Living Better Part 2: From the Outside In

I've realized that building a positive mentality is not easy or natural for me. For some of us, it takes work. I'm not a person who wakes up with perfect hair and gets dressed by little birds in the morning. I know that happiness and positivity need to take place "on the inside" before you feel good on the outside, but I think there's nothing wrong with starting on the outside and working your way in. Specifically, I think going through the motions of good habits will change one's mentality.

Through a friend of mine, Ginger Kern, I discovered a guy named Phil and "The Feel Good Lifestyle." Phil is someone who decided he wanted to feel good in life. He spent a lot of time researching successful people and "feel good" tactics and now has a career helping other people create positive lives. Lately, I've been reading his blog entries and listening to his podcast discussions with other writers/entrepreneurs. I've decided to take some of their suggestions and a couple of these include:

1) Meditation
2) Excercise (including yoga)
3) Having a mantra
4) Taking cold showers

There are more, but these are the ones I'm doing. I have signs/reminders of self-esteem-building thoughts posted in my room and I've begun a routine of meditation + yoga every morning. I've also started a cold shower challenge, where I take only cold showers every day for 30 days. Honestly, this isn't too difficult to do in Arizona because
A) cold showers feel refreshing here (though they still shock you first thing in the morning)
B) the coldest temperature on my shower lever doesn't get very cold.
Nonetheless, it's still worth it in my opinion.

I've been doing these things for about a week now and little by little I've noticed changes. My outlook on life is much better, even when things are seemingly bad or inconvenient. By putting myself in situations that are physically uncomfortable (and learning to deal with them) and having visual, happy reminders as well, I find it easier to deal with everyday inconveniences and frustrations. For instance, a friend drove me to a store and when we arrived, they wouldn't accept the only form of payment I had. I could have gotten angry or felt dumb for not carrying another card or cash with me, but I let it go instead. It wouldn't have made anything better.

Changing from the "inside out" is effective, but I can't discredit changing from the outside in. Sometimes we need help, and altering habits has been working pretty well for me. I can definitely say that I laugh a lot more, which is worth a cold shower every day.