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Finding ways to stay positive

tinker683

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How do you find ways to stay motivated and positive? Is it easy for you or difficult?
 

gromit

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I would say mostly pretty easy for me. I know one thing is spending too much time around very negative people will bring you down.
 

prplchknz

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I would say mostly pretty easy for me. I know one thing is spending too much time around very negative people will bring you down.

uh huh correct i found that isolation breeds misery so i sometimes isolate myself, and than i feel down.
 

Evo

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How do you find ways to stay motivated and positive? Is it easy for you or difficult?

I on a consistant basis I look at a peice of paper with positive affirmations at work and at home actually. I find it difficult on some days. [MENTION=9486]gromit[/MENTION] yes, negative people make it way harder after being exposed to them for too long.

I just keep in mind that if I'm about to get mad at someone or am in the middle of being mad I just remind myself that whomever it is is just doing or being thier best at that given moment. This helps a lot actually.
 

Redbone

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It's hard. I don't necessarily find ways to stay positive. It's more like I take myself in the corner and say, "Look, I know things suck right now. I know it's bad and you feel horrible. But you still have to do this and that. You've got a job to do. Just do it and we'll worry about how you feel about it later."

I'll admit that doing it this way is very energy draining but not sure how else to handle it. It gets things done, too, no matter how I may be feeling.
 

Caterell

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For me, it is difficult sometimes, and easier sometime. To stay motivated, I generally envision the positive outcomes of my goals - what success will feel like, what I'll gain from it. I change the way I look at things. I write positive affirmations, talking to people sometimes helps. That sort of thing.
 
G

garbage

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In uncertain situations, I ask myself--"what's the worst that can happen?" It's usually not as bad as I think. That goes a long way in staying positive.
 

Evo

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In uncertain situations, I ask myself--"what's the worst that can happen?" It's usually not as bad as I think. That goes a long way in staying positive.

I do this too but I make sure not to focus on the worst case scenario too long. It's sort of like juxtaposing situations.
 

Cellmold

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Excercise and will power.

The former helps the body feel good and the latter helps the mind develop new perspectives and avenues of thought.
 

zelo1954

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It's hard. I don't necessarily find ways to stay positive. It's more like I take myself in the corner and say, "Look, I know things suck right now. I know it's bad and you feel horrible. But you still have to do this and that. You've got a job to do. Just do it and we'll worry about how you feel about it later."

This is me to a "T". I tell you something else too. A plethora of people telling me to have a positive attitude is a major turn-off. It's one of life's major cliches and has become totally meaningless by itself.
 

Redbone

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This is me to a "T". I tell you something else too. A plethora of people telling me to have a positive attitude is a major turn-off. It's one of life's major cliches and has become totally meaningless by itself.

Yeah, absolutely! It's never cool to hear people telling you how you should feel. I figure as long as my attitude is not preventing me from getting the job done (and well) it's not anyone's business.
 
R

ReflecTcelfeR

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Remove all things in your way. Why climb the mountain when you could blow it up?
 

antireconciler

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I often start dreading something I have to do and I'll feel crappy because I'm dragging my heels, making myself do what I need to, but it takes so much motivation I stop often for breaks and feel crappy because I'm being so unproductive on the whole. Things are just so much easier if you can want whatever is coming next so that you are pulling forward instead of being pulled forward. I'm not sure what that involves exactly. I came home today hating work and feeling joyless about what is coming up. If I can make a plan, or something that is my own expression and execute that, then I think it won't feel like I'm being made to do all of this. I have to find a way to make what I'm doing my own. I have to find a way to affect things. I have to leave a mark on it. I get feeling down because sometimes what I work toward reaches a dead-end, snubbed by someone else's plan which is found to be better. I lose motivation when that happens, even though it just means I learned something new, which is a good thing in the end. I'll have more opportunities though, so I just need to try again.

One thing that might help if you're in a similar situation is to focus on something small and concentrate your effort there. If you can accomplish something there, it is a good feeling, and there is more chance of that if you don't scatter yourself over many different tasks. It's easy to scatter yourself, or it is for me if there's nothing in particular I want to do, so it just takes some decision to concentrate on something and dig into it. Anything like that takes some time investment before you can even really begin, but maybe if you can focus on a particular goal it's easier to, for example, read up on what you have to so it is fresh in your memory, or for example, collect all the materials and tools you need to do something. Because if it's something small then you don't feel overwhelmed by so many larger tasks you try to attack all at once and produce little affect on at that level. Go small. There is one small thing you can accomplish with focus and start there, ignoring the bigger picture for awhile.
 

Tigerlily

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Underneath it all, I'm an optimist, so it's not difficult for me to be positive. I know things will eventually work out because I am not a quitter, and I'm willing to work through things to get to where I need to be, even if it takes years.
 

sprinkles

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We have to know what we mean by positive.

There's positive energy and positive outlook. Positive outlook is not always the best thing because some times things just don't turn out to be ok.

I think realizing the difference between these two is kind of a no bullshit approach to an enlightenment of sorts.
 

kiddykat

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My ways of finding motivation and staying positive unfortunately relies on the external- like having my close friends and family around.. I love the energy of being surrounded around people I care deeply about. When people get busy in their own lives, they go to college, raise their own families, I sorta.. miss them and get really depressed.

How I'm finding new ways to stay positive? I'm finding out it's a slow progression of learning to unlearn my old habits, and accepting the fact that the people in your life will eventually go on their own separate ways (physically and metaphorically). Coming to terms with existential issues is something I'm really working on grasping at.:bored:
 
G

garbage

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It also helps to realize when I've been in worse or comparable situations, and how I've gotten myself out of those or what I've learned from them.

:popc1:
 

EJCC

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It also helps to realize when I've been in worse or comparable situations, and how I've gotten myself out of those or what I've learned from them.

:popc1:
^ This! The way that I usually keep myself feeling positive is by telling myself "You've done this before, or similar/worse things, so this won't be an issue for you. You've proven yourself before and you can do it again." Otherwise, I agree with [MENTION=9486]gromit[/MENTION]: Surrounding yourself with positive people. Opening up to those positive people, if you're feeling negative, and letting them lift your spirits with their advice.
 

Rail Tracer

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Follow a quote or a phrase and keep it for a long time. Have that quote or phrase with you wherever you go. You can make up your own one or take one from someone/something you like/admire. In other words, your own motivational poster (lol.)

Long before Obama took hope for a joyride... I've kept that word with me since I was a kid (late elementary school) because I admired the concept of hope.

To me, it means that things can seem dark, but they'll get better as long as you keep going. While you can't fix or get something right immediately, you will eventually.

While in K-12, professors often had quotes lying around the room.

Two of them I think I will always remember is:
  • "It's choice - not chance - that determines destiny." - Jean Nidetch
  • "It's not our condition, but the caliber of our soul, which make us happy." - Voltaire
My concept of hope follows both.
 
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