How to keep life bumping along in a positive direction: 21 tips for maintaining a positive attitude

Hello again, dear reader. In our previous and most recent discussions we have pontificated on the importance of using social media platforms and screen-based technology such as smart phones and tablets wisely. However today I thought we would discuss something slightly different, but no less important. It's also something I get asked quite frequently (I think it's because of my disability) and that is, “how do I maintain such a positive attitude all the time." The truth is, I don't maintain a positive attitude all the time, and no one can, no matter how much they want to. However, I try not to let those negative situations of daily life impact me to such an extent that they will in the entire day. I try to deal with the negative situations as best I can and then move forward from there. I think a lot of people have forgotten, especially in this fast-paced. Right now, the customer is always right and you can only have it your way. World we live in, just how important a positive attitude can be so today's conversation is intended to provide you with 21 well thought out and proven to work tips (I've used most of these myself), to help you, dear reader. Keep and maintain a positive attitude that will help you live up to your fullest potential, it is also important to remember that even if –at any given time–your choices of action are limited, your choices regarding your attitude are not. Always choose a positive attitude....

1. Have a Morning Routine. How you start your morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. Make sure that you have an attitude-boosting morning routine that puts you in a good mood so that you can start the day off right.

2. Carry An Attitude of Happiness With You. Instead of waiting for external things to make you happy, be happy and then watch how that influences the things that go on around you. That is, instead of telling yourself that first something good has to happen, and then you’ll be happy, be happy first. Happiness is an attitude, not a situation.

3. Relish Small Pleasures. Big pleasures—graduation, getting married, being promoted, having your book published—come too infrequently. Life is made up of tiny victories and simple pleasures. With the right mental attitude, watching the sunset, eating an ice cream cone, and walking barefoot on the grass are all you need to be filled with joy.

4. Smile. Smiling will give you an instantaneous attitude boost. Try smiling for a minute while you think of a happy memory or the last thing that made you smile. Smiling releases endorphins and serotonin, also known as the feel good hormones. It’s a lot easier to adopt a positive attitude when the chemicals being released by your body are conducive to well-being.

5. Upload Positivity to Your Brain. Read books with a positive message, listen to music with uplifting lyrics, and watch movies in which the protagonist’s optimism helps him/her to overcome obstacles and win, despite the odds. Change your attitude for the better by uploading as much positivity into your brain as you possibly can.

6. Take Responsibility. At any moment your attitude can be that of a victim or of a creator. The first step you need to take to shift from victim-mode to creator-mode is to take responsibility. Here’s the attitude of a creator:

• I create my life.
• I am responsible for me.
• I’m in charge of my destiny.

7. Have a Zen Attitude. Think of life not as something that’s happening to you, but as something that’s happening for you. Look at any challenging situation, person, or event as a teacher that’s been brought into your life to teach you something.

The next time you find yourself thinking, “Why is this happening to me?” choose to have a Zen attitude, instead. Ask yourself, “What am I supposed to learn or gain from this”? or “How will this help me grow and become a better, more enlightened being?”

8. Be Proactive. A reactive person allows others and external events to determine how they will feel. A proactive person decides how they will feel regardless of what may be going on around them. Be proactive by choosing your attitude and maintaining it throughout the day, regardless of what the day may bring.

9. Change Your Thoughts. Positive thoughts lead to a positive attitude, while negative thoughts lead to a negative attitude. Changing your attitude is as easy as hitting the “pause” button on what you’re thinking and choosing to think different thoughts.

10. Have a Purpose. Having a purpose in life gives you a fixed point in the horizon to focus on, so that you can remain steady amid life’s vicissitudes and challenges. Bringing meaning and purpose into your life—knowing why you are here—will do wonders for your attitude.

11. Focus On the Good. In order to have a positive attitude, focus on the good. Focus on the good in yourself, the good in your life, and the good in others.

12. Stop Expecting Life to Be Easy. The truth is, life gets tough at times. For all of us. It can even be painful. But you’re brave and resourceful, and you can take it. Know that sometimes things won’t be easy, and adopt the attitude that you have what it takes to deal with anything that life throws at you.

13. Keep Up Your Enthusiasm. Enthusiastic people have a great attitude toward life. Have a list of ways to lift your enthusiasm ready for those times when you feel your zest for life draining away. Being enthusiastic will help you maintain the attitude that life is good and that you’re lucky to be alive.

