{"id":310,"date":"2022-02-24T12:51:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T17:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.istratus.com\/blog\/?p=310"},"modified":"2022-03-01T14:44:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T19:44:57","slug":"setting-gratitude-as-a-daily-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/day-planner\/setting-gratitude-as-a-daily-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting Gratitude As a Daily Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Power of Positive Thinking: We don\u2019t know about you, but we often find there are many benefits of \u201cListing\u201d your positive thoughts.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is an abundance of<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychalive.org\/thinking-positively\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> evidence<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that suggests that the brain finds it next to impossible to focus on positive and negative thoughts simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We all know the ancient question: Is your glass half-empty or half-full? Considering whether you\u2019re optimistic or pessimistic in your approach will also reflect upon your outlook of life \u2014 and quality of health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At iStratus we believe creating the practice of listing the things you\u2019re grateful for helps you train your mind to be increasingly more positive.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you set out to list your gratitude each day, your brain will be more aware of positive things to include on the list!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed, listing the positives with optimism is a key part of applying effective stress management strategies. And realistically we\u2019d all like to stress less.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We need to make it clear, positive thinking isn\u2019t about sticking your head in the sand and ignoring life\u2019s tough situations, or pretending everything is a rainbow. No, positive thinking is an approach to addressing unpleasantness more positively and productively. Going for the best outcome, rather than the worst.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Positive self-talk is the start. In our minds, the \u201cself-talk\u201d is that endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through our heads daily. Such automatic thoughts can be both positive and negative.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Negative Thoughts?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not sure if your self-talk is positive or negative? Some common negativity can include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><i>Polarizing:<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Things only either good or bad. Finding the middle ground is irrelevant. Things must be perfect; otherwise, this will lead to failure.<\/span><b><i>&nbsp;<\/i><\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b><i>Personalizing:<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> You automatically blame yourself. For instance, you hear that there has been a change in plans, and you believe it was the result of something you said or did.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b><i>Filtering:<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In this case, the negative aspects of a situation tend to override the positive ones. For example, five tasks on your \u201cTo Do\u201d tasks were completed as required, yet your focus is solely upon only the one, which wasn\u2019t, forgetting the wins achieved.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Positive Thinking with Gratitude as a Daily Focus<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daily gratitude can be incorporated into your thinking. The process can be rather simple and attainable; nonetheless, it requires time, commitment and practice. \u2014 Basically, you&#8217;re building new habits.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We believe using iStratus to list your gratitude or thankfulness daily (or at least once a week) you will begin to see a shift towards thinking optimistically. This is how you do so:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b><i>Pinpoint needed changes.<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Optimism requires engagement in more positive thinking. Start by identifying the things you usually think negatively about. Be it work, school, relationships, or the daily commute. Choose one thing to begin focusing on with increased positivity.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b><i>Check-in with the Self.<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> At times, it\u2019s necessary to stop and evaluate what you\u2019re thinking about in your day. If you feel too much \u2018negativity\u2019 is happening, attempt to find a way to reposition a positive spin on it. Did you enjoy your coffee in the morning?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b><i>Apply that Positive Self-Talk.<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> By human nature, we tend to impose thoughts upon ourselves we certainly wouldn\u2019t say to others. It\u2019s not always easy to be encouraging of oneself. Thus, when negative thoughts creep in, think about things and people you\u2019re grateful for daily.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b><i>Positive people help.<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It\u2019s not always good to be a complete island. We all need people around us who are positive and supportive. We don\u2019t always have to agree with the thoughts and opinions of others, however, the people we can depend on for love, quality advice, and feedback matter.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We all have freethinking minds. Still, those typically \u201cnegative thinking\u201d personalities, can easily increase self-doubt which doesn\u2019t help one\u2019s ability to manage life in healthy ways.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b><i>Adopt a healthy lifestyle to fuel your mind and body. <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eat well, with fruits and vegetables. Recharge your internal batteries to help manage stress. Engage in 30 minutes of exercise to positively improve your mood.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b><i>Laugh.<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Humor helps increase gratitude. When you can laugh at life, even in the toughest moments, you slowly feel better. Happier memories and hearts can be found within.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create that <\/span><b><i>\u201cList of Gratitude.\u201d <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When your mind frame is generally more optimistic, life improves for better and we\u2019re able to handle everyday stresses more constructively. Just Smile. Life is worth it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Live life and roll well with iStratus.<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Power of Positive Thinking: We don\u2019t know about you, but we often find there are many benefits of \u201cListing\u201d your positive thoughts.&nbsp; There is an abundance of evidence that suggests that the brain finds it next to impossible to focus on positive and negative thoughts simultaneously. We all know the ancient question: Is your &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/day-planner\/setting-gratitude-as-a-daily-goal\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Setting Gratitude As a Daily Goal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-day-planner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324,"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions\/324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/istratus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}