If you don’t want to be an old and grumpy grandma, you need to start working on this positive mindset starting now. Thinking positively is hard, especially if you are intelligent — you tend to notice too many details in life. You understand how hard life can be, how many things can go wrong — and you’re right.
The problem with this is that people who are less intelligent than you do not see all of the obstacles life could throw at them. And what happens then? These less intelligent people are more daring, take action, and get what they want, because they don’t have those limiting thoughts and limiting beliefs.
I’ve been the same, but I worked very hard to change my mindset to positive and think more positively. Positive thinking really changes your life and I really wanted to write this article, to hopefully help others change their mindset to positive!
You attract more of what you want, you are more successful, and you feel great.
Are Intelligent People Less Positive?
Sometimes. The study suggested that people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) had higher IQs (mean ≈119) compared to controls (mean ≈109), higher self-reported worry, and lower white matter choline levels — a brain metabolite involved in white matter function.
The study challenges the idea that anxiety is purely maladaptive and suggests that anxiety and intelligence may have co-evolved as part of a functional, survival-oriented brain system. This capacity may have historically improved survival by promoting cautious, avoidance-based behaviors. An intelligent but anxious brain may be better at anticipating and avoiding danger — even remote or symbolic threats.
So, does it mean that intelligent people are doomed to negative thinking?
How To Be Positive As An Intelligent Person
The first thing you need to know is that changing your thought patterns is absolutely doable, but it requires a lot of work.
Daily work.
Becoming a positive person will also most likely take time. It won’t happen over a week or a month — you will need to work on your mindset for months, and potentially years. Frankly, always.
What will change, though, is that it will become easier to get back on track with positive thinking after a couple of years of consistent effort, once the negative thoughts arise.
How To Think Positively: It Is A Choice
If you think about it, your life is a result of all the decisions you’ve ever made. Every little decision you make, every minute, influences your life. Some choices are more important — for example, the choice of your partner — while others will melt into the cumulative pattern over time, like what you eat for breakfast on a certain day.
Just keep in mind that every little decision, every little thought and reaction, is a choice. So, in order to be more positive, you need to actively influence your daily choices in life and your daily thoughts.
It is hard, because usually, we work on autopilot — the brain likes habits and patterns, because they require less effort than actively analyzing every situation in life. However, if you do want to be more positive, you need to take action and fight against the comfy habits your brain likes.
In time, it gets easier and easier — just like consistently lifting weights or running gets easier. Think of your brain as a muscle and exercise it to get the results you want.
Tip #1: Consume Positive Content
This made such a big change in my life when I started to deliberately choose which content I consume. By content, I mean anything that you interact with. I like to think of it as a diet for the brain — the same way you consume healthy foods that impact your body in a positive way, the books or articles you read, the social accounts you follow, or the movies you watch will influence your way of thinking.
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My Positive-Thinking Content Diet:
- I never start my day by reading the news. News is almost always negative, and while I like to stay on top of what’s happening in the world, I tend to read it later in the afternoon.
- Mornings are so, so important, and they set the tone for your day. So what I do is think grateful thoughts, not look at my phone, and look out of the window — these are simple choices I make every day to nourish my mind in a positive way.
- I cleared out all the accounts I had been following. If a particular account does not bring me joy or inspiration, I unfollow it. If a particular friend makes me anxious, I turn off notifications for their posts.
- I watch primarily inspiring, positive people daily. You really need to consume positive content daily, otherwise your negative thoughts will creep in.
- I read or watch primarily positive or inspiring content. I try to avoid negative movies, as the negative thoughts tend to linger with me for several hours or even days.
Tip #2: Surround Yourself With Positive People
Did you know that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with? Environment has an enormous influence on your success and how you view the world. This is why people who are born in poor areas tend to stay there, while people born into upper-class families tend to be more successful in life.
The same applies to positive thinking and how to be positive. You absolutely have to surround yourself with people who are positive, who are encouraging, and who view the world as full of abundance.
What If My Family Is Negative?
The question that probably arose in your mind right now is: What if my family is very negative? You cannot choose your family — that is correct, and I get it. In my family, not all members believed in what I started to believe in, either.
In this case, you have two choices:
- Try to deliberately block the negative influence from your family so it doesn’t affect your thought patterns and behavior. For example, don’t engage in topics where they have a negative outlook on life. Or try spending less time with negative family members if they are stuck in a spiral of negativity.
- Watch inspiring content online. Find a mentor or role model online who exudes positivity and has achieved what you want in life. He or she can be your daily source of positive content to lean on when your real-life environment is challenging.
Tip #3: Positive Self-Talk And Positive Affirmations
This tip I perhaps should have put first, because it had such a — very surprising — positive impact on my life. The first time I heard about positive affirmations, I thought it sounded like you were lying to yourself.
Nevertheless, I wanted to experiment with them, as so many people were raving about them.
What Are Positive Affirmations And Positive Self-Talk?
It’s all very simple: all you do is affirm a positive sentence to yourself multiple times. It can be said out loud — which I encourage — or inside your head.
Let’s say you want to be successful at an interview or in your relationship. What you should do is repeat to yourself: “I am a perfect candidate for this job” a few times. Or: “I am amazing, I am successful, loved, and cherished.”
How To Use Positive Affirmations?
What I do is start my day with them, but also, every time doubtful thoughts arise in my head, I acknowledge them and repeat my affirmations.