14. Give Up On Having An Attitude of Entitlement. Think of the parable “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson. Two little mice and two miniature people are put in a maze. Here’s what happens:

• When the mice discover that the cheese isn’t where it’s supposed to be, they immediately get to work on finding another piece of cheese.
• The two miniature people, instead, get angry that the cheese has been moved. They waste time expressing outrage and blaming each other.

Stop demanding that things be handed to you. Your attitude at all times should be the following:

• It’s up to me to get what I want.
• Good things come to those who work hard.
• I adapt to change easily and quickly.
• I keep going even when things get tough.

15. Visualize. When things aren’t going your way, keep a positive attitude by visualizing yourself succeeding and achieving your goals. When Nelson Mandela was incarcerated—in a tiny cell that was just 6 feet wide–he kept his hopes up by visualizing himself being set free.

Mandela once said, “I thought of the day when I would walk free. Over and over again, I fantasized about what I would like to do.” By visualizing his release he was able to maintain a positive attitude, even when he found himself under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

16. Limit Your Complaints. Whining about anything and everything is not conducive to a positive attitude. When you complain you’re saying negative things about a person, place, or event, without offering a solution to fix the situation. Instead of complaining, do the following:

• Remove yourself from the situation.
• Shift your perspective about the situation.
• Offer a possible solution.
• Accept that there’s nothing you can do to change the situation and that complaining about it just fosters negativity.

Constantly complaining leads to a bad attitude. So stop complaining. Instead, start looking for solutions or accept what cannot be changed.

17. Watch Your Words. Use positive words when you talk to yourself. Studies have found that positive self-talk can boost your willpower and help you psych yourself up when you need to get through a difficult task. In addition, it can calm you down when you’re worried or anxious.

If you want to change your attitude from “I can’t do this” or “I’m going to fail”, to “I’ve got this” or “I’m going to do great”, change your self -talk.

18. Use The Power of Humor. People who know how to laugh at themselves and at life’s absurdities have a great attitude. Your sense of humor is a power tool, and you can use it to lift your mood and enhance your emotional state at any time.

When something goes wrong, ask yourself, “What’s funny about this?” A humorous perspective will have a positive effect on your attitude.

19. Use Gratitude to Improve Your Attitude. When you find yourself focusing on what’s wrong in your life, what you don’t have, or what you’re missing out on, adjust your attitude by feeling gratitude.

Studies show that having an attitude of gratitude is beneficial for every aspect of your life: being grateful improves your health, your mood, your relationships, your career satisfaction, and on, and on. If you need an attitude lift simply think of all the things that you have to be grateful for.

20. Develop an Attitude of Curiosity. The best way to approach any situation is to be open to what you can learn from it. That is, be curious.

Curiosity gives you a present-moment orientation which is similar to mindfulness. Being curious about a situation allows you to experience it more fully. In addition, curiosity will help you to approach uncertainty in your daily life with a positive attitude.

21. Seek Out Others With a Positive Attitude. A positive attitude is contagious. When you feel that you need an attitude boost, find someone with a great attitude and look for an excuse to hang out with them. Their attitude can’t help but rub itself off on you and you’ll be able to face the world with renewed optimism.

Conclusion

John Mitchell once said the following: “Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude toward us.” The 21 tips above will help you to keep a positive attitude at all times. Live your best life by having a great attitude.

As always, dear reader, thanks for listening, and there will be more to come soon.

How digital waves may change your body chemistry: the five forgotten consequences of too much screen time.

Hello again, dear reader. During yesterday's discussion, we pontificated about the importance of occasionally having a "digital detox" so for today's discussion. Keeping in that same vein (for no other reason than I felt like it). We are going to discuss the five most unique and important side effects that too much screen time as on the human body. As I found this information rather interesting, and it may be look at my laptop, tablet and television screen in a whole new light. Hopefully by the end of this conversation, dear reader, you will get screen time on the light as well, and figure out how to better manage the screens that you viewed throughout the day...

When I was a kid, (yes I know I'm in my 30s, but it's true. The only thing I remember really being discussed when I was a kid was television. Or maybe a Game Boy) the only warning we had been given about technology and our health focused on televisions: "too much TV will make your eyes go square." But these days, as all kinds of screen-based devices — tablets, iPods, laptops, mobile phones — are common in our everyday lives, scientists have been focused on figuring out what screen time does to the body and brain. And even if you steer clear of the hysteria and tabloid reporting on the issue, a lot of the facts don't look particularly good.

