Do you want to be more positive and motivated in your daily life? With daily doses of digestible quotes, mantras, and prompts, this book will help transform your mindset and inspire positive thinking.

What distinguishes A Year of Positive Thinking from other daily affirmation and self-help books:

• Proven psychology: This book uses effective principles of positive psychology, neuroscience, and transformational coaching to help you make positive changes in your life.
• 365 days of real-life positivity: Each day brings a new opportunity to choose positivity, and each page contains candid, inspirational lessons and reflections to help you develop your self-esteem, kindness, and love.

• Inclusive content: This standout among inspirational books is secular and non-gender specific, designed to appeal to all types of adult readers.

With this collection of 365 thought-provoking quotes and affirmations, you can give yourself or someone you know the gift of positivity and purpose.

Cyndie Spiegel is an author, community builder, and true force of nature who inspires people to be more bold in their leadership and to refine their mindsets for good. Her distinct combination of directness, relatability, sass, and inspiration has made her a sought-after keynote speaker for brands, conferences, and events. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her photographer husband and two finicky cats.

Author: Cyndie Spiegel

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1641522410/ref=as_li_tl

You are constantly bombarded with advice to "think positively" in your daily lives. From pop music to political speeches to commercials, the message is consistent: be optimistic in the face of adversity, and focus on your dreams. And whether you are trying to lose weight, get a promotion at work, or run a marathon, you're told time and time again that focusing on your desires will make them come true.

Gabriele Oettingen draws on over two decades of research in the science of human motivation to explain why conventional wisdom falls short. The barriers you believe prevent you from fulfilling your deepest desires can actually lead to their fulfillment. Starry-eyed fantasizing isn't all it's cracked up to be, and it turns out that dreamers aren't always doers.

While optimism can help you deal with immediate pain and persevere in difficult times, daydreaming about the future actually makes people more frustrated and unhappy in the long run, making them less likely to achieve their goals. Indeed, the pleasure you derive from positive fantasies allows you to virtually fulfill your wishes, depleting your energy for the hard work of meeting challenges and achieving goals in real life.

Oettingen introduces a new way to visualize the future, called mental contrasting, based on her groundbreaking research and large-scale scientific studies. It combines focusing on your goals with visualizing the roadblocks in your path. You can address your fears, make concrete plans, and gain energy to take action by visualizing your dreams and confronting reality.

Oettingen applies mental contrasting to three key areas of personal change in Rethinking Positive Thinking: becoming healthier, nurturing personal and professional relationships, and performing better at work. She introduces readers to the key stages of mental contrasting by employing a tried-and-true four-step process known as WOOP—Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan—and provides advice and exercises on how to best apply this method in daily life. People in Oettingen's studies became significantly more motivated to quit smoking, lose weight, get better grades, maintain fulfilling relationships, and negotiate more effectively in business situations after engaging in mental contrasting.

Whether you are unhappy and dealing with serious issues, or you simply want to improve, discover, and explore new opportunities, Rethinking Positive Thinking by Gabriele Oettingen will deepen your understanding of human motivation and assist you in boldly charting a new path ahead.

Author: Gabriele Oettingen

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1617230235/ref=as_li_tl

Bright-sided by Barbara Ehrenreich is a razor-sharp critique of America's love affair with positive thinking, as well as an urgent call for a renewed commitment to realism. Americans are a "positive" people—joyous, optimistic, and upbeat: this is both the reputation and the self-image. But, more than a personality trait, positivity is the key to success and prosperity.

Barbara Ehrenreich traces the strange career of your sunny outlook from its origins as a marginal nineteenth-century healing technique to its enshrinement as a dominant, almost mandatory, cultural attitude take on the American frame of mind. Evangelical mega-churches preach that you only need to want something to get it, because God wants you to "prosper." Positive thinking is prescribed by the medical profession for its alleged health benefits. New departments of "positive psychology" and "science of happiness" have emerged in academia. Nowhere, however, has optimism taken root more firmly than in the business community, where, as Ehrenreich demonstrates, the refusal to even consider negative outcomes—such as mortgage defaults—has directly contributed to the current economic crisis.

