In this ‘new age’ we are told over and over again that maintaining positive thoughts is the best thing that we can do for ourselves. Now whether you believe in this whole New Age movement, this whole law of attraction bit, I hope that you do realize that a positive state of mind is a good thing no matter how you think about it.

You do not need to believe that thoughts create reality in order to realize that a positive state of mind will create a positive effect. If for example you are about to partake in any activity, if you engage in this activity with a positive state of mind, one that makes you feel confident and energetic, you will definitely realize better results. In other words you don’t need to maintain a positive state of mind just so that you can attract those things that you want metaphysically, a positive state of mind will also help you in the objective sense.

But how do you attain this positive state of mind? There seem to be an infinite number of exercises and ideas about how to do this. Most of them seem to be quite complicated if you really think about it; its usually this step by step formula where you are supposed to feel this, imagine that and make it all brighter or smaller or something. Sometimes these methodologies seem like a cooking recipe.
Well if I have not bored you completely and I have not scared you off with my proposition of another method for attaining a positive state of mind, then please let me give you an exercise that is incredibly simple and only requires one thing; the power of your focus and attention.

You see fundamentally all of these exercises really rely on this one principle; the principal of focus. If you’re able to maintain your attention focused on one positive thing no matter what, you will be able to maintain a positive attitude in just about any situation.

When I say focus, I do not mean stress or strain. If you stress or strain yourself you might actually hurt your body and perhaps even give yourself an ulcer. There’s a big difference between concentrated focus and physical effort. The body gets tired and too much tension can be quite detrimental to it, but the mind never tires and it is always going even when you are sleeping. The trick then is to use your mind to focus your attention and not your body.

An easy way to know if you’re doing this correctly, is to see if you are tense. If you are tense when you are trying to focus your attention on something then you are doing it wrong. Try to relax your body first and then focus your attention. Over time you will be able to focus your attention without the need to tense up your body as well, it is most important that you learn to do this properly.

Okay so now finally to my little exercise to help you stay positive in any situation. Well it’s as simple as this: focus on a word.

Let’s say for example that its gloomy day outside and you just want to get a little happier. Then all you need to do is just to focus on the word HAPPY. Just try and hold that word in your mind for as long as you can and you will notice instantly that the longer that you can focus on this one word, the happier that you will get. It will instantly begin to correlate with happy memories that you might have had in the past and with happy thoughts or goals that you might have about the future.
And that’s it, that’s the entire thing.

But the trick comes when you want to try and maintain your focus on that one word. If the power of your attention, if the strength of your focus, is not that good then your ability to maintain your attention on this one word will be quite difficult. Most people have difficulty maintaining their attention focused on a single item for a few seconds. If this is the case for you, then what you need to do is just keep practicing.

Practice is a simple thing, all you need to do is to bring your mind back to the one word that you want to focus on. For example as you try and focus your mind on the one word HAPPY, you might start thinking about what you’re going to cook later or about some responsibility that you have to take care of. What you need to do is to catch yourself mentally wandering off and refocus your mind on the word. Don’t get frustrated and just keep refocusing your mind on that one word.

It is possible to attain an incredibly powerful focus. But this takes time and I suggest that you do not get discouraged at first. Just try to increase the amount of time that you can focus on the one word that you have chosen. See if for 15 to 20 minutes you can focus more on the word that you have chosen and less on all the other stuff that keeps popping into your mind. Continue like this and see if there ever comes a point when you can actually think about that word for the entire 20 minutes!
If you feel confident, increase the length of time that you spend thinking about this one word.

With this incredibly simple exercise, you will be able to focus your mind to a great degree. If you’re able to maintain your focus on the one word that you have chosen long enough, then maintaining a positive state of mind will become quite easy for you. You will certainly have to work on the power of your focus and attention but having this strong power of focus and attention will benefit every aspect of your life. Think of it like exercising, a pleasurable exercise, that will give you so much that is worth every single bit of sweat that you lose doing it.