Most of the research on screen time focuses on kids, because, after all, that's where the biggest difference in lifestyle is. Adults may stare at computers all day as a simple matter of course — you'd be hard-pressed to find a standard 9-to-5 that doesn't involve a screen — but children are supposed to be gleefully climbing trees, throwing apples at Nancy-Lou and engaging in other traditional manifestations of childhood, not staring at a smart phone for hours on end. Being concerned about whether children are spending too much time around screens is not exactly a new worry, but it's a field where some interesting new conclusions have been found recently, but what about adults in dorm rooms and bedrooms, scrolling Tumblr or texting until late at night? Are screens really causing prolonged physical effects on them, too?

The answer, appears to be "yes, under certain circumstances." We all know about how excess device use impacts our sleep — using bright devices before bed can cause poor quality sleep, according to medical advice — but that appears to be only the beginning of the real effect. Reading on, and learn about five ways your excessive screen time changes your body.

1. Your Brain Restructures

According to Psychology Today, one of the fundamental consequences that a large amount of screen time has on adults is a restructuring of the matter that makes up your brain. (The brain consists of grey matter, the heavy bit that makes up the folds, and white matter, which transmits messages between neurons.) These results don't apply to everyone — they're all proven consequences of screen addiction, which is a psychological condition based around severely excessive use of electronic devices — but folks who aren't addicts but do use their devices heavily may experience some version of the same restructuring. Too much screen usage seems to result in grey matter shrinkage, problems with white matter's ability to communicate, a lot more cravings, and general poorer cognitive performance. Not great news, guys.

2. You're More Vulnerable To Metabolic Syndrome

This particular finding comes from a 2008 study of adolescents, but its thinking still seems to hold true for folks of other ages. Metabolic syndrome combines diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure; it's a pretty toxic cocktail of poor health, apparently linked to an abnormally sedentary lifestyle. (You'll notice a pattern in this; the bodily damage done by screen time often doesn't have much to do with the screen itself, but rather hinges on the the fact that we sit still while binge-watching.) But the 2008 study found a a pretty strong link between screen time and metabolic syndrome, even if the kids also did a bunch of physical activity after the fact — so the effects of sitting still for hours can't be undone with a single brisk walk.

3. You're More Vulnerable To Eye Strain

Yeah, yeah, my parents were right. My eyes may not have turned square, but it's pretty well-recognised by the medical community that too much screen time is seriously bad for the peepers. Blue light from screens isn't just keeping us awake; it may also damage the retina , and eye strain from too much device use is increasing. A report by CBS had a few recommendations, including the 20-20-20 rule: after 20 minutes of staring at a screen, look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Plus, try to use the dimmer switch on your devices rather than letting them burn brightly for hours.

4. You May Not Be As Able To Process Emotions As Previous Generations

This is an intriguing one. It's a contentious discovery in children — several places, including HBO and NPR, have hosted controversial specials about whether screen time really inhibits the emotional development of kids — but it may impact adults, too. Even if you didn't grow up with an iPad within reach, lack of frequent face-to-face interaction, in favor of Facebook and other simulated emotional connections, may actually impact on your ability to process emotion properly. The results for adults aren't in yet, but it doesn't seem like such a far-flung idea; even late adopters can be seriously damaged by a technology.

5. You're Likely To Die Earlier

For decades, studies have indicated that spending significant time parked in front of a screen — whether it's a TV, computer or tablet — lowers cardiovascular health outcomes and increases mortality risk. And the unfortunate thing about this is that exercising more doesn't seem to do much about it. If you're trying to offset your days of playing Skyrim on the couch with healthy amounts of exercise each day, it may not be enough; a 2011 study of 4500 adults showed that lots of screen time raised your likelihood of death by up to 52 percent, while being a good exerciser only lowered that by about 4 percent. So it's not just the sedentary lifestyle; it's something about screen viewing itself that causes our bodies to work less well. If you want to live longer, get fitter, have a healthier heart and be able to talk to your friends properly, it seems that logging off social media immediately and going for a long, long walk might be your best option.

As always, dear reader, thanks for listening. There will be more to come soon. PS the next post is more than likely to be something totally different from all of our previous discussions. As I have had lots of ideas floating around in my brain pan. Lately.

Forsaking screen time for real-time: why digital detoxification is important for personal growth and overall well-being

Hello again, dear reader. In our last discussion, we pontificate on how social media platforms can be used for personal growth to become a better person. But today I thought we would discuss the exact opposite and pontificate on how participating in a digital detox, could be beneficial to your overall well-being and personal growth on the road to becoming a better person.

