If you are experiencing low energy, or are not in good spirits, you may want to consider altering your mindset. When you are down, it can be due to negative thoughts. You start to dwell on everything that is going wrong. You reflect that you aren’t where you thought you would be and it gives you a sinking feeling.

When you start to have negative thoughts, you are setting the stage to beat yourself down. What’s worse is that this situation continues to grow. Negativity feeds on itself. When you put yourself down, you will eventually put others down. You will look for others who share your negativity because misery loves company. As the negative energy thrives, you fall deeper into the mental abyss.

To turn this around, you first have to realize that it’s happening. No one likes to admit to doing something wrong, but negative thinking is wrong if you are engaging in it. You have to try and reflect on your life. Think back to when you were happy. Was it a couple of months ago or a couple of years? That will give you a good indication of when you started with the negative thinking. When you were happy, it’s unlikely you were thinking negatively.

If you don’t believe you are negative but you feel down about your current situation, consider asking friends and family how you have been behaving recently. Tell them you want an honest assessment. Unfortunately, because you are in a negative mindset, you may lash out at their answers. That will make them upset with you since you told them you want an honest assessment. However, if it helps you to see what you are doing, eventually they will forgive you when you turn the situation around.

Once you have identified that you have a negative mindset, work hard to introduce positivity into your life. Set up a bad thoughts money jar and whenever you say something negative, put money into the jar. You can do this at work, at home, or both. When you see the jar filling up, you know you have more work to do.

Avoid other negative people as much as possible. They will try to bring you back down, and you may even let them do it. Limiting your exposure to these people is a great step to take on your journey towards positivity.