Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Henri Junttila of Wake Up Cloud.

“A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Have you ever wanted to be more positive? Have you ever been frustrated with the negativity that your thoughts seemingly force upon you?

I think we’ve all been there, but the good news is that you can do something about how you feel. You see, the emotions you have are there because of the thoughts that precede them. Changing your thoughts is very similar to changing your habits, any habit. If you want to start eating healthier or become a minimalist, it all starts with the first step.

And it’s probably going to be hard in the beginning, because you’re trying to change something that you’re used to, and that your body is used to. However, after 3 to 4 weeks, you can start to feel comfortable in the new you.

This is exactly the process you can follow to change your thoughts and supercharge your life with positivity:

1. Read

Read books that inspire, encourage, and motivate you. It doesn’t really matter if you already know what the book is all about. What matters is that you continually feed your mind with positive and inspirational material. The more time you can spend in the land of the positive, the better. You gradually increase the amount of time that you are positive. And if you keep doing this, you will eventually become one of those happy, positive people that can handle any adversity.

2. Listen

The second thing I personally really like to do when I’m taking a walk, washing the dishes, or cleaning the house is to listen to audio programs. Some great authors that I personally enjoy are Brian Tracy, Earl Nightingale, and Jim Rohn. They’re all old timers when it comes to self-help, and they know what they’re talking about. Even listening for 30 to 60 minutes a day will make a big difference in your life within a year.

3. Focus

While this might sound overly simplistic, most people don’t do it, which is to focus on the positive instead of dwelling upon the negative. Most people concentrate on the problems at hand instead of the solutions. It has been shown that most of our worries never even happen. That means that you are worrying and making yourself feel stressed out for no reason at all.

Next time you feel the negativity come on, flip it over and think about the positive aspect of it and what you can do about it. For example, instead of asking “Why me?” or “Why am I so unlucky?” ask yourself “What can I learn from this?” and “How can I turn this around?”

4. Release

There are some great ways to release negative thought patterns and negative beliefs. Some of my favorites are EFT, The Work, and Sedona Method. I recommend you try one of the methods above. I personally really enjoy working with EFT right now, which is short for Emotional Freedom Techniques. The more negativity you can release from your life the more peace you will feel inside and the more positive you will be.

5. Habits

What kind of habits do you have right now that cause negativity in your life? What would your life look like if you started to change them? When we make the decision to change a habit, it almost happens by itself, but you have to be determined to make it happen.

As I said above, changing your thoughts is like changing any habit in your life. It’s not going to be easy, but then again, feeling bad all the time isn’t exactly a walk in the park.

6. Goals

The majority of people never set any goals. I know that it can be scary to decide on where you want to go, and you want to leave your options open, but nothing happens until you get clear about where you want to go and what you want to do. It doesn’t matter if your goals change. In fact, that’s normal, and one of the reasons why you should keep tweaking your goals as the seasons change.

One of the best ways to set goals is to use the S.M.A.R.T criteria, which stands for:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

Your goals will give you focus and purpose, so make sure you set goals in each area of your life. The most common areas are health, relationships, career, and personal development.

7. Passion

I’ve noticed that since I started following my passion and moving towards the life of my dreams, the positivity in my life has magically increased. Most people are doing things they don’t want to do, and they never even take a step towards finding and going after their passion.

Don’t let this be you. Go after your dreams, even if it means only being able to put aside 10 minutes a day. If you start today, you can build upon what you have, but if you keep putting it off, it will never happen.

Increasing the positivity in your life is simple, but not easy. You have to take responsibility and make it happen, because no one will do it for you.

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Henri writes at Wake Up Cloud. If you liked this article, you may also enjoy one of his top articles: 77 Great Quotes That Will Change Your Life.