Recently there has been increasing talk about the importance of digital detoxifying programs, otherwise known as a "digital detox." As many of us become addicted to our smart phones, tablets, wristbands and smart watches, laptops and anything else with a screen, it’s that much more important to remember to take time away from all things digital. Have an adventure like visiting the mountains for weekend and going camping and hiking (this is a relatively easy thing to do when you live in the great Pacific Northwest). However, if camping hiking isn't something you're interested in dear your reader. You could try just about anything else from swimming to worst decorating or any other activity you are interested in. As long as it does not involve staring in a digital screen or using a digital device as a whole point of this exercise is to get away from technology and connect with your environment and the people in it. This discussion is intended to demonstrate how you dear reader, can implement your own digital detoxification program in your own home and help you to connect with your environment and friends and family in a more personal way...

Why are we hearing so much about digital detox these days?

So why are we hearing more and more about digital detox lately? According to the latest polls conducted by research corporation Ipsos, 40% of adults feel the need to ‘disconnect” and 71% of respondent’s claim they’re spending less time connecting with people face-to-face due to gadgetry. Aside from the negative social ramifications, this digital dependence also comes with health costs: digital screens can contribute to visual fatigue, headaches, and strain of the body from being stationary for so long. Also the intense white-blue back light of our screens raise our “wake-up” and stress hormone Cortisol, often overriding our sleep inducing hormone Melatonin. Other studies have found that technology contributes to higher stress, strains on relationships and family and attention disorders.

Why are digital devices so addictive?

If you can’t help but check your smart phone immediately after waking up and then continually throughout the day every few minutes, you’re not alone. Our bodies actually crave the results of shared information via our screened devices – we’re hard-wired for it! This is why: hundreds of thousands of years ago when the ancestors of Homo sapiens walked the earth they developed physical reactions to information. When knowledge was shared (or the promise of knowledge) that could make life easier and ensure survival, their brains were flooded with dopamine, the feel-good hormone.

The same is true today. Research shows that our prehistoric brains still flood us with dopamine when our smart phones “ping” to let us know there’s potential knowledge or survival tools waiting for us to discover. Each tweet, text or email is a little gift-wrapped packet that might make a difference to our survival. At the same time our Limbic brains are reassured that we’re socially connected. It’s the perfect formula resulting in us feeling “good” every time we receive a notification through our digital device.

Why is this addiction so dangerous?

The problem with this scenario is that our brain is actually being fooled: very few of us receive survival tools via our Twitter or Facebook feeds and, overall, our social media interaction is incredibly shallow. This leads to “solitarism” – a buzzword you’ll be hearing a lot more of in the coming years as people suffer loneliness despite being “connected” via multiple social media streams.

Plan with intent

Having a plan in place sets yourself up for success. Be clear about what you’ll give up, for how long, and when. If you’re agreeing not to check email in the evening, be clear about exactly what hours and what days this takes effect. Going into this with clear intention will also allow you to monitor very clearly your own reactions to digital breaks, and plan for responses of how to deal with any jonesing. Develop your plan, and stick to it. As you tally your victories, you can expand your goals.

Start slow

If you’re checking your email every 10 minutes, a week away without your Blackberry may induce heart palpitations. If you’re going to your son’s soccer game, for example, make a point and a plan to leave your cellphone in the car with the intention of not checking it for those 2 hours. Start slowly, and gradually, and this will be the key to breaking any dependence.

Tell friends and family

You don’t want them to think you’re MIA – to avoid unnecessary worry and to enlist support, let your friends and family in on your digital detox plan. And who knows, maybe they’ll even join you on that walk in your National Park, and you can both go tech free for the afternoon!

Learn from your detox

The goal of a detox isn’t to see how long you can go without doing something, only to breathe a sigh of relief at the end and jump back into old patterns wholeheartedly. Use the tech detox not only to see that you can live without your gadgets and the world won’t stop, but also to learn about yourself, what you like doing when monitors and screens aren’t involved, and with this, you can integrate new hobbies and patterns into your every day.

Plan alternatives

When you decide to stop or reduce online time, you will create a void in your time. Filling the void with enjoyable activities is the key to beating any gadget addiction. This is where our helpful hints list “7 Fun Things you can do Instead of checking Your Email” can be helpful.

Create a tech-free zone

Pick a space in your home, preferably in a public area like your living room. This will encourage more ‘live’ conversation, more gadget-free activities, and less ‘auto-pilot’ of entering the room and turning on the computer or TV. Alternatively, have a family agreement to turn off the modem or WiFi at a certain time in the evening.

As always, the reader, thanks for listening, and there will be more to come soon.