Positive attitudes can be manifested in many ways, such as positive thinking, constructive and creating thinking, optimism, motivation, and by choosing happiness. Yes, being happy is a matter of choice.

People who have a positive attitude tend to achieve their goals and attain success, have more happiness and energy, and they often report lower levels of stress.

For some negative Nancys out there, staying positive is hardly an easy task. Their heads are often bombarded with the worst possible outcomes of a situation, or they just simply look towards the darker side of things. But here are five easy steps to make it a little bit easier:

Step 1: Greet every situation with an optimistic response.
Yes, it’s probably a lot easier to see the worst in things, but looking on the bright side just takes a little practice. For instance if you didn’t get the job that you interviewed for, think to yourself, “Hey, well at least I got some valuable interview experience.”

Or if your grades are less than satisfactory, you can always use that as motivation to push yourself to work and strive even harder in the next quarter.

Step 2: Strive to see the good qualities in people.
Like situations, it’s often easier to look at people’s negative traits rather than good ones. Especially in high school, people often write off others based on looks or a plethora of other reasons. Instead, try getting to know them and you’re more likely to see what it is that makes them cool and unique. It’s often hard to dislike someone once you know and understand them.

Step 3:  Act Happy.
Even if you aren’t feeling your best, try your hardest to put on a smile each day. Even if you have a million and one reasons to be upset, the more you act happy the more natural it becomes. Also, you never know whose day you can make just by going the extra mile and being friendly.

Step 4: Hold off on sarcasm.
Even though it’s meant jokingly, sarcasm is really just disguised negative thoughts. It also can come out as very patronizing and condescending for some. It’s easier just to ignore whatever is bothering you and invest your time in something more productive.

Step 5: Get plenty of sleep and eat a healthy diet.
These two simple things as well as exercise, will have you feeling better overall. Your health will improve and when your health improves, you just generally feel better about yourself.