How to be a positive influence on others and yourself
By: Shannon Donovan
Tags: Positive Thinking, Gratitude, Blog, Self Love, Self Improvement

Positivity is something that should be spread not only externally through others and your surroundings but also from within. And sometimes many people question what they can do to make a difference or make themselves and others genuinely feel good.

However personally I feel the main point can be misconstrued to be something that it shouldn’t be — pleasing others but for the wrong reasons.

You should do things in life because it makes you happy and makes others happy but only to the extent where it is supportive and positive for you too.

And so here are just a few ways that we can diminish the wrong intentions and implement the positive influences into your life whilst still being true to yourself…

Gratitudes and daily affirmations

I have found that reciting positive affirmations every single day can boost your mood instantly as what you tell yourself mentally can affect your body physically in a favourable way.

If you are grateful or thankful for something — an example being having supportive friends and family — you are appreciating that more and more every day and realising that looking at that negatively is not going to encourage you to have a positive outlook on life.

This then encourages goodness on everyone else in your presence as they feel your positive energy glowing through from within.

Appreciating every person you meet good or bad

Now this may sound a little unusual, especially when thinking of people that have done you wrong or made you feel angry, upset or disrespected.

But these people came into your life for a reason and it wasn’t to have a good relationship or friendship with them forever but they were placed into your life to grow and challenge you into a better person.

As much as you can respectfully not allow them to be part of your world, there is no reason for you to wish bad on them but in a way be thankful that they were able to help you become the person you are today.

As well as this, we can take for granted some of our most supportive and loving people in our life due to the fact that we get comfortable with them being in our life so just make sure to remind them that you appreciate them and not only does it make you feel good but it also lifts their mood.

Ways in which you can do this could be:

Sending them a spontaneous message about how much you appreciate them and why you are thankful for them

Compliments on a person’s nature (I have found that to be more impactful than compliments on physical attributes and it is also not expected and rare to focus on internal rather than external)

Taking them out to their favourite restaurant or a place that is special to your and theirs friendship/relationship

Making them or buying them a gift you know they will love — the more thoughtful and personalized the better!

Scheduling ‘me’ time into your day

Life can get pretty stressful sometimes and you do need to make sure you are giving yourself time to relax and pamper yourself. As much as working hard is important to be happy and successful in your life, looking after your body is just as important. If you don’t you will find yourself going into shut down and actually end up struggling to get stuff done.

Examples of ways you can create a calming and relaxing atmosphere to the end of your week can be things such as reading a book, running a hot bath, lighting a candle and listening to music. Self love is crucial in finding true happiness within and to reach that can be hard and challenging but it can be achieved and contentment will follow alongside this.

Conclusion… your outlook will change your life for better or for worse

We can safely say that being positive in life can be tough when things get you down and situations occur but there is always something to take good from and developing your mind to do this by accepting and appreciating things and people for what they are will be so beneficial for yourself and your future as you will view things differently and have a much more broader and open perspective on life generally.

Here are some inspiring people who use their life to promote positivity: