“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.” – Confucius

Do you find yourself regularly slipping into negative moods? Do the slightest things seem to set you off? Do you need an attitude adjustment? If this is you then maybe you need to change your attitude by using positive daily self talk and affirmations. Using these, you can develop a consistently positive mental attitude that can help you stay happier and accomplish your hopes and dreams.

In his book, “Awaken the Giant Within”, Tony Robbins writes, “Most beliefs are formed with words – and they can be changed by words as well.” This is especially true of the words you tell yourself – your inner or self talk. One of the best ways to improve your overall attitude is to take every opportunity to say positive things to yourself. How you communicate to yourself – positively or negatively- is stored in your subconscious mind, training it how to respond to what’s going on around you.

When you daily read or tell yourself positive affirmations, consistently connecting your subconscious mind to the thoughts and images you want in your life, you are training it the respond positively the same way you taught yourself to ride a bike or drive a car – by practicing. The same is also true of negative self-talk. If you find yourself thinking negatively consistently – it’s because you’ve taught yourself to do so. It’s difficult to break this circle of negativity because you’ve trained your subconscious mind to feel negative. Using positive daily affirmations can help you turn this negativity around.

Training your subconscious mind

Now that you understand the importance of what’s going into your subconscious mind, the first step in training it to have a more upbeat attitude is to notice when you’re thinking negatively. I would imagine that there are times when you’re being negative without even realizing it.

To start out, spend a day or two just being an active observer of your overall speech and thoughts. How do you talk about yourself? How often do you have negative thoughts about yourself? Do you mentally beat yourself up when you make a mistake? The best way to keep track of this is to write it down and then review you findings at the end of the day.

After you discover the negativity in your communications with yourself, it’s time to take steps to correct it. First, try eliminating the negative. You can also try using different manners of speech with yourself.

Remember to be patient with yourself. Being hard on yourself won’t get you anywhere so give yourself the benefit of the doubt.

Now that you’ve discovered where the negative self talk is coming from and what it focuses on, use your daily affirmations to replace your negativity with positive things you want to hear. Decide what you want to hear and write it in the positive. This will help you find positive phrases to use in situations where you would’ve ordinarily used negative ones.

As you go through the day, use a journal to record ideas of positive things you can say to yourself. If you find you beating yourself up over a “dumb mistake”, take the time to think of something you should be praised for instead. Refer to it often and then use those ideas to combat your negative thoughts.

As you begin to habitually use your positive daily affirmations you’ll find yourself benefiting from using more positive speech in general, even when you’re not talking in reference to yourself. Get your subconscious mind to get into the habit of seeing the positive side of every situation. This kind of mental training can keep you focused on solutions to challenges and on the positive aspects of your life.

The power of positive psychology

When you go into almost any book store you’ll find rows and rows of books on positive psychology. Nearly all of them talk about to power of using positive affirmations and self talk on a daily basis.  That’s because, once you get into the habit of talking positively, your subconscious mind will be automatically drawn toward positive thoughts instead of negative ones.

Another thing you can do is decide to consciously think positive thoughts. Do this even in the most mundane moments, like when you’re brushing your teeth.

Daily affirmations are also very powerful for anxiety and stress relief. When you feel overcome with stress or fear, force yourself to take a step back and reevaluate your thinking. Use your affirmations to help you relax and remind yourself that you’ve gotten through things like this in the past.

Daily Affirmations Become Positive Self Talk

The benefits of having a positive attitude are endless. You’ll have less anxiety and stress in your life. You’ll have more drive to achieve. You’ll feel happier. And it all starts with your daily affirmations.

Once you get into the habit of regularly reading your daily affirmations you’ll find your self talk becoming more positive. This can help you change your state, almost instantly, from a negative one to a positive one. Positive self talk shifts your attitude by changing the beliefs in your subconscious mind. By regularly training your mind in this manner it will automatically focus on the beliefs you want in your life.

While you’re working on improving your attitude, find questions that will help you form your positive self talk. For example, if you truly want to have a great day, ask yourself, “What is great about my day?” and your mind will look for things to show you what a great day you are already having. It’s no secret that affirming the positive welcomes even more positive things into your life. With all this positivity, at some time or another, you’ll realize that your negative attitudes are gone for good!

So begin today to read those daily affirmations morning noon and night. By doing this you’ll begin to program your subconscious mind for success, training it to respond to life the way you want it to. You’ll have less anxiety, and you’ll receive instant stress relief from life’s regular difficulties. As you shift from negative to positive self talk, you’ll begin speaking and living the life you deserve. Positive psychology will no longer exist only on the bookshelves for you – it will be an intricate part of your life.

Wil Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy author of two e-Courses “Reprogramming Your Subconscious Mind” and “Unlocking the Secret Advantage of Hypnosis” that you can have at no charge . You can sign up here to receive these positive thinking tips delivered by e-mail weekly.