And I must say — they really do work! You truly begin to feel more confident, strong, happy, and ready to conquer the world. The first affirmation you say to yourself might feel like a lie, but after a few repetitions, you start believing it.
Repeat them daily, and you’ll notice that you naturally start thinking more positively and feeling more positive in life.
Tip #4: Watch Your Thoughts
Thinking positively is a choice — we’ve already learned that. But unfortunately, negative thoughts will always be there. All the tips I’m sharing will help you have more positive thoughts, and ultimately feel happier than negative, but it’s unrealistic to think that negative thinking will disappear forever.
You will experience days when you feel down. We women often have it even worse due to hormonal shifts, especially in our luteal phase.
When you have negative thoughts or are generally having a bad day, don’t beat yourself up about it. I suggest allowing those negative thoughts to flow through you — acknowledge them, but don’t attach your identity, your life, or your success to them. Just let them pass through you so you can let go of them.
On such days, I personally feel better if I practice acknowledging the negative thoughts rather than trying to override them with positive ones. Because on those days, forcing positive thinking can feel disingenuous — and that’s okay.
Don’t Sink In Your Misery
However, as you might have observed, I specifically said to let go of the negative thoughts. I don’t think you should fall into a deep hole of feeling miserable, negative about your life, or depressive. If you feel negative about any aspect of your life, acknowledge the feeling — but use the thought as a motivator.
Fix the issue. Focus on solutions, while doing your affirmations to help you with perseverance. I think it’s better to focus on concrete actions to improve the situation, rather than rambling about the negative issue itself. That’s not productive and brings you nowhere.
Tip #5: Smile
This is a bit similar to affirmations. Did you know that even doing a fake smile — without any particular reason — sends signals to your brain to be more positive? So please try it out and just smile to yourself simply for the sake of it.
The same applies to laughing. You can try laughing at your own thoughts, or — if you need a bit more convincing — play a funny video and just laugh that joy out of you!
Tip #6: How To Be Positive In Negative Situation
Of course, we can’t be delusional and think that negative situations or people will never cross our path. But that doesn’t mean it has to change your positive thinking patterns. Every experience is a valuable teacher.
Like everyone, I’ve faced a lot of challenges in life. When I was a teen, they were kind of overwhelming — but they helped me develop coping mechanisms and made me reflect deeply on life. I believe they made me a better person and gave me a perspective that deepened my emotional intelligence.
And I must tell you — looking back, each of those experiences taught me something. They made me stronger. Every challenge I overcame, I came out stronger from. And this applies to anyone.
Just change your perspective — I know it’s not easy in the moment. But really, I believe each experience is happening to us for a reason, and that the universe and life have a perfect path carved just for us.
Anytime you come across a challenging situation, you get to think about how to overcome it — and this makes you stronger, more resilient, and more interesting. Treat every experience as a valuable, teaching experience.
Tip #7: Connect With Nature
We are nature. We are animals. Of course nature brings those positive endorphins to us — being in nature is a deeply healing process.
I love spending time outdoors. It’s funny because my favorite types of nature would be the ocean or the sea, and then the forest. But I live in a very mountainous country, so I often go on hikes instead.
Every time you feel lost, confused, or overwhelmed, try going out for a walk. But during your walks, don’t just count steps, scroll your phone, listen to a podcast, or call a friend. Try being fully present in nature. Take a deep breath. Look at the sky. Touch a tree. Smell the air. Be there.
Really connect with nature — I talk more about this in my post: 10 Slow Lifestyle Habits And How To Romanticize Your Life.
But I want to say: don’t stop there. I “use” nature as a form of preventive treatment. I try to go out for a walk — even a short one — every day. No matter the weather.
Tip #8: Exercise To Feel More Positive
This one is pretty self-explanatory — exercising is truly amazing for lifting your mood. There are countless studies showing that physical activity lowers cortisol (your stress hormone) and generally improves your mental well-being.
In fact, regular exercise has been shown to significantly improve symptoms of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and even addiction. That alone says a lot about the powerful, positive effects movement can have on our minds.
If it feels hard to start exercising, I recommend taking a trial-and-error approach. You don’t have to force yourself into workouts you hate — just experiment and find the type of movement you enjoy.
For example, I personally love yoga, pilates, and figure skating. But I really don’t like running or football — and that’s totally okay. The key is consistency, not perfection. Once you find your thing, it becomes something you actually look forward to.
Tip #9: Ask ChatGPT How To Change Your Mindset To Positive
We are entering an entirely new era in human history. For the first time, we’ve developed artificial intelligence — and while this is incredibly exciting, I admit it can also feel a little scary!
Still, I really encourage you to use AI not only for work, but also for your personal well-being. I recently wrote an article about 15 Unique Ways To Use AI For Your Wellness Journey, and I truly believe in its potential to support us.
If you’re struggling to stay positive or feel happier, you can ask AI to give you tailored suggestions for your specific situation. Maybe your mindset needs a shift, or your diet is affecting your mood. Whatever it is, AI can serve as your personal coach, offering insights, motivation, and ideas you may not have considered.
You can even ask AI to track your progress, remind you to keep your thoughts positive, or generate daily affirmations. It’s a powerful tool — use it to your advantage!
Conclusion
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this post. I truly believe that positive thinking is one of the most powerful tools to bring you closer to your dream life.
I hope the tips I’ve shared here will support you on your journey. If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it with a friend or leaving a comment — your feedback means the world to me and keeps me motivated to write more helpful content for you!
