Reading time: 10 minutes
Don’t fake positivity — it doesn’t work. And ignore toxic positivity — it harms you.Instead, learn from science how to use positive thinking to:
- be more gritty and resilient
- have more success, happiness, and health
- have greater self-esteem and self-conviction
- approach the uncertain future with hope and optimism.
Caprara & Steca (2005) state positive thinking is linked to life satisfaction, self-esteem, and optimism.
Tsutsui & Fujiwara (2015) say positive thinking includes:
- Self-encouragement thinking: Thoughts that uplift and motivate oneself.
- Self-assertive thinking: Thoughts focused on achieving success to benefit others.
- Self-instructive and control thinking: Thoughts to guide and direct performance boost.
- Self-affirmative thinking: Thoughts that foster self-confidence and belief in one’s abilities.
Read, save, and share these 10 reasons to think positive, and learn science-backed ways to be realistically positive in daily life.
10 Benefits of Positive Thinking & Being Positive
Positive thinking about yourself helps you feel better overall.
Here are 10 benefits of positive attitude and positive thinking:
1. More success and productivity
Research by Taylor & Brown, 1994, found that:
- Seeing oneself in a more positive light than others seems to soften the impact of stress.
- When people believe in their abilities to succeed, they are more likely to achieve their goals.
- Optimistic thinking often leads to better well-being, social relationships, and stress management.
- Having positive thoughts or beliefs about our ability to control stressful situations can boost our coping skills.
Positive thinking can increase your productivity and make you better at creative problem-solving.
- Positive thinking increases the levels of serotonin and dopamine in the brain, which makes us happier and more motivated, ultimately leading to greater productivity.
- Positive stimuli can improve problem-solving abilities. Those exposed to positive stimuli generated more solutions compared to those exposed to negative emotions.
- A positive outlook can boost self-control and self-belief. When people believe in their potential to succeed, they are more likely to take proactive steps toward their goals.
- Positive thinking helps lower stress hormone levels, making it easier to focus, process information, and be more productive.
- Optimistic people tend to enjoy their work more, leading to greater success, which in turn reinforces their positive mindset, creating a cycle of increased productivity and satisfaction.
“People should cultivate positive emotions in their own lives and in the lives of those around them, not just because doing so makes them feel good in the moment, but also because doing so transforms people for the better and sets them on paths toward flourishing and healthy longevity.” — Barbara L. Fredrickson, 2004
“The science of happiness at work delivers return on investment and strategic outcomes when properly implemented.”
2. Greater grit and resilience to face adversities
Positive thinking increases our resilience and grit.
- Grit is our ability to hold on in difficult times. Resilience is our capacity to bounce back after failing while fighting a tough time.
- The truth is, we will always have valid reasons to be sad, since that is how life works. But if we focus too much on the negatives of a difficult situation, it can trigger more misery, like pessimism and insomnia.
- Instead, nurturing a positive outlook during difficulties and uncertainties can help us handle them better and make the present happier.
- It means, even when we are wading through a mire of suffering, we may allow ourselves the warmth of a little sunshine.
“Positive psychology is not about denying difficult emotions. It’s about opening to what is happening here and now, and cultivating and savoring the good in your life.” — Ron Siegel
3. Better relationships and more fulfilling social connections
Cultivating a positive attitude is one of the best things you could offer your family, organization, and community.
- A positive thinking attitude can promote gratitude, kindness, and love in your relationships.
- Your positive energy can benefit those around you, and a negative attitude can harm both your life and those in your family, community, and workplace.
- Positive thinkers embrace failures as a part of the success journey, understanding that everything cannot go as planned.
- Positive mindset people learn from their mistakes and move forward with optimism and hope.
- You can cultivate positivity through positive interventions, like feeling grateful for the good things and good people in your life, feeling the power of awe, and engaging in charitable work.
4. Lower stress and anxiety during normal and stressful situations
A positive mindset can make out a silver line, even in the most louring clouds of anxiety.
- Cultivating a positive mindset arms people with a better ability to cope with stress. A positive attitude also increases life satisfaction. It helps refresh our minds and relieve our stresses.
- Positive thinking can reduce present stress and help one feel better about future situations.
- Research showed employees with a more positive mindset made more coping efforts when expecting a high workload.
- Studies in both animals and people show stress promotes inflammation. Intense stress over-activates the immune system, leading to a strong inflammatory response.
- Researchers suspect the more positive people are better protected against inflammatory damage due to stress.
5. Less likelihood of sadness and symptoms of depression
Depression affects over 100 million people worldwide.
The American Psychological Association (APA) recommends treatment with 10 psychotherapy sessions combined with antidepressant medication for moderate to severe depression.
However, both interventions are costly.
Positive activity interventions (PAIs) can be a cost-effective means to teach people ways to increase their positive thinking, positive affect, and positive behaviors, and reduce their symptoms of depression.
Here’s how to think positive with positive interventions:
- practicing optimism
- counting one’s blessings
- writing letters of gratitude
- performing acts of kindness
- using one’s signature strengths
- meditating on positive feelings toward others
Layous and Lyubomirsky, after a review of the relevant literature on the effectiveness of various types of PAIs, suggest PAIs might relieve depression.
