling with will change for the better.

In Our Fitness Example - After our exerciser applied these Positive Attitude Tips around mindset and self-talk - here's what happened: 

• Later that week, because he feels more inspired and optimistic, and because he knows that eating healthy is important, he brings a healthy lunch to work.  He even is inspired to go to the grocery store to stock his kitchen with healthy options.  And, when he gets home later that night, he tosses the junk food out.
• Somehow he stumbles across Suzie's healthy breakfast facts and recipes blog post article and starts eating breakfast every morning. (He wasn't specifically looking for that article, but his healthy vibe and mindset must have led him to it somehow.)
  
• He visits an online fitness forum and reads stories that are inspiring.  And he ends up getting digital best seller Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle  and finds really good fat-burning and workout tips that help feel even more interested in his workouts.
  
• He feels proud of the workout accomplishments for the day and actually re-counts what all of his good choices, mentally patting himself on the back and reminding himself that he is on his way.  This positive mental momentum makes getting up the next day for an early morning workout even easier.
  
• He's also inspired to fill up his water jug and drink more water during the day.  He's already feeling the difference. It's squelching his hunger, regulating his body and giving him more energy throughout the day.
  

The Wisest of All Positive Attitude Tips:  Knowledge That You Have the Power to Shift Your Focus, Mindset and Mood

• Preview 
• PDF Version 
• Kindle Version
  

We can’t change everything in our lives immediately. And, darn it, we can’t make other people change. But we can change our focus, mindset and mood. And as you do this you will notice - if you try it -  that you are drawn to ideas, insights and actions that MOVE you TOWARD what you want to accomplish.  You're no longer stuck!  Good things begin to happen, naturally.

Positive attitude tips are not about saying things you don't mean or about judging how you feel.  It’s good to know how you’re feeling, but it's even better to know that you’re in charge of your focus, mood and mindset  and that you CAN shift it.

Every shift in mood, however slight, moves you closer to the things you want and to answers to every challenge you're facing.  That's because shifting your focus mentally moves you out of the problem so you can see the solutions.  

If you want to be all that you can be and if you want to Wake Up Eager more often - embrace your feelings and then decide to be in charge of them.

These positive attitude tips sound simple, but its not always easy to do, especially if you've gotten on a ‘rant' around what's wrong.  Ranting (out loud or to yourself) keeps you stuck.

So instead of continually and mentally beating the drum about what's wrong (PUSHING) - the wisest of all positive attitude tips is to shift your focus one thought at time. Create positive forward momentum so that you're inspired to take positive action and you come across new insights and ideas to help you get you where you want to go.

 More Positive Attitude Tip Articles and Resources:

• Self Motivation Technique: Making Decisions Using the Emotional Guidance Scale
• Self Motivation Tips:  Two Little Known Techniques for Finding More Motivation & Clarity
• My Digital Book: 120 Stress Management Strategies and Tips for Mind, Body and Spirit
  

Get More Positive Attitude Tips - Preview My Book: 120 Stress Management Strategies