How to think positive when everything is going wrong? As you outline your goals for 2017, think of them optimistically. It will help you achieve them and be more creative.

With the new year just around the corner, you may be thinking about what your purposes will be. But while some entrepreneurs believe that success will bring happiness, happiness expert Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage, says that it is actually the other way around.
4 Ways Of Creating Positive Thoughts In 2017

Having a positive perception can help you make better intentions and make them more likely to be fulfilled. "When the brain is positive, releases neurochemicals called accelerators success as dopamine and light a part of the brain that allows you to perceive more possibilities and process more information," says Achor. In contrast, a negative mentality causes the brain to feel threatened, closing itself off to new opportunities.

"Your brain is three times more creative when you are in a positive state," says Achor. And while it is crucial to have a positive mentality throughout the year, it is especially critical at the end, when we begin to reflect on the past and set our goals.

So before setting your goals, follow these four tips to have a positive mental state:

1. Do not start from scratch

when you make your plans, start by listing the achievements of the previous year. "The brain speeds up towards the goals it perceives is closer to completing," says Achor. For the same reason marathoners increase the rate at kilometer 40, our brains release chemicals that give us more energy as we perceive getting closer to the end line. Starting your list of purposes with a blank sheet means you will lose the advantage of those accelerators.

This strategy can be used daily throughout the year. Instead of making a list of all the things you have to accomplish in a day, start with the things you've already achieved and set aside a popcorn. When your brain sees these marks, it releases the accelerators of success, putting you in a positive mentality and allowing you to increase the speed for the rest of the goals.

2. Start your day with an active email

Do you start your day by scanning your inbox to find urgent emails? How often are these messages positive? To start your day with a positive mindset, Achor suggests writing an email positive to a friend, colleague, client or even a stranger. Once, Achor wrote an email to a high school teacher telling him how his class changed his life. By sending these positive messages, your brain starts the day not with a threat, but with a social connection that, according to Achor, is the greatest prediction of happiness.

3. Use positive language to set goals

While most people make resolutions to quit harmful habits like smoking or eating junk food, Achor says we should focus on the positive habits that replace the negative we want to eliminate. Instead of making a resolution to avoid the vending machine of the office, propose to bring healthy snacks to work. By changing the language of purpose from negative to positive, your brain does not waste resources dealing with the harmful habit but uses its energy to achieve the positive.

4. Focus on the positive habits

Incorporates positive habits into your daily routine and experience the benefits of having an optimistic mindset. Some positive habits that Achor says that have proven useful include: write three things to be thankful every day, meditate and pay attention to the movement of your breath and write in your diary a positive experience. Achor says that when he applied this exercise to a group of employees of KPMG, at 21 days had higher levels of job satisfaction, effectiveness and decrease stress .