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"James Clear\u00A0writes about using behavioral science to master your habits and improve your health. His free guide,\u00A0Transform Your Habits,\u00A0has been downloaded more than 80,000 times. This post originally appeared on\u00A0his blog.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nPositive thinking sounds useful on the surface (most of us would prefer to be positive rather than negative.) But, \u201Cpositive thinking\u201D is also a soft and fluffy term that is easy to dismiss. In the real world, it rarely carries the same weight as words like \u201Cwork ethic\u201D or \u201Cpersistence.\u201D\r\n\r\nBut those views may be changing.\r\n\r\nResearch is beginning to reveal that positive thinking is about much more than just being happy or displaying an upbeat attitude. Positive thoughts can actually create real value in your life and help you build skills that last much longer than a smile.\r\n\r\nThe impact of positive thinking on your work, your health, and your life is being studied by people who are much smarter than me. One of these people is Barbara Fredrickson.\r\n\r\nFredrickson is a positive psychology researcher at the University of North Carolina and she published a\u00A0landmark paper\u00A0that provides surprising insights about positive thinking and it\u2019s impact on your skills. Her work is among the most referenced and cited in her field and it is surprisingly useful in everyday life.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s talk about Fredrickson\u2019s discovery and what it means for you\u2026\r\nWhat negative thoughts do to your brain\r\nPlay along with me for a moment.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s say that you\u2019re walking through the forest and suddenly a tiger steps onto the path ahead of you. When this happens, your brain registers a negative emotion \u2014 in this case, fear.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nResearchers have long known that negative emotions program your brain to do a specific action. When that tiger crosses your path, for example, you run. The rest of the world doesn\u2019t matter. You are focused entirely on the tiger, the fear it creates, and how you can get away from it.\r\n\r\nIn other words, negative emotions narrow your mind and focus your thoughts. At that same moment, you might have the option to climb a tree, pick up a leaf, or grab a stick \u2014 but your brain ignores all of those options because they seem irrelevant when a tiger is standing in front of you.\r\n\r\nThis is a useful instinct if you\u2019re trying to save life and limb, but in our modern society we don\u2019t have to worry about stumbling across tigers in the wilderness. The problem is that your brain is still programmed to respond to negative emotions in the same way \u2014 by shutting off the outside world and limiting the options you see around you.\r\n\r\nFor example, when you\u2019re in a fight with someone, your anger and emotion might consume you to the point where you can\u2019t think about anything else.\r\n\r\nOr, when you are stressed out about everything you have to get done today, you may find it hard to actual start anything because you\u2019re paralyzed by how long your to\u2013do list has become. Or, if you feel bad about not exercising or not eating healthy, all you think about is how little willpower you have, how you\u2019re lazy, and how you don\u2019t have any motivation.\r\n\r\nIn each case, your brain closes off from the outside world and focuses on the negative emotions of fear, anger, and stress \u2014 just like it did with the tiger. Negative emotions prevent your brain from seeing the other options and choices that surround you. It\u2019s your survival instinct.\r\n\r\nNow, let\u2019s compare this to what positive emotions do to your brain. This is where Barbara Fredrickson returns to the story.\r\nWhat positive thoughts do to your brain\r\nFredrickson tested the impact of positive emotions on the brain by setting up a little experiment. During this experiment, she divided her research subjects into\u00A0five\u00A0groups and showed each group different film clips.\r\n\r\nThe first two groups were shown clips that created positive emotions. Group 1 saw images that created feelings of joy. Group 2 saw images that created feelings of contentment.\r\n\r\nGroup 3 was the control group. They saw images that were neutral and produced no significant emotion.\r\n\r\nThe last two groups were shown clips that created negative emotions. Group 4 saw images that created feelings of fear. Group 5 saw images that created feelings of anger.\r\n\r\nAfterward, each participant was asked to imagine themselves in a situation where similar feelings would arise and to write down what they would do. Each participant was handed a piece of paper with 20 blank lines that started with the phrase, \u201CI would like to\u2026\u201D\r\n\r\nParticipants who saw images of fear and anger wrote down the fewest responses. Meanwhile, the participants who saw images of joy and contentment, wrote down a significantly higher number of actions that they would take, even when compared to the neutral group.\r\n\r\nIn other words, when you are experiencing positive emotions like joy, contentment and love, you will see more possibilities in your life. These findings were among the first that proved that positive emotions broaden your sense of possibility and open your mind up to more options.\r\n\r\nBut that was just the beginning. The really interesting impact of positive thinking happens later\u2026\r\nHow positive thinking builds your skill set\r\n\r\n\r\nThe benefits of positive emotions don\u2019t stop after a few minutes of good feelings subside. In fact, the biggest benefit that positive emotions provide is an enhanced ability to build skills and develop resources for use later in life.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s consider a real\u2013world example.\r\n\r\nA child who runs around outside, swinging on branches and playing with friends, develops the ability to move athletically (physical skills), the ability to play with others and communicate with a team (social skills), and the ability to explore and examine the world around them (creative skills).