It’s happened to all of us. You wake up one day, stub your toe, and the entire day is one bad experience after another. Every time you think you have beaten back negative thoughts, someone comes along and just pisses you off. Or worse. You discover your own neglect has caused you more problems and more time doing something you don’t enjoy.

You know, it’s HARD in our everyday lives to avoid negativity. To quote the Beatles, “I heard the news today, oh boy….” CNN (Constantly Negative News) bombards us with terrible, horrible, news stories every day. Even the ‘good’ stories are usually based on someone surviving a horrible event.

Then, to top it off, we beat the hell out of ourselves with internal dialog that replays all the bad things we’ve ever been told about us. “You suck.” Or, “You’re dreaming if you think you can do that.” Or even harsher words from arguments and fights.

I have a few solutions I’ve gleaned from amazing speakers and motivators.

  1. Turn off the news. If something is REALLY important in the world, you’ll hear about it. Trust me.
  2. Start the day off with a positive thought, or turn a negative into a positive. “I’m getting a haircut today, which will make me look better.” Or, “I get to go to work and be paid when many people are unemployed.”
  3. Read, watch, or listen to something funny. It’s been said a laugh can boost your immune system for 24 hours, while anger and complaining can reduce it for hours.
  4. Find something inspirational to read, watch or listen to. It could be something from your church, something from a friend, or a video like this one of Les Brown.
  5. End each day by looking in the mirror and saying, out loud, what you feel good about doing or accomplishing.
  6. Surround yourself with positive minded people and slowly remove yourself from negative minded people.
  7. Climb into a virtual ZORB and protect your thoughts from others when you are entering the presence of people you know will be negative.

If you had a bad day, don’t let it weigh you down. There is another day ahead. Give it a chance to begin anew. Reflect briefly on what you’d like to happen for your new day when you wake in the morning.

All days aren’t perfect, but beating yourself up won’t help anything at all.

And I don’t like people that beat up and pick on my friends.

So…quit it.

youvsyou_lead