“Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.”

 – Heraclitus of Ephesus

Tell me if this is you.

You make your plans, but you fail to execute them most of the time. You know what you should do, but you just cannot do it for some reason. 

If you start your project, you fail to continue, as if some invisible barrier has stopped you from moving forward. 

Moreover, you do things that you don’t want to do. You know that some activities are not good, but you still do it as if you don’t have any control over yourself. 

And sometimes, you wallow in self-pity, thinking God doesn’t love you and the universe is against you because whenever you try to do something, there will be some problems or hindrances. 

If this is you, then this article is for you. 

Things we will learn in this article are:

• What does an upbeat and optimistic mindset mean?
• We will also talk about how this mindset can help us overcome our problems in life. 
• How is negative thinking affecting our productivity and making us fall behind? 
• 7 ways to develop an upbeat and optimistic mindset.

Let’s begin.

What does an upbeat and optimistic mindset mean?

Let me clarify what an upbeat and optimistic mindset doesn’t mean.

It doesn’t mean jumping and screaming in excitement all the time, having loud parties, or driving cars at high speed. 

It also doesn’t mean forcing yourself to be optimistic and think positively all the time because you can’t. 

What it truly means is accepting your negative thoughts and trying to find solutions to your problems by keeping your emotions aside.

Negative thoughts will be there. There is no use in fighting them.  

Accept them and move forward to find solutions to your problems.

An upbeat and optimistic person doesn’t curse God for all the problems in his life. Instead, he focuses on solving the problems because he knows nobody is coming to save him. 

How does an upbeat and optimistic mindset help us achieve our goals and bring happiness?

Having a victim mindset is a habit. 

Some people like to be sad all the time, and they like to curse others for their failures. 

They blame their parents, neighbors, or teachers for not having what they deserve. 

Perhaps, it is true that your environment and your childhood were not favorable for developing a good personality or mindset, or maybe the death of close ones has put you behind in life.

But, it is also true that blaming God or others for the failure in your life will also not help you achieve your goals. 

• Once you focus on solving problems, you will develop a solid character who thrives in hardship and difficulties in his life. 
• Because the best way to grow your character is through obstacles. 
• It will bring joy and freedom, and you will enjoy life more and find fulfillment. 
• It will raise your self-esteem, and you will find mental peace. 
• You will not be a slave to your emotions and only do things that need to be done. 

How negative thinking is affecting our productivity and making us fall behind 

We all have limited energy every day. 

Imagine a bucket filled with water. 

This water represents our daily energy. With this energy, we can do multiple things, like creating new products or services, solving problems, completing our mundane tasks, or even visualizing positive outcomes. 

If your bucket is empty, you will feel tired without doing physical work, lie all day in bed, and keep searching for short-term pleasures. 

What if this bucket has leaked at the bottom? 

Of course, the water will be wasted without any use. 

Negative thoughts or a victim mindset create leaks at the bottom of the bucket. It takes away all the energy you have. 

• You cannot work on your novel if you think your manuscript will never be accepted or your writing sucks. 
• You cannot get a promotion if you think everyone hates you in the office or your work is below average. 
• Also, you cannot succeed in your business if you think it will fail sooner or later. 

Some examples of negative thoughts or victim mindsets are:

1. “I am ugly, so I will never find someone who will love me.”
2. “I am so unlucky; something bad happens every time I start chasing my dreams.”
3. “Of course, he will be successful; his father is rich. I don’t have that luxury.”
4. “If I achieve my dreams, something bad will happen. I may lose my loved ones.”
5. “You need luck to be successful and happy. Only hard work is not enough.”

 7 Ways to Develop an Upbeat and Optimistic Mindset

You only look for short-term pleasure because you no longer believe in yourself. 

You feel guilty and low when you do things you don’t want. 

You are not lazy or an unskilled person. If you were, you would not have read this article or tried to find solutions to improve your life.

