What systems do you have to put you in a good mood?

The systems and habits approach to improvement works great for many areas. People tend to initially think of things such as exercising, eating right, paying off debt, improving one’s career, etc.

But there is more potential with the systems and habits approach to improvement. One of the best ways to use this approach is to create a positive attitude on a regular basis.

Most people don’t pay much attention to their energy levels and how they feel throughout the day. At least, not from an internal standpoint. Instead we look to external factors to point to why we feel the way we do.

We have frustrations at work and assume that is the reason we are stressed. We have an argument with a loved one and let it eat at us all day.

But our attitude is more about our response to those than it is because of those. When frustration starts to build, what systems do you have in place to lower the frustration? How to do you habitually work through stressful projects to make sure you keep the main goals in mind as you work?

Spending time developing these can be an incredible way to increase your general happiness. You can learn to feel contentment in the face of adversity. You can learn to calm your emotions after an argument so you can quickly get past the argument and make up.

It certainly isn’t an easy thing to do, but if you work on the systems and habits around those incidents you can improve. You can get better and better at taking in outside information but then deciding how to respond instead of simply responding emotionally right away.

In life there are many things that are within our control but we too often give control to external events. We let those events control our moods and attitude and then assume the world is a cold, unfair place.

We never stop to realize that there is a layer in between the external event and ultimately how we end up feeling. That layer is our own internal dialogue. This allows us to gain control during these incidents so that we can change the course and ultimately end up feeling better.

If you start to use the systems and habits approach to improvement in common areas such as exercise or saving money, start to shift to some of the more difficult areas such as how you respond to stressful external events. This can start you on a journey of self-improvement that drastically improves your quality of life.