The way you think affects the way you feel, and vice versa. This is why it's critical to have a positive inner dialog. That is, the thoughts you're saying to yourself in your own mind, the ones that no one else will hear, need to generally be positive, optimistic, and come from a place of love. If your thoughts are already positive, keep it up! If not, read on... 

The first step towards having a positive inner dialogue is to recognize the negative thoughts as negative. This might sound easy, but some people have had so many negative thoughts for so long that they don't even notice how negative the thoughts are. 

Once you create awareness around the negative thoughts, work on challenging them by being a friend to yourself! I like this particular method of changing negative inner dialogue because it's, quite simply, so obvious. Ask yourself, what would you tell a friend who has the same negative thought you're having? It's obvious...

This might be the most important thing you read all day. I’m not kidding :) Scientific research has found that there is something each person can do in their daily lives that will improve happiness, mental health, relationships, physical health, optimism, and decrease stress/anxiety/depression (R. Emmons, Ph.D., 2007). Sounds like the answer is going to be some complicated, time intensive, and expensive treatment, but it’s not. It can take as little as 5 minutes a day!

The answer is… cultivating gratefulness! Yes, CULTIVATING GRATEFULNESS, by focusing on what you're grateful for a little bit every day, can have all of those benefits and more.

There are several ways to cultivate gratefulness in your life. Here is my favorite:

• Buy a journal that is specifically dedicated to gratefulness. Every night before bed, write down two things you’re grateful for (they could be things that happened that day, or anything else you’re grateful for). Then spend...

Self-acceptance is a true feeling of happiness about who you are.  It doesn't mean you think you’re perfect, it means you accept yourself, knowing you have strengths and weakness, just like everyone else.

Self-acceptance means you can get back up when you fall down; you can laugh at yourself; you can see your uniqueness for both the good and the not so good; you recognize your talents and are proud of what you’re good at; you can make mistakes without feeling worthless, hopeless or deeply sad; you see your mistakes as part of life; you know you’re still a good person even if you’re not perfect; and when you look in the mirror you truly like the person that you see!

Having self-acceptance is an important component of happiness, so if you're not there yet, there are steps you can take to get there!

I believe that every person deserves to look in the mirror and like who they see! There are so many effective ways to boost your self-esteem. Here are some...