The bright side – the power of positive thinking

Always look on the bright side of life... du dum.. du dum du dum du dum....

Is it just me, or over the past few months has it been harder than usual to look on the bright side? No matter how hard I try, whenever I turn my phone on, or the tv, or social media, I’m bombarded with negative news.

We are in the midst of some of the biggest challenges of our lifetimes, and being able to tap into positive thinking will be key for coming out the other side stronger and brighter.

Before you say it, no, I’m not kidding myself, and wearing rose tinted glasses. There is a wealth of scientific research that shows why looking on the bright side is good for our wellbeing, our health and our progress.

Our brains are like velcro

Our brains are predisposed to negative thinking to protect us and keep us alive. They help us prepare for the worst case scenario, so we are ready to run away from that sabre-toothed tiger. We have up to 100,000 thoughts per day and 80% are negative.

But when we are feeling threatened, or anxious, or overwhelmed, we can create wonky thoughts...more from our emotion than from our logic. These types of thoughts aren’t that useful to us, and the problem is that they stick.

A neuroscientist called Rick Hanson, puts it well when he says – “Our brains are like velcro for negative experiences and teflon for positive ones.”  Every thought releases a chemical. With positive thoughts, cortisol reduces and the brain produces serotonin, creating a feeling of wellbeing. Dopamine is also triggered, a neurotransmitter which helps to control the brain’s reward system and pleasure centre. Positive emotions widen our span of attention, activate the prefrontal cortex, and change our perception more to we than me.

However if we are stressed or having negative thoughts, energy is drawn away from the prefrontal cortex to the amygdala, creating a threat response, and our brain can’t perform to normal capacity. We find it harder to take info in or think creatively.

The overwhelm of negative news

So positive thinking makes sense, but why is it so hard to tap into it? Most of what we read in the news right now is negative... whilst it’s important news, it is often sad and traumatic and it can be very hard to find anything positive in it at all. It taxes our nervous system, and stresses us out when a lot of it is outside of our control.

The way new stories are portrayed only adds to our negative thinking – constant updates, reminders and breaking news can create an overwhelming addiction to keep checking, for fear of missing out. Headlines are written in a way to grab our attention, leading to the recognition of a psychological term called “headline stress disorder”, describing the state of fear and anxiety brought on by the intense onslaught of provocative news headlines. A recent study in the British Journal of Psychology showed that 68% of us have news fatigue, and 1 in 6 of us have higher anxiety due to the way news is being portrayed. It also showed that when we hear bad news, we worry about much more than just the content of the story... it sends our brain into a negative spiral, making us worry about other areas of our lives.

Looking on the bright side

So what can you do to switch off your exposure to the dark side and focus more on the bright side?

• Be careful who you connect with – surround yourself with people who lift you up and support you, rather than those who question and judge you (just for info – that’s more about their “stuff”, not yours)

• Find your daily good – start each morning by stating your positive intent for the day, and finish the day by reflecting on the best moment from the day (even on a rubbish day there’s always a best bit)

• Have a digital detox – plan time to switch off from the negative news around you – last thing at night and 1st thing in the morning, give your brain at least 30mins mental space

• Choose your sources – find a trusted news source where you know you are accessing the facts, not sensationalised opinions, and try tapping into some positive news channels such as positive.news, DailyGood.org, or Notallnewsisbad.com

From a neuroscience perspective, practice makes permanence... the more you focus on negativity, the more synapses and neurons your brain creates, supporting your negative thought process. So the more time you spend flipping your thinking and focusing on positive news stories, things that you are grateful for and things you can control, the more positive connections are being made in your brain.

So if you find yourself getting overwhelmed with negative news,

“Turn your face to the sunshine. And you cannot see the shadow” (Helen Keller)

And always look on the bright side of life.

Research studies:

PEW Research Center, Feb 2020

British Journal of Psychology, Vol 88, Psychological impact of negative TV news

A bit about Bounce

At Bounce Coaching & Development Ltd, we use the clever bits from brain science and mix them with oodles of positive thinking and a sprinkle of fun to create learning solutions that stick.

Contact us to find out more about looking on the bright side and flipping your mind-set so it works for you, not against you.

“You’re not here to be average... you’re here to be AWESOME!”