Ehrenreich, known for her myth-busting abilities, exposes the downside of America's proclivity for optimism: On a personal level, it causes self-blame and a morbid obsession with eliminating "negative" thoughts. On a national scale, it has brought us an era of irrational optimism that has resulted in disaster. This is Ehrenreich at her most provocative, poking holes in conventional wisdom and bogus science before concluding with a call for existential clarity and courage.

Author: Barbara Ehrenreich

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SKDGQ0/ref=as_li_tl

With this groundbreaking inspirational guide—a self-help classic—you can put challenges into perspective, reduce stress and anxiety through small daily changes, and find the path to achieving your goals. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and It's All Small Stuff is a book that teaches you how to avoid becoming obsessed with the minor details of life. Author Richard Carlson reveals ways to relax in the midst of your hectic, stressful life in thoughtful and insightful language. The book is among the best books on positive living.

You can learn to put things into perspective by implementing the small daily changes suggested by Dr. Carlson, such as "picking your battles wisely," "reminding yourself that when you die, your 'in' box will not be empty," and "making peace with imperfection." Don't Sweat the Small Stuff . . . and It's All Small Stuff will also teach you how to:

• Keep your focus on the present moment.
  
• Allow others to shine on occasion.
• Reduce your tolerance for stress and follow your instincts.
• Live each day as if it were your last.

Dr. Carlson reveals ways to make your actions more peaceful and caring, with the added benefit of making your life more calm and stress-free, using gentle, supportive suggestions.

Author: Richard Carlson

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786881852/ref=as_li_tl

Feeling overburdened by your thoughts? Do you have anxiety about your daily tasks? Or do you want to stop being concerned about life? The truth is that we all have negative thoughts from time to time. However, if you are constantly feeling overwhelmed, you should examine how these thoughts are affecting your lifestyle.

The solution is to practice mindfulness techniques that give your mind more "space" to enjoy inner peace and happiness. With these habits, you'll be able to prioritize what's most important in your life, get rid of what no longer serves your goals, and figure out how you want to live your life on a daily basis. That's what you'll discover in Declutter Your Mind.

The goal of this book is straightforward: it will teach you the habits, actions, and mindsets necessary to clear away the mental clutter that is preventing you from living a meaningful life.

You will discover:

• Four reasons for mental clutter
• Reframing all of your negative thoughts
• Four methods for improving (or eliminating) bad relationships
• The significance of removing anxiety-inducing distractions
• A straightforward method for determining what is important to you.
• 400 words that will assist you in identifying your values
• The Advantages of Meditation and Concentrated Deep Breathing (and how to do both)
• How to Set Goals That Are Related to Your Passions

Declutter Your Mind is full of exercises that will have an immediate, positive impact on your mindset. Instead of simply telling you to do something, the book provides practical, science-backed actions that, when practiced on a regular basis, can result in real and lasting change.

Author: S.J. Scott, Barrie Davenport and Greg Zarcone

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LVV9JZD/ref=as_li_tl

Jen Sincero, a success coach, wants you to know that you are much cooler than you think. You Are a Badass is a self-help book that teaches you how to think positively through a series of stories, inspirational quotes, and thought exercises (and enjoying the occasional swear word). The book You Are a Badass provides a blunt and irreverent guide to achieving one's desired money, relationships, career, and happiness by recognizing and eliminating self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors.

You are all aware that we must visualize our goals and dreams, plan to achieve them, be disciplined and stick to those plans, and avoid distractions and negativity... But it's always good to be reminded, especially when it's done in such an honest, witty, and funny way as this book! It's fantastic! You Are a Badass is one of the best books on positive living.

