When Tyler Beaty lost his job after nearly a decade, people often told him to “think positive.” He tried but found it did little to change his attitude. It wasn’t until Beaty took some time for deep self-evaluation and realized that many of his habits were feeding negativity into his life that he made the proactive choice to seek out more positivity. In his quest for positivity, Beaty says he took back control of his mindset and was able to live a better life by instilling these five habits.

Make a daily gratitude list

Each day, either in the morning or before you go to sleep, write down at least one thing that you’re thankful for in your life. When you do this consistently, you naturally begin to focus and see more of the good things that are happening around you instead of the bad.

Perform acts of kindness

Doing something nice for someone, even the smallest of unexpected gestures, not only makes others happy and adds positivity to your life as well. Make acts of kindness a frequent habit. You could pay the tab for the person behind you at Starbucks, bring coffee for the security guard at your office, or even pay the toll for the car behind you.

Be fully present

While we’re engrossed in our Instagram feeds and TikTok videos, we’re missing all of the positive things that are going on around us, and in some cases sitting directly across from us. Being fully present takes practice, but it pays huge dividends. Ten minutes of meditation each day can increase your awareness and focus on being present.

Reduce negative influences

Think about what you’re watching, reading, and listening to throughout the day. When you fill your mind with negativity, it becomes easier to dwell on the negativity in your life. Be careful of who you spend your time with, too. Do your best to stay away from other negative people. You become like the people you spend the most time with.

Spend time at the start of each day to improve YOU

Stop hitting the snooze your alarm, get up 30 – 60 minutes earlier, and create a morning routine that consists of mindfulness, visualization, reading, exercise, or journaling. Speaking from experience, Beaty says you will be amazed at the impact this has on your life.