You can start doing this by deliberately and frequently centering your thoughts on things that make you happy. Are you stuck in a loop of cynical thinking? Grateful? Whether you realize it or not, the negative experiences you have lived through often influence your decisions. If all you can remember from this HEAL process is to , you’ll be well on your way to pointing your brain in a more positive direction. This intentionality is created through a process that Hanson calls HEAL.In a nutshell, the HEAL process is all about proactively savoring positive experiences and emotions. In fact, and I don’t say this lightly, it’s been life-changing. Start paying more attention to the flow of your thoughts. What’s going on around you? My wife and kids unfortunately feel the brunt of these bad moods. Every day for the past year I’ve been “rewiring” my brain for happiness with a simple meditative practice I learned from a psychologist named Rick Hanson. Bring that to your attention, but sort of hold it off to the side. A few weeks into regularly doing the meditation practices on the Foundations of Well-Being, and doing the HEAL thing during my day-to-day life, Kate, who didn’t even know what I was up to, noted that I just seemed a lot calmer and happier — that my whole aura was palpably different. . Rewiring your brain for success. Stop letting negatives limit your potential and drag you down.Start consciously taking a different approach to your thinking. While I think those who know me would say I’m a generally friendly, good humored and hearted fella who has his stuff together, I also have a tendency to focus on the negative, think in worst-case-scenarios, and look at life with a jaded lens.
It’s like how Frederick the mouse spent the summer storing up colors and words for the winter (Now I’ll shoot straight with you. Even in ordinary times, my moods can be mercurial: one week I’m feeling great, and another I spiral into a funk. I’m glad I did because the difference has been night and day. If your boss rewards you for your hard work and effort, bask in the emotion of it. Here are some examples:As you get into the habit of continually checking in with yourself and directing your thoughts toward the positive, it will eventually become second nature. According to Dr. Hanson, what we’re trying to do is to create new neurological connections geared towards positive emotions, and to do that, you have do this HEAL process over and over again. After you’ve enriched the positive feeling or experience, enhance its stickiness even further by imagining it sinking into your mind. This is tricky because it requires you to be mindful of these moments, even though our brain has a tendency to overlook them. If you were to turn 180 degrees away from this antagonistic thinking, where would you find yourself? Your constant negative thoughts can sabotage everything from your happiness to your career taking a toll on your confidence and preventing you from achieving your goals.
So that’s how you HEAL your way to a more positive mindset.
Your brain naturally wants to do whatever it can to protect you by avoiding a recurrence of the negative experience. Or you post a pic on Instagram, and all your friends and family give you accolades and first bump emojis . Peaceful? Be on the lookout for nice sunsets, warm breezes, and other people’s acts of kindness. Find a confident and assertive alternative to a negative impulse.Recognize that your mind will want to slip back into old patterns, and remind yourself that you’re reconditioning yourself to have positive thoughts and take positive actions. This intentionality is created through a process that Hanson calls HEAL. So as I go throughout my day, I’m looking for good memories that future me will want to savor. For example, if my daughter runs up to give me a big hug, I make a point of recognizing what a nice moment it is. Is your brain preoccupied by constantly focusing on negative outcomes? Now, bring to mind a positive experience or reality like the fact that your family loves you. Consider how you can reframe your thoughts into a more positive perspective. Instead of scrutinizing a situation to spot the negatives, we need to teach our brains to redirect our thoughts and scan for the positives.One simple way to begin doing this is to scan for three daily positive things. In addition to the dedicated HEAL sessions, Hanson also recommends incorporating HEAL throughout your day as you have positive experiences.