Your perspective and your perception dictate how you experience life. It is the lens you use. Your perspective is your attitude towards things, while your perception is the way in which you understand or interpret things (which then shapes your perspective). They work hand in hand.
This shapes the outlook you have on your life, yourself, your relationships which then impacts and influences your thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. this can be impacted by our childhood, our experiences, our environment, and the people we surround ourselves with. Even though this is the case, we can take control of this and change our outlook. It is in our hands.
Here are 10 Ways to Help You Improve Your Outlook On Life:\
Firstly, you need to take note of what you usually choose to focus your attention on. If it is always the negative things in your life, change that to the positive things. The more you look for positive things, the more your brain will be conditioned to see positive things in your life, in people, in situations. Instead of feeling like the world is against you and taking things personally, and feeling the world on your shoulders all the time, you will start to trust, you will approach situations and people from an angle where things are happening for you instead of to you. You will also see how much you are in control and start to play an active role in your life as opposed to watching your life happen from the sidelines.
Whatever you initially feel is okay. We cannot and should not control our initial feelings on a situation as our feelings give us good information that can help us moving forward. If a situation makes you angry for instance, you do not have to stifle that anger, anger is a natural emotion, what you can do is ask yourself why that particular instance makes you angry in the first place. Then once you process that, you can decide on what healthy steps to take moving forward. e.g. Expressing yourself - "I felt angry earlier because that situation reminded me of a time when someone meant that in a way that made me feel disrespected." Taking a beat to process before reacting or saying anything is usually a good idea.
Another important thing to note is what your internal monologue looks like. What kinds of things are you saying to yourself? Are you motivating yourself or talking down to yourself? Are you congratulating yourself or selling yourself short and making yourself feel like you are not good enough? Start shifting that internal monologue.Challenge it and speak positively about yourself. This too, will help shift your entire outlook on life to a much better one. Your quality of life will be improved significantly.
This leads to my next point of eliminating negative self talk and practicing positive self talk. The more you do it, the more you help rewire your brain to see things differently. We tend to see the world the way we see ourselves, therefore, if you see yourself in a negative light, you will constantly see the worst of every situation and everyone involved. Whereas, if you see yourself in a more positive light, you will see life in that way too. It will also help you to feel good about yourself, build your confidence, boost your self-esteem - which actually has a myriad of benefits that are mental, emotional and physical. Practice telling yourself you are proud of yourself, that you love yourself, that you appreciate yourself, that you appreciate your body, that you are gorgeous, that you are smart, and all the other things you love and appreciate about yourself. You cannot expect it from anyone else if you cannot provide it for yourself, and it improves your internal validation.
Next, ask yourself if there isn't another way that you can look at the situation.. Yes, you are currently viewing it the way you are, but is it possible to see it another way? Challenge yourself to play with other ways of looking at things that may differ from your own. This actually improves your problem skills, it improves your empathy, and it allows you to take that beat we spoke about earlier and not jump to conclusions.We often "mind read" and assume, but when we look at facts and communicate effectively, our outlook often shifts and we almost immediately feel different about a situation. Practicing this often will help you immensely with shifting your outlook to a more positive one.
Surround yourself with positive people. The people we keep around us play an important role in how we view things and we often seek their opinions. People who often complain and see the worst in every situation influence us to do the same. So choose the people you spend time with carefully and you'll be on your way to a better quality of life.
This leads onto my next point on learning to laugh or learning to have a sense of humour. Not only is it actually physically good for you, it is great for your mental health. When you can laugh at a situation, it frees your mind to see it in a different way that you maybe may not have seen when you were anxious, or angry etc. So learn to make a joke and learn to see the funny side of things for an improved outlook. It helps you to "get over" things easier, and you are less likely to read into things or take things personally when they were not intended that way.
Develop a healthy lifestyle. This works differently for everyone depending on our individual physical needs. The main things to live by are to :
make sure you get enough sleep. Sleep plays an important role in our mental and physical health.
stay hydrated. Our brains, our bodies, our energy levels, all need water to function well.
take regular breaks. This is important for your mental & physical health, your productivity, your creativity, your mood.
self care. Taking care of your needs and frequently checking in on yourself improve the quality of your life and your overall outlook.
Again, do what works for you, your body, your schedule, and what actually makes you feel good.
When we are seeing the world through a negative lens, it can be easier to just shut everyone out and be closed off to giving and/or receiving love, romantic and otherwise. This closes you off to opportunities, to connections, and to seeing a different side of people and situations that you would not be exposed to unless you know them on a different level. Take the chance and allow yourself to be vulnerable. It may seem scary, but when you are vulnerable, people respond to you in a different way and you will find that things work out in a much different way. It certainly helps your perspective and you will find that your reality turns out to be different as well.
Learn to have some gratitude and appreciate & enjoy the simple things in life. Having gratitude has been shown to increase wellness and our outlook significantly even on its own. So this can actually be what you start with as you introduce these concepts into your life. There is a lot to be grateful for and you can start by having a gratitude journal where you write down 3 things that you are grateful for each day. Reminding yourself what you are grateful for every day and finding joy out of the simplest of things improves your outlook and does that rewiring that allows your brain to start seeing and focusing more on the positive things in your life.
Theses are 10 of the best ways that I've found to work for me in the worst of times. Because my outlook is different, my stress management, persistence, motivation, and how much I can handle or withstand anything is on a very different level. My problem solving skills are also increased, my connections are better, my confidence and openness are also improving other aspects of my life as a whole.
Coach Nomie, Take Control x
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