THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

Positive Thinking The Power of

Dr Suzanne Henwood

Iread a meme on Facebook today that said, “Strange isn’t it? You know yourself better than anyone else, yet you crumble at the words of someone who hasn’t even lived a second of your life. Focus on your own voice. It’s the only one that matters”.

We all know that negative thinking can create stress and lead to poor health. But how many of us have read the research to show just how much of a difference it makes to change your thinking and what impacts that it will have on health and wellbeing? How many of us are actively working, in a disciplined way, to change the way we think? To put a stop to circumstances, or other people, controlling our thinking.

Before I offer some suggestions, let me share some research to show this is not just some whimsical desire to get you thinking of rainbows and unicorns!

One study showed that visualising positive images helped to reduce anxiety. Another study linked optimism and positive outlook to levels of happiness. The US Army put psychological fitness on par with physical fitness including focusing on positivity and another study showed the link to living longer. Interestingly, a positive approach to life has also been shown to hugely mitigate against negative health indicators in coronary heart disease.

So, what are we talking about, with the power of positive thinking?

1. Visualisation

This is how we see things in our heads, from the past, present or future and those images can be positive (i.e. resourceful) or not resourceful. When you think about that interview, dental appointment or a difficult meeting, what image do you see? When you take a drive, or plan a holiday, do you visualise clear roads, or traffic jams? A smooth flight or long delays and cramped seating?

While we may not consciously create those images, we do have a choice about how to visualise things. We can choose to see our boss with a smile, or a frown. We can choose to worry over traffic delays or go with the flow. We can go with the first image or we can change it.

One study showed that visualising positive images helped to reduce anxiety

2. Language

The use of language is another major component in positive thinking. As with visualisation, we can choose the words we use to describe what we are seeing in our heads. The words we choose create the meaning around the context. What would happen if you took a moment, paused and told the story in a different way? Research suggests that it will change the meaning

and representation of the context. Fields of neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics have shown that the words which we choose, do change the structure of our brains and cells.

Some simple examples include changing words to explore if this changes our reality:

from a ‘stressful’ to ‘challenging’ event

from an ‘absolute disaster’ to a ‘problem’

from ‘there is no hope’ to ‘I haven’t found my way out of this yet’.

Just read those phrases, one by one and feel what happens in your body as you do. Notice for yourself the enormous impact that words have on your mind and body.

3. Negatively wired

As humans we are negatively wired neurologically. It is a protective mechanism, to keep us safe. It is essential that we identify real threats and pay

attention to risk. If we ignored subtle signs, it could well be a sabre tooth tiger about to pounce and not a friendly kitten in the grass. We would not want to turn off this skill completely. However, with the rising rates of stress, burnout and mental health issues, taking time to revisit our thinking habits can be beneficial, in assisting us to rewire that default negative wiring.

As a starting point – if I were to ask you whether you are a positive, optimistic thinker, or a negative, pessimistic thinker, on a scale – where would you place yourself generally?

4. Does this way of thinking serve you well?

If it does, you may not want to change. But if it weighs you down on life’s scales, which leads to unhelpful rumination and catastrophising, try these simple steps to make a shift into more positive thinking.

5. Change your thinking

Be Aware – set an internal alert in your head to flag any unresourceful thinking/ visualisation as it’s happening. It’s likely to become habitual.

Pause – check ‘does it have a positive intention’ (e.g. safety) and is the intention well founded or is there an actual risk to yourself?

if yes, take appropriate action

if no, smile and thank your brain for looking out for you.

Breathe evenly for a series of breaths, while smiling.

Thank your creative head, ask it now to come up with a different image, or

different words, that still let you know what is happening, but change the focus to being positive. This might include:

humour

gratitude

stern talking to yourself (with compassion).

Ask yourself, how has this changed the situation.

This simple tool can literally rewire your brain over time, moving you into a more positive general thinking state. Try this out for 21 days and then revisit the scale and see how far you have moved.

This quick self-help guide offers some simple advice for creating more positive thinking. Remember, if you are concerned about your health and wellbeing, seek professional support and advice. Positive thinking affects your body. It is far more than just ‘feeling good’ in the moment, but on every day. Thus, it requires deliberate, repeated action to generate results.

When will you start to rewire your brain to harness the power of positive thinking?

Dr Suzanne Henwood is the Director and Lead Coach and Trainer of mBraining4Success. She is also the CEO of The Healthy Workplace and a Master Trainer and Master Coach of mBIT (Multiple Brain Integration Techniques) and can be contacted via her website.