For most of us, positivity does not come naturally, and even if it does, it takes hard work to hold on to it.
Why? Because for most of us, creating and maintaining positive thoughts and emotions requires thinking. 
And when our brains are cluttered with worries, self-doubt, internal and external expectations, and more, it’s hard to think clearly. Challenging negative thinking may take too much time or energy. But then you feel stuck in negativity.
What to do? Here’s one option…
In POSITIVITY, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson writes about National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones’ video that explores the impact of asking certain questions to create positive emotions. You don’t have to feel like asking yourself the questions in order to benefit. Persist in asking them in spite of how you feel: What’s going right for me right now? What’s working for me right now?
Say it out loud.
Write it on a post-it and put it where you’ll notice.
Ask yourself repeatedly until you get an answer.
And yes, anything that’s going right is fine, even the tiniest thing. See if the persistent question nudges you into even a bit of positive emotion.
There may be times when even asking yourself these questions feels too hard…but sometimes having one single tool can help you move even a tiny bit forward.
