3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Mood Right Now

3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Mood Right Now

I sometimes write about how a good start to your day often leads to having a good day in general.

A social, an energetic or a productive start sets the context for your day.

But on some days you may not get a good start for some reason.

Maybe you slept badly. Or the maybe grey skies and cold autumn rain is dragging your energy down.

Or you might have lost that positive momentum during a hard first part of the day and after lunch you feel tired, low or lost in a somewhat sad or uninspired funk.

What to do then? Is that day lost and should you just aim for a better day tomorrow?

Well, today isn’t over yet…

Maybe you can still make something good out of it.

Here’s how I do that by breaking the negative mood and getting a new start.

1. Appreciate what you have.

The simplest of my most commonly used pick-me-ups.

I take about 2 minutes and sit in silence.

I tell myself: OK, I might not feel so good right now, but what can I be grateful for and appreciate in my life?

I usually come up with one simple thing like:

  • My tasty food.
  • My health.
  • That I have a roof over my head.

That one thing opens up my mind. It redirects my thoughts from the negativity.

Then I build upon that one thing.

I make mental jumps from the roof, to the warmth in our home, to the clean water in the glass beside my computer, to that I can work from home as the rain pours outside.

I make those small mental leaps by just moving my attention around in the room I am in. Like skipping from stone to stone over a stream.

And I take the time to slowly appreciate all those things.

This changes my mood to a happier, warmer and more open one.

2. Act as you would like to feel.

Emotions work backwards too.

So if I want to become more positive or enthusiastic then I act in the manner of a person who is positive or enthusiastic.

I might not feel like it. But I do it as best as I can anyway. I may for example:

  • Think of the task I have in front of me as something exciting and fun.
  • Answer some emails or talk to someone in a positive and enthusiastic manner.
  • Assume rapport if I feel unmotivated, negative or nervous before some kind of meeting (assuming rapport is to think to myself that I am meeting one of my best friends just before the meeting and that puts me in the right mood and headspace).

3. Think for a minute and give someone a genuine compliment.

Here’s a fun one I use quite often and that will not only lift my own mood.

Spend 1 minute on coming up with something you really and genuinely appreciate about someone in your life that is in the same room as you at some point during the day.

Then tell him or her the genuine compliment you have come up with.

She or he will be happy.

You’ll feel good about yourself and get positive feelings too from the now smiling, happy and complimented person.

And so the mood for the both of you is changed for the better.

 

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About the Author

Henrik Edberg is the creator of the Positivity Blog and has written weekly articles here since 2006. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Gothenburg and has been featured on Lifehacker, HuffPost and Paulo Coelho’s blog. Click here to learn more…

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Edwin

    Sometimes you solve my small problems by your blogs, thanks again

  • Matt

    Always so helpful. Simple, yet helpful.

  • Amazing blog for me, i wish you could advice me in my blog too, electrotza.com. I like blogging but my english language is not soo good.

  • Daisy Hartwell

    With all this “coved-fever” we should keep positive thinking no matter what!

  • Pauline

    Done all that
    And still. ….

  • T

    Great tips, thank you!

  • Cynthia

    I love the easy tips you give to your readers on how to live more abundantly! Thank you for your wisdom.

  • Ronald Benson

    Thank you for the wisdom you share

  • Rob

    I thank you Henrik for your helpful blogs. I wish from my birth, that my parents had bern able in the same way to nurture me, teach me about life & human nature, basic skills to deal with people, life & depression rather than by sadly finding out by my mistakes even now at my 69 years of age – a frustration to my wife, family & friends. Thank you!

  • I think being thankful for what we have is most important. Too often we focus on getting more, but forget to give thanks for what we have.
    Jason Andrew

    • Scott

      Thank you for all your great ways to make life better.

  • Julay

    Things happen in odd ways. My recently deceased friend had signed up for this…I’ve been checking her email to help close out bills/etc. During a very busy & sad time for me, this blog -that was helping her stay positive during cancer – has lifted me as well.

  • Styliani

    I like your motion metaphors, as ..mental jumps from the roof, … like skipping from stone to stone in a stream…!
    Inspiring!

  • Nomusa Ndlovu

    Thank you very much, these lift our mood, especially as I struggke to work up and go to work in the morning

  • Thulisile Mngomezulu

    Your motivation is powerful, thanx. Its one’s spirit up.