Why Positivity Is Essential for Your Well-being

Published: 2024-07-09

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Do you ever stop to think about the energy in your environment? Do you wonder what that even means on Earth? It’s a huge topic, but today, I’m referring to how you’re affected by the people, circumstances, and events around you.

The Impact of Negative Influences

For example, do you have teammates or others in your life who are always complaining? Are there family members or friends who never seem to have anything good to say about anything? Do they criticize anyone and everything? Are they ever happy, or is something always wrong, no matter what they do?

How do you feel when you’re away from those people? How do you feel when you know you’re going to have to see them shortly? That’s the best indicator of how much or how little time you ought to be spending with them.

Managing Negative Relationships

I know – sometimes, that can be messy. Maybe it’s your teammates. Maybe it’s your family, your boss, or others you might have trouble avoiding. But it’s worth considering how you can shorten the list and/or reduce the time you spend in the company of such people.

Environmental Influences on Positivity

How about other environmental influences? Do you read the papers? Listen to the news or podcasts that are about fear-based, upsetting topics. Do you listen to gloom-and-doom conversations that leave you feeling anxious or depressed?

Maybe you watch violent or disturbing films or TV shows, or you’re obsessed with true crime and hearing all the gory details of murders that actually happened. It’s just TV, you say. It’s a movie, it’s fiction, you say. Well, your conscious mind might know that, but your subconscious doesn’t.

The Subconscious Impact of Media

When you watch those shows, your subconscious doesn’t understand that it’s fiction. It doesn’t understand that those murders happened to someone else a long time ago. Your subconscious thinks it’s happening now. Have you ever noticed your palms sweat or your heart beats just a little faster while you’re in the suspenseful parts of those shows? That’s because your poor subconscious is freaking out, thinking you’re in danger and pumping adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream – which is great if you’re being chased by a psychopath and you need to get away. But sitting on your couch, those stress responses hurt your body and cause all kinds of health issues, sleep troubles, and other miseries you really don’t need.

The Balance Between Staying Informed and Staying Positive

Look, I know it’s important to keep up with what’s happening in the world. Some of it is pretty miserable and negative. We can’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend everything is sunshine and sparkles. I’m not suggesting we ignore problems; in fact, doing something to improve the world is an excellent way to crank up the positivity in our lives.

Reducing Exposure to Negative Media

I’m just saying we don’t have to immerse ourselves in misery, like one of my friends. She keeps her TV on news channels for 16 hours every day. Her first waking thought is, “Check the news!” She crawls into bed and before sleeping, has to “Get the latest news”. She lives on a steady diet of fearful, distressing information and wonders why she’s struggling with panic attacks, depression, and insomnia. It’s one thing to catch up on the news. It’s another to go down rabbit holes of awfulness when it serves no useful purpose.

The Physical and Mental Toll of Negativity

Even when we’re not conscious of it, negative influences have an adverse impact on our well-being. The more we experience negativity through what we’re hearing or seeing, the more we’re setting ourselves up for health problems. Being around negative people has the same impact as watching those violent and disturbing films. Your body perceives an impending attack. Blood pressure rises. Heart rate increases. Stress hormones are dumped into your bloodstream. Muscles tense. Your subconscious is trying to protect you because it thinks you might be in danger, even if you’re not terribly aware of it. Even if you just think those Grumpy Guts people are annoying.

Minimizing Exposure to Negativity

We’ve all got to put up with those people now and then; they’re a fact of life. And we can’t avoid hearing about the distressing events that are happening in our world. But wherever possible, it is essential to our health and well-being to minimize our exposure to unnecessary negativity.

The Power of Positive Thinking

In a big way, this includes your own thoughts. And they are often impacted by external influences. The more you surround yourself with negative people and circumstances, the more you’ll feel negative thoughts.

Shifting to Positive Thoughts

What goes on in your own head? Are you thinking about self-doubt, lack of confidence, or fears of failure or not measuring up? Do you dwell on upsetting incidents you can’t change? Are you chewing on regret or resentment? Maybe there’s something you really need to say to someone, but you don’t dare speak up. When you allow yourself to focus on negative thoughts, they’ll have an adverse effect on you. Repeated thoughts become your beliefs. What you believe becomes what you do, and what you do becomes who you are.

Choose positive thoughts. Make them become your habit, your natural way of thinking, as they are the foundation for your success in sports, and for the happiest and best life you can create for yourself.