Written by: Hallie Klecker
10 Ways to Stay Positive When You Feel Like Giving Up
Do you ever find it difficult to keep a positive attitude when things aren’t going the way you hoped? Do you struggle to keep your spirits up when setbacks happen? Do you feel overwhelmed by obstacles, so much so that it threatens your joy and you consider giving up?
For me, it’s a resounding YES to all of the above. Some people call me a glass half empty. I prefer the term realist. Truth be known, I’ve struggled all my life with staying positive in the midst of challenges.
Regardless of our personalities, even the most positive among us can struggle with persistence and perseverance when the going gets tough.
Maybe you’ve been putting diligent time in the gym and in the kitchen—but the scale still won’t budge. Maybe the looming stress of the holidays has you tempted to ditch your healthy habits, enjoy yourself, and wait until January to clean things up again. Maybe you’ve had a bad week and a Netflix marathon on the couch with a pizza sounds lightyears better than a walk and a homemade meal.
We’ve all been there. It’s normal and natural, even though it’s no fun.
When I’m in the trenches of a challenge with negativity threatening to press in on every side, I frequently employ these 10 positivity kick-starters to turn my mood around, boost my confidence, and tackle negative thoughts before they can take root.
I hope they can help you, too!
1. Immerse yourself in something that brings you joy.
One of my favorite ways to counteract a bad mood is to get myself immersed in doing something good. After cooking or working on some craft projects for a few hours, I find that I’m almost always happier and in a better mental place than when I started. Stomp out negativity by doing something you love!
2. Get out in nature.
Fresh air is healing medicine. When I hit roadblocks with work or relationships, nothing clears my head and boosts my mood like spending a little time in the great outdoors. Take a walk, eat lunch outside, spend an hour at a park—anything to get you out.
3. Call a friend.
When I’m on the brink of giving up, I reach for the phone and call one of two people: my sister or my mom. I can count on them to lend a listening ear, offer kind but truthful advice, and welcome my problems into their lives. Talking it out works wonders for untangling our messes and putting them in perspective.
4. Crank up some tunes.
There’s noting quite like upbeat music to send negativity packing. When I have to power through cleaning, working out, a work project, or something else I don’t feel like doing, I reach for my headphones and find myself in a better mood with the push of a button. In the words of Taylor Swift, crank that music and shake off that can’t-do attitude!
5. Reflect on your progress.
Looking back on how far we’ve come and what we’ve endured to reach our current state is often the best form of motivation. I find that reflection gives me the opportunity to recharge and go forward with love and courage. Brené Brown, author of The Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly, said this: “Loving ourselves through the process of owning our story is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.” I couldn’t agree more.
6. Get your head in a book.
When my problems feel overwhelming and my world seems chaotic, reading calms me down and centers me every time. I often gain a shift in perspective that helps me see myself and my circumstances more clearly and with less negativity.
7. Keep a gratitude journal.
This is one of the single most beneficial practices for keeping my motivation high and my problems in perspective. Counting the blessings—the many hundreds of blessings—in my life challenges me to embrace gratitude fully, every day, in both big and small ways. When I embrace gratitude, my view of the world shifts from glass half empty to cup overflowing.
8. Break down big challenges into smaller ones.
Tackling big challenges often means enduring long journeys, and long journeys can be positivity crushers when we don’t progress as quickly as we’d like. By breaking down big challenges into smaller ones, we’re setting ourselves up for faster progress in bite-sized chunks. This is especially helpful with weight loss. Take a goal of losing 50 pounds, for example, and break it down into 5 pound increments. Do it 10 times and you’re there.
9. Remember why you started.
Whether you’re working on losing weight, launching a business, raising a family, learning a skill, or something else, revisit why you started this whole thing in the first place. Why does it hold value to you? What was your original motivation for beginning this journey? Remembering the why often helps us carry out the how.
10. Give yourself a break.
We women can sure wage war against ourselves, can’t we? We keep a perfect record of every pound we gain, cookie we eat, or workout we skip, and we waste no time in berating ourselves for our actions. I’ve found that when I feel like giving up most, it’s often because I’ve created a toxic mental environment for myself that leaves no room for error. Choosing progress over perfection can absolutely change our lives. When we realize that no amount of guilt can fix the past and no amount of anxiety can solve the future, we make space for self-acceptance to bloom in the present.
Hallie Klecker is an author, recipe developer, and Certified Nutrition Educator. She is the founder of Daily Bites, a food and wellness website where she shares her passion for living a well-nourished life. She has been a guest on NBC-15 News and The Morning Blend and her work has been featured in Living Without, BRAVA Magazine, Paleo Magazine, Go Gluten Free, and Simply Gluten Free Magazine, for which she is on the editorial team. When she’s not writing or cooking, Hallie enjoys reading, walking, yoga, Bible study, and taking pictures of pretty things.
I hope you find her tips as helpful as I did.
