Tracking my progress on positive thinking and maintaining this health blog has been a challenging experience, but overall an educational one. I struggled with the morning compliments the most, but that just means I need to work on my self confidence. The nightly reflections were my favorite part. I think it’s one step in the right direction of training my mind to focus on the positives, rather than the negatives, of each passing day. It also helped me go to bed with a lot less stress. The stress tends to come back in the morning, so I still need to find ways on how to control that.

I don’t think I’ll continue my health blog after this competency is over, but I do think I’ll stick my nose into that mindfulness course I talked about in my last post. Maybe I’ll revisit this blog and start tracking my progress again when I find a different mental strategy to try, since my morning routine wasn’t working, and my nightly routine only temporarily reduced my stress.

I believe that positive thinking is a vital part of being a successful health care professional. This is because patients are constantly coming to us with health problems. We need to keep up a positive demeanor, so that patients can be more positive about their care.

My favorite kind of reading material are ones with visuals, as well as questions at the end to make sure I was paying attention. Groupon has made it convenient for me to find these kinds of reading material for only a few bucks. It’s my favorite site for great deals, next to Amazon. There are two courses I’m currently looking at, one on positive psychology and one on mindfulness.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/n-skill-success-happy-positive-psychology-elearning-course

https://www.groupon.com/deals/n-centre-of-excellence-online-mindfulness-course

The course on positive psychology helps the reader understand happiness, strengthen relationships, show gratitude, focus on the good things in life, be kind and humble, and stay true to oneself. The course on mindfulness focuses on using mental strategies from Buddhism to help the reader self-manage anxiety and stress. Both of these courses are great resources for someone struggling to think more positively.

One challenge I have, pertaining to my health goal, is coming up with three new compliments to give myself each morning, that are different than the previous morning. Maybe three was too big of a number, or I lack self confidence. I’m not really sure. After about mid-week, I found myself just making up compliments to meet the three I need for each morning.

On the other hand, my nightly routine has been going really good. It’s been easy for me to find three things that went well each day. Naming the good things has made me feel more content about each day, even if they’re average, and has helped me stray away from negative thoughts when negative things do happen.

Positive thinking can have both short term and long term benefits, as well as influence multiple body systems. According to Anita Saleem, author of “Positive thinking and positive words: Why it’s so important,” positive thinking can have a short term benefit by reducing daily stress, as well as increase success rates in sports. It can have a long term benefit by strengthening the positive thinker’s immune system (Saleem, 2014). Having a positive attitude towards aging has also been shown to ward off dementia (Yager, 2018).

I am the kind of person that stresses out easily, no matter how big or small the issue is. I am also an athlete, a figure skater specifically, and have trouble landing my jumps and controlling my spins. I tend to get sick easily, even though I eat healthy, so it’s probably my immune system being impacted by my negative thinking. I am currently caring for my grandmother, while we wait on her approval into assisted living. She has terrible memory loss, which makes daily activities very difficult. Seeing her struggles really motivate me to ward off dementia.

I don’t expect my stress to go away over night. However, I do hope that my stress levels will go down gradually throughout the week, maybe even be eliminated by the end of the week. Fingers crossed.

Saleem, A. (2014). Positive thinking and positive words: Why it’s so important. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(1), 86-89.

Yager, J. (2018). Can positive thinking ward off dementia? NEJM Journal Watch. Psychiatry.

P.S. Indentation of citations is not supported on WordPress.

After learning about the different dimensions of wellness, I feel that my emotional health is the most out of balance. In order to improve this, I need to practice positive thinking.

For one whole week, starting December 8th, I will incorporate positive thinking into my morning and night routines. While I’m waiting for coffee to brew each morning, I will give myself three compliments (that are different from the previous morning). Then when I lay myself down each night, I will tell myself three things that went well that day.

My goal is to distract my habit of negative thinking with positive thoughts. I believe that improving my emotional health will also improve my social, physical, and intellectual health, because I’ll be in a better state of mind.

P.S. This post was written offline before copying to the blog, so the date is incorrect. You can see that my first post was made on December 7th. I started my health goal on December 8th.

The purpose of this blog is to use the information I learn in Walden University’s “CH1002: Dimensions of Wellness” competency to reach my health goal of thinking positively every day. I believe that getting into the habit of positive thinking will have a healthy influence on each of the dimensions of wellness listed below:

Social health refers to one’s satisfaction in their social life. It has to do with their ability to act appropriately in social situations, and know how to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships. Social health is important to me because a lonely life is an unhappy life. Therefore, it is important to improve and maintain empowering relationships, as well as surround yourself with positive people.

Physical health refers to all the physical components of health. This includes the absence of injury, the absence of illness, the ability to bounce back from disease, immunity, a healthy BMI, good body functioning, and good fitness levels. Physical health is important to me because the greater your physical health, the easier it is for you to perform your daily activities.

Spiritual health can be religious or nonreligious. It involves a way of life, or a way of guiding one’s life, with the help of certain beliefs and values. Spiritual health is the least important dimension of wellness to me, due to unfulfilling experiences I’ve had in the past. However, I understand that spirituality can be rewarding to others, and sometimes give them hope in times of uncertainty.

Emotional health refers to the ability to express and control emotions, as they change with different life situations. Emotional health is the most important dimension of wellness to me, because it influences our whole outlook on life, and determines whether or not our goals are obtainable. Learning to understand and control my negative feelings, and making way for positive thinking, is something I am constantly working on.

Environmental health has to do with the external environment you live in. It involves your living condition, and what you do to conserve and improve your environment. This dimension of wellness is important to me because where we live and spend our time has a significant influence on our emotional and physical health, the other dimensions of wellness, and our general well-being.

Intellectual health refers to cognitive ability and brain power. A person that is intellectually healthy would be able to think clearly, learn, make decisions, reason, and analyze life challenges. Intellectual health is important to me because we need it to function every day and take control of our lives.