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Happy Valentine’s day! I love the timing of a day focused on love to talk about light as well. They go together so brilliantly–“love + light”--and I know how much they impact how we live and how productive we are.

This approach is rooted in positive psychology–a field that focuses on building strengths and developing tools to not just fix what’s wrong, but figure out what’s right and use it to create our best life. The tools I’m talking about are ones like hope and optimism, which are actually skills that can be learned and developed! This is good news for all of us, especially for those who struggle with positivity.

How do we learn and develop these skills? In my recent podcast episode on how to find the light when the world feels dark, I shared 6 practical steps to cultivate a positive mindset:

1. Practice gratitude - Building your gratitude muscle helps you get better and better and finding the light because you learn how to spot it more readily. Here is a resource to help you.
2. Share positivity and kindness with others - Taking action helps you learn and the human nature of reciprocating means you’ll be the recipient of these things as well. It becomes a positive feedback loop. Follow me on Instagram if you want to experience more of this kind of community.
3. Practice self-compassion - This involves forgiveness and kindness directed inward. When you are stressed and belittling yourself, you won’t find a way out. When you’re gentle and patient with yourself, you’ll give yourself the space to find solutions.
4. Prioritize self-care - Doing so is a way to support your own well-being, which reduces stress and boosts energy, helps you focus better and show up better. It also helps you recover better (resilience). Check out the Self-care Playlist Page for podcast episodes to inspire you.
5. Use journaling to process your thoughts. The key here is to track what you’re thinking and feeling so you can make connections and encourage changes where needed. You can use this special format printed or in an app (like Goodnotes) to reflect and process.
6. Incorporate empowering affirmations. Create a set of phrases to repeat–repetition helps us learn–to counteract the negative thoughts that naturally come to you. Your brain believes what you think. Use positive thoughts about yourself to foster positive thinking.

Remember, when the world feels dark, you're not alone and you have the tools to find your way through. You cannot change the darkness, but by incorporating these positive psychology principles, you can create a metaphoric flashlight that can help you discover solutions, find strength in the face of adversity, and shine a light so you can find a way through.

♥

Lisa

P.S. If you found this helpful, I'd be so grateful if you could share it with a friend or two. Together, we can spread more positivity in this world.

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