Positive Thinking and the Hidden Value of Your Learning Style
Explore how your learning style affects your ability to adopt positive thinking
We need to learn to think positively
Most of us learn to think negatively as children. Over the years of our childhood, negative thinking became our default way of thinking.
In these days and age, however, we know that thinking predominantly negative thoughts have many adverse effects on our life, including deteriorated health, ineffectual relationships, lack of abundance, lost productivity, and much more.
That is why we turn our attention toward the benefits of positive thinking. When negative thinking helps us stay alive, positive thinking helps us live wonderful, joyful, healthy, and loving lives.
The issue is that to get to the point when we think positively by default, we need to train our minds. There are many ways of doing so, including meditation, visualization, journaling, etc. My top faviourite way is the positive affirmations.
What Is Your Learning Style and How It Can Help You Learn Positive Thinking
Just like learning anything else in life, learning positive thinking takes some practice and perseverance. It is no different than learning to read and write, ride a bike, drive a car, or use a new computer application. And just like with everything else, to master positive thinking, we would rely on our learning styles.
That is right. We all learn differently. Some of us prefer to write down everything, some prefer to watch a video, others prefer to experiment… Understanding how we learn best can help us gain new knowledge and skills faster and with less effort. Work smarter not harder 😉
According to Neil Fleming, there are four basic categories of learners: visual, auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic. [1]
Visual Learners
Visual learners best absorb information through visual aids such as diagrams, charts, maps, and anything else that follows under the graphics category. As Fleming further explains, graphics is different from pictures, movies, or videos. The visual leaners look for the flow of information, highlighted or emphasized terms, hierarchical presentation, etc.
Strategies for Visual Learners
If this is your learning style and wants to train your mind to positive thinking, here are 3 suggestions that might help you:
(1) Use index cards – print or create your own index cards with positive affirmations, blessings, and inspirational quotes. Some good examples have their keywords highlighted, in bold, or placed in a new row. Each morning while enjoying your coffee or tea, scroll through your stack of cards. Later in the day, if you feel overwhelmed or just need a break, grab your cards and spend a good 5 to 10 minutes with them. You can even have different stacks for health, wealth, prosperity, work/job/business, and more.
(2) Use posters – these are perfect reminders to stay centered and connected throughout the day. If you spend much of your time at your desk, then place a mini-poster in a stand-alone frame. Some good examples include 5 Steps to Center Me, 5 Steps to Overcome Stress, Relief Stress through Breading, etc. You can change these posters as often as you want, or put them in different spots, such as your desk, the nightstand, the kitchen countertop, near the front door, and so on.
(3) Create a vision board – to take full advantage of this tool, you may try to group your ideas into categories, boxes, and charts. For instance, you can create a section for good health. Use a large, bold header, and organize your favourite pictures in cute frames and brief subtitles or descriptions. You may include items like healthy goods and beverages, workout routines, outdoor activities, etc.
Auditory Learners
If this is your learning style, then you most likely perceive new knowledge through listening, talking, and discussing with others. You prefer to learn from podcasts, videos, Q&A sessions, and the like. Perhaps you like talking to yourself when performing a task for the first time. Just by hearing the instructions, you can understand better and faster.
Strategies for Auditory Learners
If you are an auditory learner who wants to change their way of thinking, here are 3 ideas that might help:
(1) Read your affirmations out loud – write or print a list of positive affirmations, inspirational and motivational quotes, or blessings. While drinking your morning coffee or tea, take a few minutes to read your list out loud. You can even use a mirror and say the affirmations to yourself. I’ve learned this technique from Louise Hay and use it every single morning.
(2) Record and listen to your affirmations – if you are a busy person who doesn’t have the luxury of morning time in peace, you may try recording your positive affirmations and quotes using your computer or smartphone. You can even have gentle music as a background. Listen to your voice while getting ready for work/school, driving to/from work, doing chores, walking in the park, etc. Let these positive statements replace your old way of thinking.
(3) Binge-listen to podcasts/audiobooks – you can train your mind to positive thinking by listening to other people as well. One of my favourite audiobooks is I Can Do It by Louise Hay. Although I know it by heart, I still listen to it daily. Louise’s voice is so calming and makes me feel peaceful immediately.
Read/Write Learners
These individuals prefer written words to anything else. They love reading instructions, copying information into their notebooks, journaling, etc. If you ask them to cook something new, first, they will spend a good few minutes reading the recipe and the instructions before attempting the task. And, if the instructions are not written, they will write them.
Strategies for Read/Write Learners
If you prefer words rather than pictures, the following tips might proof valuable to you:
(1) Write your affirmations repeatedly – if you ever learned another language, perhaps you spent hours writing words and phrases 20 or 30 times each. By writing, you process the information 3 consecutive times: once when you read/create the statement, the second time when you write it down, and the third time when you scan over what you’ve just written. So, once or twice a day, spend some time copying a positive affirmation 20 times. This will imprint a positive statement in your mind.
(2) Make a list of affirmations – if you don’t have the time to write for half an hour every day, you may try making a list of positive affirmations or motivational quotes. Group them by topic such as self-love, self-care, healthy body, harmonious relationships, and more. Whenever you feel that your energy is low, read for a few minutes from your list.
(3) Keep a journal – if you want to change your thinking habits and you love reading and writing, journaling will definitely help you. Through journaling, you can ask yourself and your higher self questions about who you are, what your higher purpose is, how to improve, etc. Through the writing exercises, you also learn to stay centered and connected.
Kinesthetic Learners
If this is your learning style, chances are that you learn best by doing, experimenting, and participating. If we ask you to put together a piece of furniture, you will most likely ignore the instructions book and go straight to the assembly process. You love figuring out and adding extra flavor to the sauce. For you, to train your mind to think predominantly positive thoughts involves experimenting with different techniques, creating your own affirmations, incorporating positivity into various art forms, and much more.
Strategies for Kinesthetic Learners
If you are a kinesthetic learner and wonder how to adopt positive thinking faster, there are a few suggestions:
(1) Create your own positive affirmations – to expand your positive thinking, you may try creating your own positive affirmations. Try using them for a week or two, and adjust them if needed. The more affirmations and blessings you come up with, the faster your mind gets into the habit of thinking positively.
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(2) Complete a series of exercises – if you are learning through doing, consider trying a set of mindfulness exercises. For instance, you may start by writing down the affirmation of the day on a few sticky notes and put them in various easy-to-see places. Then, write in your journal a question to your higher self, meditate, and finally, write the answer to your question (whatever comes into your mind).
(3) Incorporate positive statements into art – even if you are not an artist, you can still use this technique. The easiest way is to use colouring books for adults that come with positive affirmations. If you like a book but there are no affirmations, find a creative way to incorporate them. Unleash your creativity, and change your way of thinking.
Multimodality
Like almost everything in life, things rarely fall into one category only. Chances are you are a little bit of all four types of learners. Depending on the particular situation, you might prefer one or another method, or a combination of the two. However, you still tend to lean a bit more into one of the above types.
Try some or all of these suggestions. Experiment and see what works for you. Combine two or more techniques. Create your own method.
Whatever you do, remember to have fun and enjoy the process.
References:
[1] Fleming, N. VARK Modalities: What Do Visual, Aural, Read/write & Kinesthetic Really Mean?. VARK Learn. Accessed on 04/05/2023 from The VARK Modalities: Visual, Aural, Read/write & Kinesthetic (vark-learn.com)