You are here, meaning you want to improve and be happy and prosperous. 

I respect that. 

Therefore, here are 7 ways to have an upbeat and optimistic mindset-

1: Keep the smallest promises you make to yourself. 

When your brain is wired for failure, it becomes very difficult to keep the promises you make for yourself. 

It’s because you don’t trust yourself, and your self-belief is low at this point. 

Any big promises, like losing 30 pounds or working 15 hours a day on your goals, will negatively affect your self-esteem. 

The best way to grow your self-esteem is to make small promises daily and work on them. 

For example, I promise myself that I will not eat any kind of sugar for a day and drink 3-4 liters of water. 

A small promise can significantly change one’s life because you will start living a conscious life and not do everything on impulse. 

2: Accept Boredom

Someone has told us that boredom is evil. 

Therefore, to kill boredom, we play video games, watch pornography content, scroll social media for hours, and think, why don’t we have any motivation to work on our goals? 

To have intrinsic motivation, a kind of motivation that makes us feel good while performing an action, we need to accept boredom. 

Just sit, and feel what boredom feels like. 

You don’t have to make any judgment or act against it. 

You just need to experience it. 

Once you do this, your brain will calm down, and you will find the smallest things interesting, like the sunset on a Saturday evening. 

3: Basics and priority. 

You cannot continue your weight loss diet or work on your dreams for long if you don’t make the bed in the morning. 

What I mean is you need to focus on your basics like washing your clothes on time, keeping your room clean, washing the dishes, or paying your bills. 

You cannot be sloppy in one area of your life and expect to become successful in other important areas. 

If you are, it only means you have a dual character simultaneously, which is impossible. 

A person only does things according to his character. 

If you develop a character who likes to make his bed in the morning, clean his room, and wash his dishes on time, you will also accomplish your big goals.

4: Don’t be too hard on yourself

You don’t need to blame or punish yourself if you fail. 

It’s okay to fail. Find out why you failed and what you can do better to be successful in your next attempt. 

Failing is a must to achieve success and happiness. If you don’t fail, you will never learn anything. 

5: Develop patience and focus on long term goals

I know what social media has done to our brains. 

Everyone is achieving success overnight, living their dream life, roaming in private jets, and here you are, not knowing what to do with your life. 

Patience doesn’t mean waiting for something for a long period of time without working for it. 

On the contrary, it means you work for something consistently, believing you will achieve it someday. 

In this case, you know the outcome and result are not in your hand; you only focus on the process. 

You don’t jump to anything that brings success to others in the short term; you only do what makes you happy on a consistent basis. 

6: The obstacle is the way to grow 

If you are learning to drive, smooth roads will not make you an efficient driver. 

Only the roads that are complicated, have potholes, gravel roads, speed breakers, and have high traffic will make someone an excellent driver.

Similarly, if you want to build a solid character, you have to think of ways to solve the obstacles in your life. 

It may take a week, a year, or maybe a decade, but life will eventually be better.

We underestimate the power of a decade because it’s too long. 

Imagine working consistently on your goals for a decade; where will you be?

It’s not the goals but the process you will start enjoying.

7: Seek professional help

You don’t have to be crazy to show a psychiatrist. 

If you have childhood traumas or past failure that stops you from advancing in your life, the best way to challenge these negative beliefs is by showing a psychiatrist. 

It will untangle those hidden emotions within you and can build a better self-image of yourself. 

Some online therapists are given below:

• https://www.pridecounseling.com/
• https://www.online-therapy.com/
• https://www.betterhelp.com/

Summary

An upbeat and optimistic mindset may take time to grow and may take a lot of conscious effort from your side. 

Humans are habitual beings, and if we progress for a few days, we will likely return to our old selves unknowingly. 

To improve our life, we need to live an intentional life. To live an intentional life, we need to practice mindfulness.

Once you are mindful of your daily activities, you will never be slaves to your emotions.