Author: Jen Sinco

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MIHUBXE/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top

You can gain optimism and dramatically improve your life! Are you a pessimist or an optimist? How frequently do you embark on exciting new projects or celebrate your accomplishments? Now, one of the world's foremost motivation experts, psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman, shows you how to chart a new path to living with "flexible optimism." Dr. Seligman's principles of reasoned, flexible optimism will assist you in rising above pessimism and the depression that comes with negative thinking.

Optimism is not always innate; some people must work to develop it. It's a learned skill. Dr. Seligman's national best-seller is based on twenty years of clinical research on the power of optimism and how it can affect your physical health. Learned Optimism was written to help you retrain your brain by providing simple guides, how-to advice, and practical applications.

Learned Optimism teaches you how to:

• Achieve maximum personal success
• With healthy thoughts, you can improve your mood and your immune system.
• Help your children by modeling optimistic thought patterns from an early age.
• Change your inner dialogue and witness the amazing positive results.

Author: Martin E. P. Seligman Ph.D. and Simon & Schuster Audio

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JXWW/ref=as_li_tl

Former BuzzFeed personality Ashly Perez has written a funny, honest, and unabashedly feminist book of inspiration and wisdom to help you plant some roots, live in the process, and accept yourself for who you are. Read This for Inspiration is exactly one of the best books on positive living.

Take a break from mindless phone scrolling and empower yourself to live intentionally and find meaning in your daily life. Your starting point should be Read This for Inspiration, which is filled with short bursts of encouragement and enlightenment. Look inward as well as outward—these entries are inspiring not only for the wisdom they impart, but also for how they lift you up.

Ashley Perez, a former BuzzFeed employee turned television writer, has compiled all of the inspirations that have enriched her life—influenced by history, literature, music, and her mother—to help you discover what motivates you. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Author: Ashly Perez

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593135334/ref=as_li_tl

This collection of inspirational stories, curated by the popular Uplifting Content founder, is sure to change your perspective—and perhaps even restore your faith in humanity. You're not alone if you can't stand watching the news these days. Fortunately, Ione Butler is here to provide an alternative—and perhaps even restore your faith in humanity. She has interviewed some of the world's most inspiring people as the founder of Uplifting Content, a social media platform with over 1.4 million followers. She shares their incredible stories as well as the lessons they've learned to help you navigate life's many challenges.

Kyle Maynard, a motivational speaker and the first quadruple amputee to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro without the use of prosthetics, is one of the inspiring people you'll meet. You'll also meet Destiny Watford, a high school student whose passionate activism helped save her town, which was once dubbed "America's most polluted zip code," and Kouhyar Mostashfi and Greg Smith, two men from Ohio with diametrically opposed political views who have done the seemingly impossible and set aside their differences to become great friends. You'll also find exercises at the end of each story to help you take action in your own life, whether it's by asking deeper questions about what's important to you, making new connections and nurturing existing relationships, or reflecting on the contributions you want to make to the world.

The stories address issues such as human connection, service to others, and the pursuit of one's passion. Butler, who struggled with depression herself, believes that focusing on the good in the world helped her recover. Uplifting Stories reminds you that the world is still full of wonderful people, even if their voices are sometimes drowned out by the din.

Author: Ione Butler

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1982138238/ref=as_li_tl

This essential guidebook to making the world a kinder, more accepting place will help you spread meaningful kindness in your daily life.

Kindness is an important step toward repairing a world that has become more divided, lonely, and anxious than ever. But with phrases like "Just be kind" and "Throw kindness around like confetti," we've oversimplified what it takes to demonstrate kindness in a world that desperately needs it.

Deep Kindness combines anecdotes with actions that can make a real difference in our own lives, the lives of others, and the world at large. This book delves into the types of kindness that the world most desperately needs today, and it shows us how to bridge the gap between our belief in kindness and our ability to practice it well. Deep Kindness is ideal for anyone who believes in a kinder world but recognizes that there is still a lot of work to be done before we get there. It covers everything from the empathy gap to the skill of emotional regulation.

Author: Houston Kraft

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1982163100/ref=as_li_tl