Since time immemorial, humans have worked hard to keep things positive. Without a doubt, this is due to the fact that negative thinking can have devastating effects in all areas of life. Think about it for a moment: How does negative thinking affect your personal life? Do people enjoy being around you when you're in a bad, negative mood? If you're always the naysayer in the group, do you find people want to come to you for help on innovative projects? Or, do you find yourself handing over repetitive and boring tasks, simply because you find them much easier to deal with when you're doing something that makes you object to it? Negativity and pessimism can affect you internally, too. They can permeate every bit of your life and prevent the truly good things from coming to you. In short, negativity makes life harder than it needs to be. Here are five simple ways you can eliminate it, right now - and start living a life that's happier and more meaningful. Notice the negative thoughts, then get rid of them by paying attention to your state of mind. How do you approach things? How do you think about yourself? Ask yourself these questions about your daily life. Do you silently judge other people as they are? Do you criticize people for their weight, or their clothes, or their lack of progress? Maybe you criticize yourself every time you look in the mirror. Train negative thinking to stop thinking immediately. Turn it around, and find something – anything – positive to think about instead. For example, if you are thinking about how awful it is that your friend is always late, switch gears and think, instead, about how much you look forward to talking together when she arrives. Greet her with a smile, instead of glancing sharply at your watch, and see how much you enjoy the interaction. If you are feeling particularly pessimistic, and having trouble eliminating negative thoughts or are generally in a negative mood, find something to laugh at. Find something that feels good. Start by smiling to yourself. You will find that when you move your facial muscles into a smile, you suddenly start to think positively.