Have you ever found yourself stuck in a cycle of negativity, unable to break away from all the things that are going wrong in the world? Negativity is something that all of us have experienced and felt, but that an increasing number of us are becoming stuck on in today’s scary world. Bad things happen to every person on Earth, but our response to those things is dependent on our habits, our circumstances, and above all, our mindset.
Where Does a Negative Mindset Come From?
All emotions are important and valid, including sadness, frustration, and anger. To try to eliminate those things altogether is unhealthy, and is often peddled as a “quick fix” to negative feelings. “Just don’t let yourself feel sad!” people say. This is not actually good advice; sadness is valid.
So what’s the difference between feeling valid negative emotions, and negativity? Negativity can be defined as feeling negative about almost all situations in life. Another way to put it would be to see the negative side of every situation, putting emphasis on the bad parts of life, rather than seeing both positives and negatives in a situation.
Why are so many people negative? The truth is, we are hardwired to hold onto negativity. Psychological research shows that human beings are more likely to remember negative experiences than positive ones. We are predestined to remember insults for longer than we remember compliments; we remember bad experiences more vividly than happy, pleasurable ones.
From this research, we can gather that we have a lot of work to do to undo our negative mindsets as human beings. In order to be more positive, you will need to put in some work; this change in the thought process doesn’t happen overnight!
That’s where the ‘Positivity Challenge’ comes into play. What is the positivity challenge, and how can it change the way you think?
A Powerful Way to Change Your Mindset
Entrepreneur Morissa Schwartz has come up with a positivity challenge that tested the way she reacted to experiences in her life. Morissa did her research and found out that it takes 66 days to form a habit – that’s just over two months – and decided that, after finding herself trapped in a cycle of negativity, it was time to set herself a positivity task.
How do you actively set yourself a challenge to be more positive? Moods and reactions are hard to quantify. That’s why Morissa made her Positivity Challenge practical and easy for anyone to do. Here’s how it goes…
Every single day for 66 days, write down 5 positive things that happened. They don’t have to be mind-blowing, incredible, or life-changing things. Just five good things. Five things that weren’t bad at all.
On an average day, nothing amazing will happen – or so you might think. If you are feeling stuck and bored with your life, it’s easy not to notice the little things that happen that are, actually, great and positive. By actively sitting down at the end of the day and writing down these positive experiences, you solidify them in your mind.
On the most boring of boring days, you could write:
I ate a tasty meal.
I woke up in a warm, soft, safe bed.
I walked my dog and the weather was sunny.
I watched a TV show that made me laugh out loud.
I cleaned my bathroom and made it smell nice.
These are all, it seems, unremarkable things. Pretty forgettable things. But by framing them in positivity, you are making an effort to see the good in every forgettable or average experience.
This challenge isn’t just a wishy-washy wellness challenge; it is deep-rooted in psychology. When we write things down, we make them more real in our minds; writing things down and speaking them aloud seals them in our memories much more easily.
So how did Morissa get on? She writes, “After only my second day, this challenge helped me realize that even the most minor things can significantly impact your day and overall mood.”
So, why not try this 66-day positivity challenge? You could change your frame of mind entirely using this free, quick and simple mindset challenge that reframes your attitude towards every day, leading you gently away from a negative mindset.
What happens in your life isn’t always under your control, but the way you react is. This doesn’t mean pushing away “bad” emotions, but rather redirecting your mind towards the upsides of every seemingly forgettable day.