\r\n\r\nIn this way, the positive emotions of play and joy prompt the child to build skills that are useful and valuable in everyday life.\r\n\r\nThese skills last much longer than the emotions that initiated them. Years later, that foundation of athletic movement might develop into a scholarship as a college athlete or the communication skills may blossom into a job offer as a business manager.\r\n\r\nThe happiness that promoted the exploration and creation of new skills has long since ended, but the skills themselves live on.\r\n\r\nFredrickson refers to this as the \u201Cbroaden and build\u201D theory because positive emotionsbroaden\u00A0your sense of possibilities and open your mind, which in turn allows you tobuild\u00A0new skills and resources that can provide value in other areas of your life.\r\n\r\nAs we discussed earlier, negative emotions do the opposite. Why? Because building skills for future use is irrelevant when there is immediate threat or danger (like the tiger on the path).\r\n\r\nAll of this research begs the most important question of all: if positive thinking is so useful for developing valuable skills and appreciating the Big Picture of life, how do you actually get yourself to be positive?\r\nHow to increase positive thinking in your life\r\n\r\n\r\nWhat you can do to increase positive emotions and take advantage of the \u201Cbroaden and build\u201D theory in your life?\r\n\r\nWell, anything that sparks feelings of joy, contentment and love will do the trick. You probably know what things work well for you. Maybe it\u2019s playing the guitar. Maybe it\u2019s spending time with a certain person. Maybe it\u2019s carving tiny wooden lawn gnomes.\r\n\r\nThat said, here are three ideas for you to consider\u2026\r\n\r\n1. Meditation\r\n\r\nRecent research\u00A0by Fredrickson and her colleagues has revealed that people who meditate daily display more positive emotions that those who do not. As expected, people who meditated also built valuable long\u2013term skills. For example, three months after the experiment was over, the people who meditated daily continued to display increased mindfulness, purpose in life, social support, and decreased illness symptoms.\r\n\r\nNote: If you\u2019re looking for an easy way to start meditation, here is a\u00A010\u2013minute guided meditation\u00A0that was recently sent to me. Just close your eyes, breathe, and follow along.\r\n\r\n2. Writing\r\n\r\nThis study, published in the\u00A0Journal of Research in Personality, examined a group of 90 undergraduate students who were split into two groups. The first group wrote about an intensely positive experience each day for three consecutive days. The second group wrote about a control topic.\r\n\r\nThree months later, the students who wrote about positive experiences had better mood levels, fewer visits to the health center, and experienced fewer illnesses. (This blew me away. Better health after just three days of writing about positive things!)\r\n\r\nNote: I used to be very erratic with my writing, but now I publish a new article every Monday and Thursday. I\u2019ve written about my writing process and how you can stick to any goal in a more consistent manner in the articles\u00A0here,\u00A0here\u00A0and\u00A0here.\r\n\r\n3. Play\r\n\r\nSchedule time to play into your life. We schedule meetings, conference calls, weekly events, and other responsibilities into our daily calendars \u2026 why not schedule time to play?\r\n\r\nWhen was the last time you blocked out an hour on your calendar just to explore and experiment? When was the last time you intentionally carved out time to have fun? You can\u2019t tell me that being happy is less important than your Wednesday meeting, and yet, we act like it is because we never give it a time and space to live on our calendars.\r\n\r\nGive yourself permission to smile and enjoy the benefits of positive emotion. Schedule time for play and adventure so that you can experience contentment and joy, and explore and build new skills.\r\n\r\nNote: for more ideas on the importance of play,\u00A0read this article\u00A0on how one man cured his anxiety.\r\nHappiness vs. Success (Which comes first?)\r\nThere\u2019s no doubt that happiness is the result of achievement. Winning a championship, landing a better job, finding someone you love \u2014 these things will bring joy and contentment to your life. But so often, we wrongly assume that this means happiness always follows success.\r\n\r\nHow often have you thought,\u00A0\u201CIf I just get ___, then I\u2019ll be set.\u201D\r\n\r\nOr,\u00A0\u201COnce I achieve ___, I\u2019ll be satisfied.\u201D\r\n\r\nI know I\u2019m guilty of putting off happiness until I achieve some arbitrary goal. But as Fredrickson\u2019s \u201Cbroaden and build\u201D theory proves, happiness is essential to building the skills that allow for success.\r\n\r\nIn other words,\u00A0happiness is both the precursor to success and the result of it.\r\n\r\nIn fact, researchers have often noticed a compounding effect or an \u201Cupward spiral\u201D that occurs with happy people. They are happy, so they develop new skills, those skills lead to new success, which results in more happiness, and the process repeats itself.\r\nWhere to go from here\r\n\r\n\r\nPositive thinking isn\u2019t just a soft and fluffy feel\u2013good term. Yes, it\u2019s great to simply \u201Cbe happy,\u201D but those moments of happiness are also critical for opening your mind to explore and build the skills that become so valuable in other areas of your life.\r\n\r\nFinding ways to build happiness and positive emotions into your life \u2014 whether it is through meditation, writing, playing a pickup basketball game, or anything else \u2014 provides more than just a momentary decrease in stress and a few smiles.\r\n\r\nPeriods of positive emotion and unhindered exploration are when you see the possibilities for how your past experiences fit into your future life, when you begin to develop skills that blossom into useful talents later on, and when you spark the urge for further exploration and adventure.\r\n\r\nTo put it simply: seek joy, play often, and pursue adventure. Your brain will do the rest."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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