Tips for Improving a Student’s Positive Attitude

It’s true that there is a lot of negativity around us which can stimulate negative thinking in individuals. Negative thinking is like being trapped in a box; isolated with your exhausting thoughts and shut off from any happiness, success, or growth. It can be extremely detrimental to students and prevent them from reaching their true potential. 

From assignments to extracurriculars and part-time jobs, students have to juggle many things simultaneously. Hence, they are easily susceptible to being burnt out, overwhelmed, and feeling dejected when things get tough.  How can students keep pace with everything while not losing their sanity? By keeping a positive attitude!

The advantages of a positive attitude are that it freshens you from the inside out and keeps you going in the face of adversity. The positive attitude of a student can be a major factor in boosting their motivation even when faced with challenges.

How can you instill a positive attitude in students? The following tips can get you started on flourishing a positive attitude in students.

Be Their Role Models

Students are constantly in search of a role model they can follow to become the best student who does all and achieves all. Be the person they look up to for always having a positive attitude!

Positivity can be contagious. If you set an example of having a positive attitude towards all aspects of your life, they are bound to follow. Especially when they see you reap the benefits of your positivity. 

Call it an evidence-based approach. For instance, a positive person is better able to stay calm in difficult situations. This keeps their mind active to come up with necessary solutions and allows them to lift others up and gather the will to get up and start over even in the most challenging circumstances. 

Students, with their countless academic and life challenges, are bound to follow your example of positivity when they see the problem-solving advantages of having a positive attitude. 

Foster a Positive Learning Environment

Tips for Improving a Student’s Positive Attitude

Surrounding students with positive vibes will inspire them to develop a positive attitude.

A positive environment can help break through the wall of negativity to encourage a positive mindset and healthy thoughts. Seeing positive around them is bound to seep positivity into them. 

Share stories that highlight the importance and advantages of a positive attitude. Educate them about the many people who started at the bottom. Who also had to struggle and face hardships and how their positive attitude helped them get to the top. Such motivational stories can inspire a positive attitude in students. 

Constant uplifting messages are a creative way to pull students towards positivity. Leave positive messages on post-it notes and put up encouraging and positive quotes like “The best Student is A Positive Student” in their rooms and classrooms.  Surround them with optimistic messages that drive them to be their best and do their best.

Visualize Positive Outcomes

Hold conversations with students about their goals and dreams and help them set some small goals for themselves. Discuss how wonderful it will feel to work for those goals and finally achieve them. Make them see their potential and focus on the positive outcomes that await them. 

Use their goals to help them envision success. This will not only wash their minds with positivity but also help them understand the importance of keeping a positive attitude.

Positive Reinforcement

Reward can be a huge motivating factor! Acknowledge, appreciate, and reward their positive thinking and any positive act, be it staying calm under academic pressure, or managing anxiety to find solutions to problems. This will encourage them to cultivate a more positive attitude.

Another way of cementing the positive attitude of a student is indirect rewards. Show them the natural rewards or outcomes of their positive thinking. Make them see their big and small achievements as a result of staying positive through challenges, that they would otherwise miss. Help them witness for themselves the benefits of a positive attitude. 

Identify and Change the Negative Thinking Pattern

Help students identify their negative thinking patterns. Phrases like ‘I can’t do it’  and ‘I am incapable of..,’ etc. 

Make them realize how negative thoughts result in negative outcomes. Help them catch their negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Turn that “I can’t” into “I can.” Practice conversing and thinking positive thoughts. 

Break down their problems with them, identify the issue, and find solutions together. Demonstrate how not letting negative thoughts defeat you can help fix things. Show them the positive outlook of their positive attitude. 

Cultivate a “Mistakes are OKAY” Mindset

Tips for Improving a Student’s Positive Attitude

The fear of making mistakes is one of the biggest stress factors for students. Hence, any minor or major mistake results in a downward spiral into negative thoughts. 

Encourage students to learn from their mistakes instead of fearing them. Tell them mistakes can be stepping stones in their journey towards success. Make them okay with falling down and failing and urge them to get back up. 

Once students are comfortable with mistakes and see them as a learning experience, it will help them maintain a positive attitude even when things get very tough. 

Emphasize that Positivity is a Choice

Finally, let students know that a positive or a negative mindset is a choice. Just like opting to go into a self-depreciation zone of misery is a choice, similarly, deciding to take a deep breath, dusting yourself off, and working through your challenges is a choice. 

Show them how choosing a positive attitude is infinitely more beneficial them opting for negative thoughts. While the latter is guaranteed to drown them in stress, the former will help them tap into their potential and have the courage to keep moving forward.

Lastly, teach them that their problems have a solution.  And a positive attitude helps find those solutions faster! 

Final Word

Developing a positive mindset doesn’t mean staying positive every minute of every hour of every day. It means being capable of having a positive outlook when even when things get difficult.