The power of positive thinking goes a long way. Have you ever noticed when you are the most positive, the hard times seem easier, and the great times seem even better? You usually get back the energy you put out into the universe. That’s why a positive mental attitude is pivotal for the digital nomad as they learn to transition into unchartered personal and professional territory.
How does a positive mental attitude help a digital nomad? Here are a few ways:
• You’ll learn to treat every day as an adventure
• You’ll cultivate optimism by looking at the glass half full
• You’ll learn to use every new situation- good or bad- as a lesson to grow your career
• You’ll strengthen your emotional intelligence and attract others towards you
• You’ll visualize success and then make it happen
• You’ll pinpoint what is missing in your business and seek out solutions
Positivity and Preparedness
The bottom line is, the more positive you are about your digital nomad lifestyle, the more prepared you will be. You can handle challenges as they come and tackle them head-on. As a digital nomad transitioning from a 9-5 lifestyle to a more fluid one, you are bound to face some challenges mentally, emotionally, and perhaps even spiritually. Having trouble in one or all of these areas can take a hit on your productivity levels. It will make you question your decisions, create doubt in your abilities and the passions you desire.
Treating Every Day as an Adventure
Having a positive mindset allows you to be more open-minded to new, even challenging opportunities. But this encourages you to network with new people or learn a new skill that will eventually help your business down the line. If you are open to learning new things, you will do just that. You will view every day like an adventure, and every person as a stepping stone along the way.
Cultivating Optimism
Even when you feel like throwing in the towel, it is essential to try to stop negative thinking. Actively choose to look at the glass half full, no matter what the situation is. Choosing to find the good is often harder than immediately resorting to the bad, but it is an excellent habit to develop. It is like the saying, “fake it until you make it.” Even when you don’t feel like being positive, if you practice the habit enough times, it will become second nature. Having this mindset will also help you optimize the most out of your time as a nomad and experience the freeing lifestyle for which you initially quit your 9-5 job.
Treating Everything as a Lesson
Try to look at every new situation, especially the bad ones, as an opportunity to learn and not a setback. In this way, you’ll then you’ll be able to put yourself in an advantageous position. Bad situations will happen during a time of transition with a new, unknown, and unfamiliar lifestyle. If you let the small things get to you, it will only discourage you and continue to beat you down. These little failures, if you let them affect your productivity and self-worth, will wear you down to the point that you choose to throw in the towel. Think positively when frustrating things happen and realize that you are not the only one who has experienced the difficulties of the digital nomad lifestyle. As we’ve said many times before if it were as easy as it seems then more people would do it. Have some grace with yourself!
Attracting Others
Developing a positive mindset is not only great for personal well-being and helps you learn to enjoy life to the fullest, but it’s also attractive to others. People are attracted to other people who lift their spirits. Positive people inspire! The more you display this mindset, the better you get at the practice of positivity. Even better, you will attract potential business partners who are looking to work with someone with infectious energy who they will trust can bring enthusiasm to their work.
Visualization
Positive mindsets help people visualize success. You would be surprised by how positive thoughts can seem to manifest in real life. If you practice visualizing great things happening to you personally and professionally, you will eventually convince yourself you are on the path to achieving those things. You, of course, have to put in the work too. However, with this attitude, nothing will feel like it can stand in your way as you work to make it your reality.
Pinpointing Growth Areas
When you have a positive mindset, you are less likely to sweat the small stuff. It is essential when getting the business off the ground because it ultimately affects your decision-making skills. Positive people can take a step back and look at the mistakes they’ve made objectively. Negative people will tend to let small setbacks spiral and cause them to practice negative self-talk as if a mistake they made measures their self-worth. Positive people know how to compartmentalize the difference between a character flaw and a simple slip-up. They can then pinpoint exactly what went wrong and take steps to ensure it does not happen again without beating themselves down in the process.
How to Be More Positive
Now that you can see why a positive mindset is so important, it’s time to implement the practice of positivity to make it a daily habit. There are a few ways you can practice growing this mindset- and practice makes perfect! Remember to have patience with yourself in the implementation process because ultimately, it is a lifestyle shift, so the growth might not be linear.
#1 Practice Gratitude Journaling
Our mind has a bad habit of resorting to the negative over the positive. Have you ever had one of those days where everything is going well, but one small incident throws everything off? That’s normal, but it’s a dangerous cycle. Try journaling or listing the things for which you are thankful. It can be friends and family back home, your health, or a small win in your professional life that day- anything under the sun. Looking back and realizing al the beautiful parts of your life will help you learn to outweigh the bad with the good and bounce back quickly.
#2 Reframe Situations with Different Language
Instead of looking at a mundane work task as a burden, try to reframe the language you use to describe it! Instead of saying, “ugh, I have to edit this video today,” try saying, “I get to edit this video today. Even though I’m feeling lazy, I will still push myself to edit it, be productive, and craft my skill in the process.” It seems a little contrived at first, but put a positive mindset on and own where you are and where you want to be. Work for it, and you will see yourself achieving what you plan a little more each day.
#3 Embrace Rejection
Rejection is one of the hardest things for anyone to face. It hurts and makes us feel very small at times. However, remind yourself that rejection is a part of the human experience and that every successful person experiences rejection, it makes the pain a little more bearable. Learn how to take rejection with a grain of salt- sometimes it’s just because a person is rude or uninterested in your well-being at all. Other times, it’s very beneficial and comes with some constructive criticism. Learn when to take things personally depending upon who the advice is coming from, and it becomes easy to filter out the unnecessary negativity and accept and implement the useful feedback.
#4 Pay it Forward
Sometimes, when you are feeling stuck and don’t know how to escape negative thinking, it helps to take a step back and focus on something or someone else. Always remember that there is someone else out there who is struggling more than you, and lend a hand to those that need assistance. Paying it forward and helping others, whether that’s through volunteering or a random act of kindness can lift your spirits. Knowing you’ve helped someone else also shifts perspective to eliminate negative energy and stop focusing on what is sucking the life out of you.
Final Thoughts
A positive attitude is the one component that can break or break your success as a digital nomad. Your attitude shapes the way you view situations and see the world, which in turn affects your productivity and the quality of work you put out. Try to shift your focus on serving others, as ultimately, that is what you hope to do as a digital nomad. Your mindset affects the work you contribute to the world. It can positively affect someone else’s life and make a lasting impact may be one of the reasons you chose this life in the first place. That’s a positive realization! Soon, the wonderful opportunities that come with the digital nomad lifestyle will seem to make themselves more apparent.
