Good Mood Fundamentals

I posed myself the question: "Of all the things I know that are practical and really help improve my mood and make me more effective in the world, what principles are the most solid and effective? If I could only apply three main principles, which ones would I apply? Which ones are the most reliable?" Here's what I chose:

1. Purpose Focus: Constantly bring your attention back to your purpose. At any given time, be clear what your purpose is for the task you are engaged in. Know what you are aiming at. As much as possible, make your purposes something you want rather than something you feel you should do. And focus your attention on what you want rather than what you don't want. Spend time thinking and planning about your purpose. And spend a lot of time working toward that purpose.

2. Anti-Negativity: Aggressively criticize your negative thoughts. Don't try to be positive; try to be accurate. It is easier to do this on paper than in your head for many reasons. Use the 22 virus definitions from the antivirus for your mind to give you an idea of how to criticize your thoughts. But you don't really need anything other than the will to criticize your own negativity. Find mistakes in your pessimistic thoughts. Dig into your negative assumptions and find the errors. This can and will make a huge difference in your mood over time.

3. Self-Coaching: Talk to yourself in a way that creates motivation and a strong determination to take intelligent action. Deliberately take over your stream of thought. Use mottos and slogans. Practice thinking things; use repetition to make the new thoughts familiar and comfortable and natural. Talk to yourself in a way that creates or intensifies your motivation.

You'll see these three principles woven throughout my writings. Whenever I find something that really works, it almost always involves one of these elements. There are other things that help, of course, but I've found it extremely useful to have chopped it down into the most simple and basic elements, and these are the ones I've found to be the most reliably helpful, applied in an almost unlimited number of ways.

If you already know the principles and apply them, then use MoodRaiser.com to boost your conviction and motivation to keep on doing what you already know works. If you know the material but don't apply it, then let this site motivate you to get to work. And if you come across something new here, that's great too. But whatever you do in your life, keep to the basics — the simple, the practical, and the effective. Here's why.

Adam Khan is the author of Slotralogy and co-author with Klassy Evans of What Difference Does It Make?: How the Sexes Differ and What You Can Do About It. Follow his podcast, The Adam Bomb.