The people closest to you will affect your mind and your mental health. If they’re negative in their views, your life will end up negative.

Negativity can be words that are spoken, the way we view people and situations or how we respond to challenges and differences. If people around you are constantly complaining and criticizing, it’s just a matter of time when that becomes part of you and you’ll end up doing the same thing.

The more negativity you allow into your mind, the more you will struggle with anxiety.

Who do you hang around with? How do replace people who are negative with those who are positive?

There will be seasons in your life when you have to travel alone until you find those who can journey with you. This is an area many struggle with. So the best advice I can give is – instead of looking for people who can pour into your life, start by pouring your life into others.

That’s because there are way more people who need encouragement that those who are able to give encouragement. When you decide to be a giver instead of a taker, you will start to reap what you sow. The more you give away, the more you will receive into your life.

Start by becoming a positive person:

• Watch what you’re saying. We’re not always aware of the words that we use. So learn to reflect on what you’ve said throughout day; if your words are positive or negative. Are you constantly complaining or criticizing? Or do you freely offer compliments and thankfulness?
• How you respond to challenges. Life is filled with challenges no matter which way you go. You can run away but challenges will follow you. What matters more is how you respond. You can respond negatively – by complaining, grumbling, stressing out, being angry or you can respond positively – by finding solutions and by being patient.
• How you handle stress. The more we move into the modern urban lifestyle, the more stressed out our lives will become. The fast paced and constantly on the run life we live will eventually leave up empty and with nothing left to handle stress.

Stop expecting someone to walk into your life and journey with you. Instead, be the person that wants to journey with others and help them get to their destination.

Stop wishing that you have a community of like minded warriors who can journey and fight the battle with you. Instead, be the one who provides community to others so that they can fight their battles together.

As for having a mentor, you don’t have to find people who are way ahead of you. Just someone who is one step ahead.

I used to think that the only person who can be a mentor is someone who is successful and respected by many. As a result, I could not find anyone that I’d consider a mentor for many years. It was only when I realize that all I need is someone who is one step ahead of me that I realize that I do have many around me who can be my mentor.

Social media can have a more powerful effect than the people you’re spending time with. Consuming negative news and posts constantly will affect your mind and soul. The more negativity you feed into your life, the more negative your life will become.

We need to feed our lives with more news from heaven and less news from earth. What does that mean and how do you practice it?

• Learn to listen to God’s voice. He has good news he wants to pour into your heart each day.
• Understand that bad news sell and good news don’t sell as well.
• Filter out the noise of bad news and learn to consume only what’s necessary.

What I’ve done is to put away my phone first thing in the morning and turn that into a habit. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve done because it frees up my mental space for the day. We only have that much space and energy in our lives and if it’s taken up by hours of phone use, we’ll have little left for the things that matter. Do this first thing in the morning and let it become a habit.

• Start very small so that you can achieve your goals each day
• Be consistent – do it daily for 90 days.

It’s more important to build that consistent habit over a period of three months than to do something too ambitious in the beginning just to quit a day later.

Oftentimes, news cater to our fears and worries. That’s why people consume ‘junk news’ that are useless but only fill up our lives with more anxiety. Stop following news all the time. If there’s something really important you need to know, you’ll hear it somehow with so much information coming at us.

^” Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8

Instead, feed your mind with positive people, habits and news. Your life will see transformation as you do that.