The average person generates 25,000 to 50,000 thoughts per day according to “Psychology Today” magazine. Imagine if each of those thoughts was a negative one. What effect do you think this would have on your life? You’d probably be unhappy with yourself and those around you. You would also probably find that you were getting very little accomplished at work or home. You might also feel defeated and see no point in being productive, dreading each day. 

 Now let’s look at the opposite. What if those 50,000 thoughts were positive? You would feel happy, optimistic, and confident about your life. You might find that you consistently accomplish your goals at home, work, and in your business, making you feel each day was a success. You might also be more tolerant and accepting of others as well as compassionate, which we all could use a little more of. 

This phenomenon of how our thoughts affect our outlook first became popular around 1952 in a book called “The Power of Positive Thinking”. This school of thought developed around the idea that happiness and unhappiness are byproducts of our thoughts.  

 Let me show you how using positive thinking can change your life and help you become more successful. I’ll show you how success is connected to your thoughts and ways to rid yourself of negative thoughts when they do occur. I can help you tap into your subconscious mind for even more positive effects and uncover ways to harness the power of positive thinking, so you can use it in all the areas of your life. 

Connecting Success with the Power of Positive Thinking

“Positive thinking is expecting, talking, believing, and visualizing what you want to achieve. It is seeing what you want, as an accomplished fact.” ~ Remez Sasson

Your outlook is what your perception of success (or failure) looks like. It has a big impact on your success. The good news is that if you have a negative mindset, you can change it and your attitude to be more positive.

 Here are seven ways positive thinking is connected to success: 

1. It’s proven to help with problem-solving. People who think positively are better able to learn new information. This improves your perspective and enables you to tackle problems and obstacles as they happen.
2. It promotes and enhances your energy level. When you are in a good mood, you tend to laugh more, which boosts your endorphins and your energy level. 
3. Positive thinking helps to give you control by giving you confidence about yourself, your abilities, and your situations. Successful people control their thought processes, turning a negative pattern into a positive pattern as the need arises.
4. A positive attitude attracts other positive people to you. Successful people often have a large circle of friends and acquaintances. The more people you know, the more doors of opportunity will be opened to you. 
5. Positive thinkers are more likely to set goals and follow through by taking action, which also happens to be one of the keys to success – setting goals and following through. 
6. Positive thinking improves your decision-making ability by opening your mind to broad thinking and creative solutions while negative thoughts close your mind and narrow your thought process. Successful people are often open-minded, forward thinkers who make good decisions and are good problem solvers.
7. A positive outlook builds resilience. Successful people often face many failures and mistakes before they succeed. Those with a positive attitude are more resilient and recover quicker when they do fail.

Success is more than positive thinking. It requires positive action as well. While positive thinking builds the foundation of success, you have to follow up by taking positive actions. 

 How to Rid Yourself of Negative Thoughts

A positive attitude is one of the stepping stones to success. Everyone has a negative thought occasionally and you may be able to counteract it with a positive thought. When negative thoughts fill your mind, it may be time to change your mindset. But, how do you do that? 

• Read inspirational, positive quotes and articles. Read about the lives of successful and happy people.
• Do things you love. Do at least one thing every day that you enjoy doing.
• Visualize your life, as you want it to be. Create a visual map. When negative thoughts intrude, look at your map to remind you of what you want.

 In the end, everyone has a negative thought occasionally. The trick is to recognize and replace them with positive thoughts immediately so you don’t dwell on the negative thoughts.  

Top Tips to Cultivate a Positive Attitude 

In life, there is a time and place for both negative and positive thoughts. However, when negativity becomes a habit or begins to have adverse effects on you, it’s time to make an attitude change and cultivate a positive mindset. 

Here are the top tips to help you cultivate a positive attitude:

1. Do NOT complain. Complaining is a very negative response to any situation and it drains you of energy.
2. Express gratitude every day, even for the small things. Eventually, you will become grateful for everything.
3. Keep a list of things you have accomplished. 
4. Let go of the people around you who are negative, critical, and abusive of you. They drain your energy. Instead, surround yourself with upscale, supportive, positive people.
5. Help others. Volunteer occasionally. 
6. Learn to meditate daily. Even a 10-minute meditation first thing in the morning will help you start your day on a positive thought.
7. Let go of envy. Envy is a very negative emotion. It eats at you, pointing to the faults we see in ourselves.
8. Be kind and smile at others.
9. Choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice. When a negative thought enters your mind, push it out quickly. Substitute it with a happy thought.
10. Have faith in yourself. Believe the God will help you. 
11. Read inspiring stories and watch inspirational movies or television shows.
12. Repeat inspiring and motivating affirmations.
13. Practice mastering your thoughts. Access your subconscious mind.
14. Visualize what you want to happen. Release the thoughts you don’t want to happen.

Cultivating a positive outlook takes conscious thought. Be aware of your thoughts and the attitudes of those around you. Once you are aware of the negative thoughts in your environment, you’ll be able to counteract them more quickly.