Include a daily dose of gratitude for a strong feeling of positivity.

A daily dose of gratitude can help put you in a much stronger frame of mind. It really can be a great enabler for your future; through a recognition of who already you are, who or what you already have in your life to be grateful for. So don't bemoan what you don't have, be grateful for what you do have.

One of things I am focused on, that has helped me reframe my thoughts during difficult times, is gratitude. I.e. the simple idea of being grateful. Sounds a bit simple? Well, it is. Try it if you’re feeling low, under pressure, stressed or have a tendency to over index on seeing the world more negatively.

I have found that it can be very easy to look at things through a negative lens, because these emotions are generally pretty powerful. Then, before I know it, everything can feel pretty rubbish. However, when I’ve then taken a step back and thought about it, there are lots of things in my life to be very grateful for.

These can be, but don’t always have to be, material things that I own. If it is possessions that I am grateful for then I am more thankful for having the means with which to buy and enjoy it, and for having a life that enables it.

On some days they can be universal things like having the sun on my face. Or they can be smaller momentary things like the fresh coffee in my hand or the meal in front of me. Or they can be more significant things like my health, my children / family / friends, my resolve, my safety, or for having the ability to choose how I live my life. Last but not least, gratitude towards others who do things for me, the people who help me, people who help me be better.

It doesn’t really matter what you’re grateful for, that part is personal to you, and there are no rules. The main objective being to reframe your thinking by remembering, a few times a day, that there are lots of things to be grateful for; even in times of stress or discomfort.

I can only speak personally, but this simple act of reframing and being grateful (even for the simple things) has really helped me put things into perspective, and see things a lot more positively, in recent times. These days, part of my daily routine in the morning is to run through the main things I am grateful for; for me these are:

1. My emotional health and wellbeing, my resourcefulness, for my ability to simply accept what is and work with it

2. My physical health and strength, for my vitality when it comes to things like exercise

3. My lovely and loving wife Carla

4. My lovely and loving two boys Dylan and Max

5. My house that I live in, the fact it is warm and has hot running water

6. The work that I have, and for my colleagues with whom I work (even the challenging ones who test and challenge me in different ways!)

7. My work-life balance and my ability to maintain a healthy one

8. The rest of my loving family and my friends

9. For my ability to have fun

10. My safety and that of everyone I know and love

I sometimes alternate them based on what is happening but when I take a step back, despite life's daily challenges, feeling grateful for these things makes me feel a lot happier on the inside.