Sin and Lyubomirsky’s meta-analysis of 51 PAIs with both depressed and non-depressed participants revealed they are effective in enhancing well-being and improving depressive symptoms.
6. More kindness and helpfulness to others and to self
Positivity enhances the feeling of gratitude and helpfulness. It makes you feel grateful for the many blessings in your life.
We can build a positive mindset around a sense of savoring, a stance of optimism, and an attitude of gratitude. These are proven mechanisms in positive psychology to boost our psychological well-being.
Three of the best activities you can do to build a strong positive mindset are:
- Focusing your attention on things happening around you,
- Not giving up your dreams in the face of adversities, and
- Being grateful for the good things in your life.
Self-kindness and self-compassion are also effective positive interventions.
7. Reduced risk of heart diseases and cardiovascular events
People with a family history of heart disease who also had a positive outlook were 1/3rd less likely to have a heart attack or other related event within 5 to 25 years than those with a more negative outlook.
That was the finding, according to Lisa Renee Yanek, Assistant Professor of Medicine, at Johns Hopkins Medicine. (Effect of positive wellbeing on incidence of symptomatic coronary artery disease.)
In the UK, researchers looked at the psychological traits of 8,000+ people and found those who were high on optimism and felt a better sense of well-being had a 30% lower risk of developing heart disease.
In the US Health and Retirement study on people with known stable heart disease, researchers found that the positive psychological traits seemed to lower the risk of having a heart attack significantly. These traits included optimism (38% lower risk), a positive outlook (32%), and having a purpose in life (27%).
8. Stronger connection to other people and to humanity in general
One of the most heart-warming benefits of thinking positive is that it makes us care for others.
People who are more positive do not rush to judge other people harshly, initiate angry exchanges, or react aggressively to other people’s outbursts.
Research suggests those who are more connected to nature seem to experience more positive emotions, vitality, and life satisfaction, as compared to those less connected to nature.
9. Better mental health and more stable mental wellbeing
Studies show embracing a positive mindset increases positive feelings and mood, whereas adopting a negative mindset increases negative emotions and decreases happiness.
This study, involving 537 students (seventh-grade to ninth-grade) at a large middle school in Israel, evaluated a positive psychology school-based intervention to enhance mental health.
Over the 2-year study period, the researchers spotted a remarkable decrease in the distress, anxiety, and depression symptoms in the participants. In addition, the students gained self-esteem, self-efficacy, and optimism, and reduced interpersonal sensitivity symptoms.
Positive thinking also increases self-esteem and self-reliance.
10. Higher overall immunity and more disease-fighting ability
A mind that is positive, optimistic, and worry-free can contribute to a more resilient immune system. With a positive attitude, you can protect yourself from several illnesses.
How To Practice Positive Thinking
Bekhet & Zauszniewski (2013) identified eight essential skills that help promote positive thinking, summarized by the acronym THINKING:
- T: Transforming negativity: Shift negative thoughts into positive ones to change your perspective.
- H: Highlighting the good: Focus on the positive elements of any situation to cultivate an optimistic outlook.
- I: Interrupting negativity: Use stress relaxation techniques or distractions to break the cycle of pessimistic thinking.
- N: Noting the need of positive thinking: Acknowledge the necessity of practicing positive thinking regularly.
- K: Knowing how to break it down: Learn to deconstruct problems into smaller, more manageable parts to reduce overwhelm.
- I: Initiating optimism: Foster hopeful beliefs for each segment of the issue to maintain a positive mindset.
- N: Nurturing ways to challenge pessimism: Develop strategies to confront and question negative thoughts effectively.
- G: Generating positive feelings: Create positive emotions by actively managing and reframing negative thoughts.
What Is Positive Thinking?
Positive thinking is having hopeful, resilient, yet realistic thoughts, especially during difficult times. It helps you see mistakes as opportunities to learn, not as reasons to self-criticize. Being positive also lets you see the good in people and situations, and embrace negative emotions as much as positive ones.
What Positive Thinking Is Not?
- Positive thinking is not about ignoring or denying negative emotions or challenges.
- It is not about shaming someone for their difficult feelings or emotional state of depression or grief.
- It does not involve forcing positivity on others, especially on those who are hurt or sad, who just do not want to hear, “Cheer up!”
- It is not about unrealistic optimism — expecting problems to go away automatically by acting happy, while avoiding or ignoring negative emotions and situations.
Final Words
Happy people tend to think more positively, and those who think positively tend to be happier.
3 key takeaways:
- Positive thinking means noticing the bright side, but not ignoring the difficult side.
- Positive thoughts induce positive emotions, which help make better decisions, and find more opportunities to succeed.
- Positive thinking can be cultivated through mindfulness, positive self-talk, and self-compassion practice.
√ Also Read: How To Have A Positive Mindset (Quiz: Do You Have It?)
√ Please spread the word if you found this helpful.
• Our Story!
