As mental health becomes more present in our conversations, so does the promotion of practicing self-care on a daily basis. It is important to practice therapeutic approaches in real-time and during real-life situations. However, if we don’t practice it in private, then it is going to be pretty tough to be able to in real-time. Writing is a good way to reframe your mind and practice creating a habit of positive thinking. This post will give you some writing exercises that serve as your own personal way to practice being optimistic.
Pick at least one exercise and make a goal to practice it at least two times per week up to once per day. Whether you think you are a good writer or not, try these! After all, they are private writing exercises that nobody has to see except for you so there is no excuse and no shame.
1. Positive Poetry
Create a poetry series – Not just any poetry though – create a series of poetry where you speak about yourself in a positive way. These poems can be very literal or creative. My girlfriend and I did this daily for a few weeks, kept them in our Notes app in our Iphone and shared them with each other after we wrote them. After a few weeks passed I found myself looking back on what I wrote in the past and reflecting on where I was as a person at the time of writing them. I noticed that the default way I was thinking about myself began to shift in an optimistic direction. Don’t be afraid to develop your own style and find pride in the process – After-all, nobody has to read them but you. As long as their meanings make sense to YOU, they are serving their purpose.
2. Gratitude Reminders
Give yourself a chance to be reminded of how many things are going wonderfully in your life. On a daily or weekly basis, write down on a piece of paper some of the things that happened to you that you are grateful for since your last entry. You can pick small moments or large ones that impacted you in a positive way. Write down as many as you’d like.
I personally chose to do this for an entire year as a New Year’s resolution. At the end of the year, I read all of them and found myself smiling about how many amazing things happened to me on a regular basis that I may not have even remembered. Try it – you may be surprised when you’re reminded just how amazing your year, month, or week was.
3. Affirmations
This one is great for transitioning private exercises into practicing therapeutic thoughts in the real world. Affirmations are done very privately, but can be used to ready yourself for situations that may create stress or challenge.
An affirmation can be thought of as an emotionally supportive concept that is stated factually. When applied towards yourself, you can theoretically train yourself to think about your own identity and capabilities in a positive and productive way! Pick a few traits that you’d like to develop in your personality. Write them down every day in an “I am…” fashion. Repeat them to yourself. Have your phone send you a reminder throughout the day affirming you. Say them repetitively. Do this for several weeks and you’ll find your own thoughts to begin to shift in a favorable way and your behaviors will likely follow.
Here is an example I wrote and repeated to myself for months as I was preparing for some upcoming professional challenges I would be facing:
I am
Cool
Calm
Creative
Competent
Confident
This would be on repeat for me every day. For example, I would repeat this over and over every day in my writing. I would also have my Amazon Alexa remind me in the morning before I got out of bed. I would think about this phrase repetitively I was getting ready in the morning or while I was meditating. I’d say it in a rhythm that matches the pace I was running while I was exercising. It became engrained it in my mind and I trained myself to believe it. Soon after, my behaviors matched my belief. Soon after, my progress matched my behaviors. I highly recommend this as a regular written, thinking, and speech exercise.
Final thoughts
Get creative. If you are a musician or an artist, mix things up. I write and recommend writing because it comes most naturally to me and is something almost anyone can do. If you would rather figure out ways to turn this into art or some other activity that resonates with YOU, I say GO FOR IT. Just try to be consistent and try to believe in the process. Good things will follow! If you have any other ideas people can try, feel free to comment them down below. I’m sure someone will find your suggestion very helpful.
There are plenty of other ways to work on feeling happier and more optimistic. If you ever feel bad about reserving some time to leisure activities, you should consider reading my post to reframe that guilt into productivity.