4 Things I Do To Stay Positive

Over the years many people have commented to me on what a “positive person I am” no matter what seems to happen in my life.

Although I believe I am a fairly positive person and have a positive outlook on life in general, I have found during this COVID time, that I have had to pay more attention to “being positive” than I typically do. There are a few things that I proactively try to incorporate into my daily routine that I find really helps me maintain a positive mindset.  Today I wanted to share the things that I do daily in order to try to stay positive in the hopes that I may help you in doing the same.

Why Is It Tougher To Stay Positive During COVID?

During this crazy time, many people I talk to are finding it more difficult than ever to have a positive mindset. The reasons for this are many. First and foremost, when we listen to or watch the news, it is mostly negative. Many of us are worried about our future and what it holds for us and our family. Many of us are concerned about the future of our jobs and the companies that we work for or with. Many of us are concerned about our health and the future of ours and our families’ health which includes the risk of catching COVID.  Needless to say, many of us are experiencing uncertain futures in many ways which affect our overall mental health.  Based on all of these factors,  it is no wonder that we are all experiencing increased levels of stress in our daily lives. In fact, the latest study I read indicated that 92% of people are experiencing an increased level of stress right now than prior to COVID.

Therefore it is more important than ever to try to stay positive during this time. I thought today I would share some of the techniques that I use on a daily basis in order to stay positive and maintain a positive mental outlook.

1. The Future Is Bright

One of the things that I try to incorporate into my day is to remind myself  that” the future is bright.” I typically think of this when I see the sunrise in the morning upon waking, during my daily workout or even prior to going to sleep in the evening. I personally believe that our future is bright and I trust that everything in life happens for a reason and that the “universe” has our best interests at heart. I find these thoughts to be very liberating and encouraging and they put me in a very positive mindset. I believe these thoughts more than offset all the negative news and reports that we seem to be reminded of daily through our media sources right now.

2. Move

I believe that the number one thing that I do to maintain a positive mindset is my daily workout. I track my activity, food, and sleep on a daily basis and I realized that over the month of May I worked out a total of 28 days. All of those were not full-on, hardcore workouts but I did “move” my body almost every day during the month of May. I typically have my workout first thing in the morning and I find this sets me up for a very positive and productive day. It has been proven that exercise (even moderate) releases endorphins into our bloodstream which are the “feel good” hormones. Therefore the number one thing I ask people when they are feeling down is ‘have they been exercising?’ To read more on this topic — Exercise May Keep You 30 Years Younger, you can access it here from a previous blog I wrote:https://kevinbradyhealth.ca/regular-exercise-may-keep-your-body-30-years-younger/

3. Avoid the News

One of the things I found that I was doing when the COVID outbreak started was watching the news every single day and watching it for hours on end for updates. We have to remind ourselves that the media relies on “bad news” in order to attract viewers. I found myself getting ‘sucked in” to watching the news on a daily basis and so have made it a point the last month or so to avoid the news other than a quick update once a day. I have found this to have really helped me in terms of my positive attitude. I would encourage you to take inventory of how much “Bad News” you are taking in on a daily basis and avoid it as much as possible.

4.Appreciation

As I was out cycling this morning and witnessed the sun rising over the lake, I could not help but think how lucky I was to be out on a morning ride with friends, witnessing the sun rising over the water and overall appreciating the fact that I am alive and so lucky to be experiencing everyday life. As many of you know, 20 years ago I had a close brush with death and was in a Coma for a week with less than a 10% chance of surviving. One of the things that I find myself very grateful for is the fact that I am “here” and alive as I very easily could have passed away as my prognosis at the time was not good.

I ask you to take stock of your own life and think of all that you have to be grateful for every day. I find that just the process of thinking of all we appreciate in life puts me in a very positive mindset. To read a previous blog I wrote on “Appreciation – The Secret Sauce“, you can access it here: https://kevinbradyhealth.ca/appreciation-the-secret-sauce/ ‎

Summary

Although there are some other techniques I use to stay positive on a daily basis, I wanted to share my top 4 strategies with you. In summary, today please ensure you practice the following techniques to help boost your own mental well being:

1. Believe that your future is bright

2. Get outside and “Move”

3. Avoid the News

4. Think of what you appreciate in life.

I wish you and your family all the very best in health and happiness,

Kev