Dear Dr. Mimi:
I am a difficult person! I know it! I am not proud of it, but I tend to be negative. I often start out being very skeptical, and as a result have been told that I can be negative, and I know this is true. I don’t enjoy being this way, and I am ready to work on changing both my behavior and my outlook. Where do I start?
—Negative Nancy

Dear Negative Nancy:
You have started! You have taken a great first step and that is realizing that you have negative tendencies and deciding that you want to be more positive. Congratulations!
Here is a great first activity: Instead of dwelling on an individual’s disagreeable qualities and actions, focus on the person’s best qualities. It is important to realize that everyone has something worth appreciating. Yes, everyone! Focus on one, two or more aspects of a person that are desirable—perhaps his or her character, personality, appearance or way of working. Perhaps you can identify something that you could apply to yourself. Once you have identified those positive qualities, write them down. Keep your list in a place where you can refer to it and add to it. You may even want to challenge yourself to see how long of a list you can make and how many people you can refocus on. Is this easy? No! Is it worthwhile? Absolutely! Go for it!
—Dr. Mimi