Benefit #11: Positivity Increases Our Self-Esteem
A positive outlook naturally leads to positive behaviors – things like problem-solving, good relationship skills, realistic but challenging goal-setting, and good self-care. And with positive actions come positive thoughts, most of which revolve around ourselves. If you subscribe to conventional wisdom, as many as 80 percent of the 5,000 to 12,000 thoughts we have per day are negative for the average person. Meaning most of us could use to incorporate at least a bit more positivity into our lives, wouldn’t you say?
If we could learn to translate the blaming, shaming, and complaining so many of us habitually do into positive thoughts, we would be a great deal happier and more contented, even if our current situation leaves room for improvement. So much of this starts with our self-talk – literally, how we speak to ourselves.
I’ve had a Pinterest account for some years, though I don’t really use it nearly as much as I could. Recently, I posted a “Pinterest story” that got more views than all my other posts combined. It was this:
This little collage (one image divided into two parts) received 12,000 impressions; 117 pin clicks; and 52 saves. My next closest board (a collection of nearly 300 images) received a total of 441 impressions. Why do you think this image resonated so much with people? Because it’s good art? Maybe. Because it’s clever and funny? Perhaps. I’m betting it’s a combination of those things and the fact that so many people can relate to it. We have to start treating ourselves at least as well as we treat our dogs!
If our self-beliefs come from the stories we heard as children or from partners or bosses or pseudo-friends and they’re on the negative side, the time to start changing things is now. And the way we do that is by giving our minds something else to believe. Improve your actions so that you have behaviors to take pride in. Improve your self-talk by creating affirmations to take the place of the lousy things you’ve been repeating to ourselves (the alleged 80 percent of our thoughts). Improve your self-belief by looking yourself in the mirror and saying something positive about yourself again and again until you believe it – or at least entertain the possibility that it’s true.
If you really want to make strides toward liking yourself more by creating more positivity in your life, sign up today for the 30-Day Positivity Challenge. This complimentary 30-day series of exercises gives participants a variety of assignments conducive to feeling better, overall. According to inspirational speaker Abraham Hicks, “Few realize that they can control the way they feel and positively affect the things that come into their life experience by deliberately directing their thoughts.” Abraham Hicks says we accomplish this by simply “reach[ing] for a better feeling thought.”
The decision is yours: Will you choose positivity?
JOIN THE 30-DAY POSITIVITY CHALLENGE TODAY!
#fairypositive #blogboost
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Laura Orsini is an author, speaker, consultant, publisher, and creator of Fairy Positive, an antidote to the worries of the world. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
FairyPositiveBlog 
What a inspiring post and I try to remind my son every morning before we begin school to find one thing, he likes about himself and to share it then ask the person he shares with to do the same. So as the day goes on, they can remind people of this because like in the post my son is awesome to his dog but very hard on himself and is always talking bad about himself which I want to change not only in him but myself and my husband.
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I think every day is time to like ourself more! Beautiful post!
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Thanks for reading and commenting!
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