Sometimes we wake up and life is absolutely beautiful. We show up as our best selves and are optimistic, hopeful, resourceful and confident, we have a clear mind and are in control over our emotions and feelings.
But sh*t happens, we make mistakes and things don’t always go our way. We’ve all experienced an emotional rollercoaster before and our mood can drop, we lose our energy and feel pessimistic. Maybe you are a bit stressed out at work, had a fight with your partner, didn’t get enough sleep or feel a cold coming, whatever the reason for your funk, don’t let it ruin your day, it happens to the best of us.
When life brings you down, you can lift yourself up again and stay up more often, if you spend a few minutes focusing on all the positives in your life, change your thinking and learn to let go of all the annoyances that come up.
Here are our TOP 10 tips to lift yourself up and stay up more often.
#1 Maintain Your Perspective
When we are down, we tend to lose our perspective and lose sight of all the things that are positive in our lives. Remember, our thinking is in charge of how we experience life and if our thoughts are consumed by what’s going wrong and what we don’t have, this will be how we feel and experience life. But if you count your blessings and think about all the positive things and people in your life, your health, your friends, your home, the opportunities that lie ahead, you can shift your perspective to a more positive outlook on life and your mood will lift instantaneously.
#2 Take Care of Yourself
Our mood and spirit is directly linked to our physical health. If we are run down, our immune system gets impaired and we catch a cold more often, but keep in mind, if we are stressed out and feel run down, our mood takes a downward spiral as well. A major factor is sleep, getting a good night’s sleep works wonders in restoring us and our mood, exercise is a powerful factor in lifting our spirits, because of the release of a plethora of feel-good hormones, meditation has a huge impact on the state of our mind, as do things that you absolutely love to do. Make it a point to schedule everyday time for yourself so you can exercise, meditate, meet with friends, engage in your hobby, take a massage, read a book, have a great dinner and most of all, make sure that you get enough good-quality sleep.
#3 Play Some Music
A quick and easy solution to lift yourself up when you are feeling down is to listen to your favorite, upbeat music. Whatever you enjoy, crank it up, sing along and dance to the beat and you will see an improvement in your mood immediately. Music has the power to make or break your day, so use it to your advantage and lift your spirits with your favorite tunes.
#4 Talk About It
If you are upset and your mood is taking a turn for the worst, use a good friend’s ear to vent about it and get it all off your chest. Don’t go on and on about it forever, but set a timer for three to five minutes and allow yourself to completely honestly talk about how you are feeling in this very moment. Complain away and let it all out. The idea about setting aside only a short amount of time for venting is to just have enough time to get the draining emotions out of your system, but not long enough to dwell on them and have them intensify.
#5 Get Out of the House
Getting out of the house and changing your physical environment can do wonders to lift your spirit. Take a breath of fresh air, observe the beauty of nature – or a building with stunning architecture that you admire, watch people or simply enjoy a beautiful piece of art. A change of scenery helps you to take your focus off your troubles and brings you into a happier state of mind. Be really present in the moment and be keenly aware of what is going on around you. Don’t focus on yourself and your problems, focus on the beauty that is all around you.
#6 Exercise
We’ve mentioned it earlier, exercise produces natural mood lifters like endorphins and serotonin, so whenever you feel like your mood is going down, put on your workout clothes and go for a run, take a yoga class, dance around the house or bicycle around the city. Pick whatever makes your soul smile and don’t overthink it. Simply get your juices going because research has shown over and over again that engaging in physical activity for just 20 minutes will significantly improve your mood and you will keep your spirits up for up to 12 hours.
#7 Think Outwards
Instead of dwelling on your problems and exacerbating a bad mood, focus your mind outwards. Don’t wallow in self pity, but look at ways you can help the people around you, whether that’s your friends and family, co-workers or even complete strangers. Everybody has a problem they have to deal with, you are not alone in this, but when you focus on helping somebody else, your own troubles will disappear and your mood will lift immediately.
#8 Surround Yourself with Positive People
We become what we are surrounded with on a consistent basis, so in order to lift your spirits, be happier and have a more positive outlook on life, surround yourself with positive people. Positive people have the ability to shift your mood, encourage you to see the positive in every situation and challenge your perspectives. Take a good hard look at the five people you spend the most time with and ask yourself whether they are positive or negative. If you want to lift yourself up, make sure that the people around you support you in this quest, rather than bringing you down even further.
#9 Laugh More
Laughter is the best medicine when you feel stressed out and have a bad day. Laughter immediately makes you feel more positive and keeps you motivated to get through your troubles and find solutions. Watch a funny movie, listen to a comedian’s podcast, read a funny book, tell jokes or simply decide to laugh out loud and see what changes happen within you.
#10 Journal
We’ve written a whole blog about “The Power of Journaling’ and how it can improve your life and well-being in a short amount of time. When you sit down for five minutes and write down everything that’s been going on that day and log your emotions, feelings and thoughts, you can release your troubles onto a piece of paper, clarify your emotions, feelings and thoughts and reduce stress significantly and with that lift your spirits. Think of journaling as a form of mediation and remove mental blocks so you can let go of negativity and lift yourself up.
Moods come and go and yes, people and circumstances can have an impact, but you do play a major role and have the power to lift yourself up again. We all have bad days from time to time, but it is important to remember to allow yourself to be happy and use the above simple tips and tricks to lift yourself up again when you are feeling down.
IT ONLY TAKES A FEW MINUTES TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked