There was a point in my life when I felt good about everything except for work. Outside of work hours I had a good sense of self, positivity, and confidence. On the contrary, at the office I was not confident and would spend time complaining with other coworkers about how unhappy I was. I decided that something needed to change; I could either wallow in my unhappiness every day for hours at work, or use it as an opportunity for personal development. There will always be times when we feel down about ourselves or the state of our lives; it's a part of life and human development. In those moments you have to ask yourself, "Am I going to let the tough times keep me down? Or am I going to actively seek out ways to make myself feel better?"
I chose the latter. My mission was to transfer my happiness to all parts of my day, not only outside of work hours. I noticed that my mornings and evenings were my happiest moments. In the morning, I meditated, made a healthy smoothie, and listened to positive self talk audios. Therefore, it was strange that once I stepped into the office, all the positivity of my morning seemed to disappear.
I thought to myself, "How can I transfer these positive feelings towards my job?" I'm at work for more than nine hours a day, then I'm asleep for about seven hours. That means I only allow myself roughly eight hours for conscious happy time! It should never be the case when you're only happy for one-third of the day! Therefore, I decided to take charge of my emotional state. I was successfully able to change my attitude and transfer my positivity towards work. Here are four tactics you can use to stay positive when you're down:
1. Listen to positive content
The best thing to do to when you're in the midst of negative thoughts is to immediately combat that with positivity. Listening to motivational and encouraging audios will help you train your mind to see the positive in any situation.
2. Make a plan to turn your situation around
The reason why the majority of people feel unhappy in their current situation is because they feel stuck. They have no alternative or plan to change their circumstance. It's important to be proactive in changing your situation, because that will make you feel better knowing it's only temporary and you're working towards a bigger purpose.
3. Think about what you are grateful for
Ok so even if you're feeling unhappy, there's something you can be grateful for. Perhaps for skills or lessons you've learned, or even just having the ability to pay your rent. I'm sure there is someone that would be happy to switch places with you.
4. Have a passion project
It's important to do something that makes YOU happy. If you want to leave your job to work on your own idea, then you should be working on it. If not, and you're happy at your job but just not in your position, then take initiative and start a passion project at work. Is there something that needs to be improved? Come up with a solution. Having a passion project reminds you that what you're doing is worth it, and will help you stay positive and stick it out.
At the end of the day, I'm not saying that you have to be positive in every moment. However, your positivity shouldn't be situational. You need to take charge of how you choose to react or think about circumstances. Change your outlook, and be grateful for each moment. It's amazing that each day we're given another opportunity to learn from previous experiences, and have the ability to improve ourselves and situations. Use frustrating times as fuel to propel you towards where you want to be, and remember to stay positive along the way.
Alicia T. Glenn is the founder of Astounding Pursuits, a blog in which she shares her experiences and advice on how to accomplish cool things, and live a more fulfilled life by discovering and pursuing your passion. Join her free newsletter to get business ideas, life hacks, and strategies on how to live a more astounding life.