10 Ways to Change Your Thoughts and Transform Your Life

The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised. — Norman Vincent Peale

Did you know that your thoughts are magnetic? Each thought is like a beacon that attracts a reality. You see, you have approximately 60,000 thoughts running through your mind each day and from the moment you wake up, you can consciously choose whether they are going to be positive or, negative. A good thing about our brain is that it willingly adopts any changes that we bring about in our thinking patterns. 

Here is a list of 10 ways you can change your thoughts and give a positive direction to your life.

1. Create positive affirmations

Affirmations are not always positive.  They can be negative as well. The hexes created by the witches are negative affirmations.

The truth is that most people are given to making negative affirmations. When you think repeatedly that you are not going to succeed in a particular project, it is a negative affirmation. Affirmations, both negative and positive impact the neurological functioning of the brain.

Positive affirmations are like mantras. They have a sacred and spiritual force about them. Let us be clear about creating positive affirmations. They should not be normative or weak.

2. Learn to apply full stop

We keep mulling over our misfortunes, the perceived wrongs committed to us by those who we have loved and stood by so sincerely. We never stop cursing ourselves for the mistakes that we think we have committed. What would have happened if I had done this or that? What would happen if I do this or that in future?

This is not to suggest we should not learn from our past mistakes or plan our future intelligently. The only thing is we should stop thinking over and over once we have learnt from our past and decided about our future.

3. Let go of the need to be masochistic

Quite often we love to wallow in our misery. We enjoy creating self-punishing thoughts or being gloomy and pessimistic. Here is an example:

I was born unlucky. Nothing good will ever occur to me.

Such thoughts not only cause harmful impact on the mind, but they adversely affect your physical health as well.

4. Count your joys and blessings

Most people take their joys and blessings for granted and start grumbling about what they do not have; or, when they are faced with problems and troubles. Just think of those who are less fortunate than you. Or, think of situation that could have been worse than it is now. You are crying because have hurt your knee in an accident. What, if the leg itself had broken? See the filled half of the glass for satisfaction and the empty half with a resolve to fill it.

5. Appreciate and enjoy what you already have

This is not to suggest that you should not aspire for a still better life. Enjoy whatever amount of success you have achieved instead of feeling sad about what you have not been able to achieve. There is nothing wrong with always fixing higher benchmarks or goals, but failure to reach them should not spoil your enjoyment of what you already have.

7. Stand straight and hold your head high in trying circumstances

We often tend to feel demoralized in adverse conditions. We stoop and feel low as if we are bending under their weight. This happens both literally and figuratively. You will, however, surely feel better if you try to lift your spirits and also your head like a person determined to take up the challenge. This is the best way to get out of the depression. Try it.

9. Seek happiness and contentment in the present

Do not associate happiness with future events. I will be happy when things happen this way. It is like postponing your happiness to an unsure future. The better alternative is to try to postpone your sorrow to some future moment as much as you can. The time to be happy is to-day, because yesterday has already passed and you cannot be sure that tomorrow will bring any happiness.

10. Be a master  of your moods

Be a master rather than a servant of your own moods. You are the ruler of the kingdom of happiness. Do not allow other people or circumstances to make you happy or sad. Do not depend on material possessions to create happiness for you. It is for you to choose to be happy whatever the situation. Do not allow your heart to break up if your loved one has ditched you. If he/she can be happy without you so can you be.

Do you believe that thoughts have the power to transform your life? Comment and share your thoughts!

Photo credit: Flickr user Jordan Kuder