When I was younger – in my teens and early twenties – I was a prisoner. Not physically but mentally, through some destructive thinking called pessimism.

This negative thinking poisoned what could have been a happy and full childhood, adolescence and adult life. Pessimism has created barriers and walls where there were none.

Throughout this period I was driven by pessimism, it was part of my life. Looking back, it was just a waste.

If you recognize yourself as a pessimist, know that you do not have to remain so all your life. I did, learning to replace my negative thoughts with optimism.

In this article, I’ll explore nine positive habits that have helped me go from being a pessimist most of the time to being an optimist almost all the time. I recommend that you don’t try to practice everything at once, but choose one and practice it for 30 days so that it becomes a habit, before moving on to another.

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The 9 Simple Habits to Stay Positive
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"No one can go back and make a new start, but anyone can start today and create a new ending." –Maria Robinson

When I was younger – in my teens and early twenties – I was a prisoner. Not physically but mentally, through some destructive thinking called pessimism.

This negative thinking poisoned what could have been a happy and full childhood, adolescence and adult life. Pessimism has created barriers and walls where there were none.

Throughout this period I was driven by pessimism, it was part of my life. Looking back, it was just a waste.

If you recognize yourself as a pessimist, know that you do not have to remain so all your life. I did, learning to replace my negative thoughts with optimism.

In this article, I’ll explore nine positive habits that have helped me go from being a pessimist most of the time to being an optimist almost all the time. I recommend that you don’t try to practice everything at once, but choose one and practice it for 30 days so that it becomes a habit, before moving on to another.

N°1: Ask yourself the right questions at the right time

This is the simplest but perhaps the most essential habit I have discovered by being open-minded. The questions we ask ourselves when we are negative, experiencing difficulties or uncertain situations in our lives.

A pessimist asks himself these kinds of questions:

“Why does this only happen to me?”
“Why do bad things happen to me all the time?”

But an optimist asks questions that open new perspectives or possibilities in their mind. A few of my favorite questions to get an optimistic perspective:

“What is the positive point(s) of this situation?”
“What did I learn from this situation?”
“What small step can I take today to begin to resolve this situation?”

2: Create a positive environment in which to live

The people you spend your time with and the information you are exposed to greatly influences your state of mind, which will have a great impact on your attitude and outlook on things.
So choose to:

Spend more time with people who lift your spirits and make you feel positive. And less time – if at all – with people who drive you down by being negative and judgmental.
Only let in information that supports you. Spend less time listening to/reading negative and hurtful media, and more time reading blogs, constructive and positive books, watching motivational movies, listening to inspirational songs and hearing audio books or podcasts made by optimistic people.

#3: Be thankful for what you have (and who you are too)

A quick and easy way to boost your positive energy is to tap into gratitude.
This is what I do by asking myself several questions:

    How can I be grateful for my life today?
    Who are the three people I can be grateful to have in my life and why?
    What 3 things can I be grateful for about myself?

Just take 60 seconds or a few minutes out of your day to ask yourself one of these questions and reap wonderful benefits.

N°4: Don't forget your body, it's your pillar

Being optimistic is not just another way of looking at things. It is also to preserve the physical part of our being.

I noticed that exercising a few times a week, getting good quality sleep, and eating healthy had a huge positive effect on my mood.

If I manage these few points badly then negative thoughts arise more often and I become more pessimistic, cutting myself off from the opportunities and possibilities that I could have in my life.

So don't neglect these fundamentals. Take care of your body, it's the best way to save yourself a lot of hassle in your life.

#5: Start your day optimistically

How you start your morning can set the tone for the rest of your day. For example, a relaxed morning often lowers your stress level for the rest of the day.

How can I be in an optimistic mood during the day?

A combination of three steps that worked really well for me: asking myself a gratitude question over breakfast, followed by reading positive information online or a book very early in the morning and finally following it up with some physical exercise.

It gets me in the right frame of mind and fills me with energy for the day.

No. 6: Focus on the solutions to be applied

A surefire way to feel pessimistic about a situation is to sit back and do nothing about it. Instead, use the questions I shared (point #1) and open your mind to see the possibilities you have in this situation.

If you are having trouble taking action, ask yourself:

What is the smallest step I can take today to fix this?

Then perform the next step. As small as this step may seem, it will have big effects on your mood and thoughts. If this step is too big or if it just makes you procrastinate, then ask yourself:

What even smaller step can I take to move forward today?

The most important thing is that you always move forward, even if you take small steps.

No. 7: Reduce your worries about the future

Worrying constantly is a powerful destructive habit and can paralyze anyone's mind. It was one of my biggest obstacles to optimism and especially to moving forward in life.

Two effective steps that helped me and still help me to this day reduce my anxiety are:

    Ask yourself: How many of my fears and worries have actually come true? If you're like me, you'll find the answer is: very little. Many of the things you fear in your life will just never come true. They are just nightmares or fictional monsters in your own mind. This question will help you get back in touch with reality, and reassure you. For you to finally realize that you have just created another imaginary scenario.
    Focus on solutions and action items. Worries grow all the more in a foggy mind and an inactive body. Then use the questions in points n°1 and n°6 to turn your fears into resolutions.

#8: Don't Let Ideals Ruin Things

A common mistake people make when changing their attitudes is that they think they have to be perfect and do everything perfectly all the time. This then prevents them from being positive.

Changing and becoming positive must be gradual. While you may fail and backtrack, keep working on your optimism and over time your positive outlook will grow stronger and stronger.

But if you put the barrier too high and think you have to go from pessimistic to always optimistic, you're going to have a hard time keeping up. And you will probably feel incapable and useless. You will be angry with yourself. And you risk abandoning this habit change to return to negative thoughts.

Instead, focus on changing gradually. If you're optimistic 40% of the time now, try to progress to being optimistic 60% of the time. Then increase to 80% when you get used to this new way of life, and so on up to 100% if you can.

Focusing on gradual evolution is much more affordable, and more likely to be successful in the long run, than trying to reach a state of absolute perfection directly.