Start each day with a positive thought. You’re more likely to be happy if you work to live positively. So, here are seven ways to live a positive lifestyle.

1. Have a positive outlook.

No surprise here, the number one step to living a positive lifestyle is to be positive. Sounds simple, but it’s a real challenge. People often don’t realize how much they complain and talk about the negatives in their life. Try to catch yourself and your pessimism and remind yourself of a positive outlook of the situation, as well. As easy as it is to complain, it’s much better for you to talk about good things, and it will make you feel better about life.

2. Stopcomparing yourself to others.

In order to have a positive lifestyle, you must also have a positive opinion of yourself. So, when you see that magazine cover or that girl walking down the street, don’t wish you could be her because you’re not! You’re you, and honestly, there’s no way you’ll ever be anyone else but yourself. Try to think of all the good things about yourself.

“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” – Kurt Cobain

3. Make more "you" time.

It’s easy to get caught up in the rush of life, but don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. If your schedule is that busy, put it on your calendar that it’s specifically "you" time. Read that new book you’ve had on your shelf for weeks or watch that episode you missed the other night. Take a bath, meditate. Whatever it is you want to do, do it because in order for you to feel sane, you need to make special time for you.

4. Help others.

Honestly, the best feeling in the world is helping others. When you do something for someone else and see the smile on their face or the sincerity when they acknowledge all that you’ve done for them, that’s a good feeling. Knowing you’ve done something to benefit someone else will easily brighten your day and give you different outlook on life.

5. Go outside.

As hard as it is with work and school, find time to go outside. If it’s nice and sunny, take that book outside and study. The vitamin D and happy people you will see passing you, will you make you happier and more likely to be productive as a result. Take a five-minute walk, or lay outside for a few minutes. Anything will help, and all the sunshine will benefit your mood.

6. Be productive.

Accomplishing tasks on your to-do list will lift a weight off your shoulders. You’ll feel better once you’ve finished something that needed to be done. It’s better to do things immediately instead of procrastinating and having it rest on your mind for days (as hard as it is not to). If you do that job you needed to days ago, you’ll feel a lot better about life and happier in general.

7. Smile.

There are so many statistics about how smiling benefits you (even though that seems like nonsense), but I highly recommend researching it. It’s shown that smiling can improve your mood, help your health, make others happy, relieve stress plus so much more. With so many benefits, why wouldn’t you smile?