How to have an AWESOME Day! Seven tips to a positive approach

As I talk with people. They often differ on what a particular day means to them. Let’s take birthdays as our example. As children, it’s a day where we get time, love, attention and PRESENTS! It’s exciting. We get to be the center of attention and people make that effort to let us know that we are special. Even the kids that may not like us in school might be nicer on that day. As adults, we run through a range of birthday concepts. We have let’s pretend this never happened. There’s also a dinner would be nice. After 29, you might be in the this never happened camp. Finally, we have people who have a birthday week.

That is a huge variety of ways of looking at the same type of day for people. With that, we can often find pressure about making sure it’s the best day of the year.  I recommend giving yourself a little leeway on this. A happy healthy life is one where we decrease the bad stress (known as distress) and increase the good stress (called eustress). The difference between the two is often how we think about it. If I say “I want to give them the best day because I love them” we’re in good stress territory. “If I don’t make this perfect I will have ruined something important to them” is definitely a cause of distress.

So, give yourself a little bit of breathing room. A Study recently found that we have 15 days each year that we perceive as “perfect”. That’s not too bad. If we add it what it says about good days we gain another 204 days! Look at that! We’re already statistically more likely to have a good day than any other kind. Imagine if we are taking the time and effort to make one day a little better. We’re moving the odds in your favor even more.

What I’m saying is that your positive mental attitude is going to make a day go from potentially meh to great.

Here’s some Ideas to help you:

Start the day by telling yourself it’s gonna be great and that you are going to enjoy it. This opens you up to the opportunity that good is around you. If you say bad day, you will find bad day. Let’s look for the good stuff instead!

With that in mind, make sure to look for those good things. Starting your day with something as simple as “I like the taste of my toothpaste” will begin the process of brightening your day. I love to people watch. I always find them doing interesting things. Some are very rewarding.

If you have a setback, learn from it. Check out our article on setbacks here.

Keep a good sense of humor. Even if nothing is going your way, laughing in the face of adversity makes it easier to work through. Some things are jus so absurd they deserve a laugh. Make it about feeling better rather than about feeling down. I crack jokes about my follies all the time. It helps me to process my hurt and sometimes embarrassment (not that I ever trip over absolutely nothing in full view of everyone or something).

Stay in the moment. Don’t let yourself run wild mentally about how everything can go wrong. Planning ahead is good, but there isn’t a need to plan every potential argument you are going to have with people you don’t even know. Just work on one thing then get to the next.

Remember that you are not alone! The world is full of people who will help you with what you are trying to do. We tend to focus on those that don’t because they are actually the abnormal ones. If you are planning something for a friend or significant other, there are probably others who also care for them too. Ask for some help. Take some of the burdens off of yourself. I love to delegate.  Letting yourself have that break is going to make your mood better and your days easier.

Whatever you are doing, have fun with it! Nothing beats the look on someone’s when you pull of a good deed. When you are the one at work who is calm and smiling, you are the one that people will trust. It will make you more successful. Do little things over the day to boost your mood. Here is a list of what people said elevated their moods from good to great.