Do This For 21 Days and Make a Positive Habit That Changes Your Life

Are you feeling run down, overworked, anxious, nervous, or even fearful? Full of negative emotions that tend to drown out any positive in life? You are not alone. About a fourth of us will experience mental health issues in the course of our lives. Luckily, there are ways to work with our mind, instead of against it. Just 21 days can be enough to make a life-changing positive habit.

Habits take practice to form, some can be hurtful, while others are helpful. Keep reading to find out the best thing you need to try to form a life-changing positive habit today! 

Why We Need to Try This Habit

The purpose of this habit is to rewire the mind to be more positive. By default, human beings are mostly negative. Studies show that the mind will focus on negative news for longer than positive news. This is just how the mind works; we tend to linger on the danger.

This is not just due to new exposure and social media, but due to evolution. We have evolved from being that needed to notice the bad things surrounding us and react to survive. Fight or flight, for example, was meant to prepare our ancestors to run or fight off danger. This mechanism lingers today, but you can’t wrestle or outrun a bill or stress from work. That is why consciously building positive habits matters so much.

21 Days to Form a Positive Habit

Here is the only thing you need to do in the morning to form a positive habit that can change your life. 21 days can help you form a positive habit, and this one is easy, simple, and can be, and should be, done as soon as you wake up.

All you need to do is this: for 21 days, when you wake up as part of your morning, think of a positive thought. Any thought at all. It can be as sweet as loving your family, as small as enjoying the glass of water by your bed, or as huge as being happy you woke up.

This should be done first thing in the morning for the most effectiveness, as well as without distractions. Before even leaving your bed, before stretching, before doing anything, reach for a positive thought. Think of a positive thought, hold on to it for a while, and sit in that thought. That’s it, that’s the habit. Afterward, just go about your day as you usually do. You don’t need to force yourself to keep the thought in your head all day, you don’t need to force yourself to be positive.

What This Habit Does

Negative thoughts tend to affect our decision-making and cognition. Studies find a disputing effect of worrying and negativity in decision-making.

Making a conscious effort to rewire the mind toward positivity can help reduce the autopilot negativity our minds gravitate towards. That same study found that just 15 minutes of mindful meditation helped reduce negative decision-making.

21 days of reaching for a positive thought first thing in the morning can induce more positive emotions throughout the day. This can better many aspects of life including decision-making, increase feelings of hope, increase joy, and even boost passion and productivity. Positivity when you first wake up causes a new default to take place in the mind, one which appreciated, looks at the brighter side of things, and finds more joy in life.

Quick Tips to Make This Positive Habit Effective

Here are simple tips to make sure this habit sticks. 21 days seems like a long time, but it will pass by fast and if you pay attention, you will notice changes along the way.

• First thing in the morning – it is vital you do this first thing in the morning. Since we wake up pretty neutral (unless you had a nightmare), you can find positivity more easily.
• Don’t reach for your phone – Try not to reach for your phone within the first 15 minutes of waking up. It reduces mindfulness and the effectiveness of this positive habit.
• Document how you feel – record your mindset at the beginning of the 21 days and compare it to your mindset at the end.
• Notice small changes – try to keep track of your emotions throughout the day so it is easier to notice a change. Maybe you no longer react with anger towards a minor inconvenience, maybe you feel better just sipping on your coffee.
• Celebrate every victory – those small changes above? Celebrate them, you deserve to. Give yourself the room to be happy and content with your achievements, no matter how small or big.
• After 21 days, reflect – after completing the challenge, reflect on how you feel, what you’ve learned, and determine what the next step is for you. Maybe you want to add daily movement or meditation. Self-care habits are ever-changing, developing, and improving.
• Keep the habit – if you notice a big change, keep the habit up. It can be done easily, it is an easy addition to a morning routine.

The Takeaway

A positive habit takes time to develop. With this 21-day challenge, you can try it out for yourself and document the process to see if you feel and notice a change. Maybe you react more calmly to the news, maybe you notice the little things in life, or maybe you just feel better when you go to bed and wake up. Regardless, try this habit out and get ready to feel better almost instantly! Make waking up on the wrong side of the bed a thing of the past. A single positive thought daily can set up your mind for positivity in your daily life.

Remember that health starts from within, so eat nutritious food, exercise the body daily, and take care of your mental health. Don’t forget about gut health too! Microbiota health affects metabolism, the muscles, the immune system, digestion, skin health, and more! Get all the resources you need about microbiota health for free here!