On International Day of Happiness, a lot of us will be reflecting on how we can inject more positive thinking into our lives, particularly in aspects of our life such as work which often can bring stress and negative emotions. For many, it can be hard to attempt to adopt a positive and happy outlook when we are struggling, particularly at work.

Even in the happiest of jobs there will be difficult times and challenges that test our positivity. There are three small changes you can make to try and adopt a more positive outlook to maximise happiness at work.

Don’t buy into the ‘fake it till you make it’ myth

Often it can be hard to admit we are struggling, feeling unhappy or insecure. Particularly when it comes to work. It can be tempting to try the ‘fake it till you make it’ tactic and imitate confidence and optimism so that those around us don’t see we are finding things tough. This kind of toxic positivity prevents us from addressing the issues we are struggling with.

Making ourselves happier or more confident when we are struggling is not about affirmations or willpower; we need to change at a neurological and cellular level. We can only do this through accepting what we are feeling and then addressing these feelings appropriately.

If you are feeling under a huge amount of pressure and are not managing your workload, pretending to be coping with it is not helpful for you or your wider team, so being candid and seeking support from a manager is important. Removing the shame away from admitting your real feelings will help stop any negative thoughts spiralling out of control through hiding them and trying to deal with them alone.

Address and challenge self limiting beliefs

Often the thoughts and beliefs that make us unhappy don’t come from those around us, but from ourselves.

The unconscious mind’s job is to support our beliefs, whatever they might be. When a belief is installed, which is often by the age of five or six, the unconscious mind doesn’t evaluate it. It accepts that it’s true then goes about looking for evidence to support that belief. The unconscious mind is exceptionally good at finding evidence to reinforce these beliefs, whatever our belief happens to be.

If you believe that you’re hopeless at maths, you’ll only notice the times when you make mistakes, calculate the wrong change in a shop etc. All the times that your maths calculations work perfectly well, will go completely unnoticed. These thoughts are instilled as children but stay with us for all our lives, and will influence our experiences in the workplace if not addressed.

A good place to start when addressing this in the workplace is to try to write a list of the words your colleagues would use to describe you, and the positive comments you have received for pieces of work, your attitude, or the way you make those around you feel in the workplace. Although it may be hard at first, you will begin to think of the way others see you and what they appreciate you for.

Focus on what you want rather than worrying about what you don’t want

Humans have around 64,800 thoughts a day and it is estimated that on average 80% of those are negative. This means that most of the time we are focusing our energy on worrying about what we don’t want, and this has a huge impact on the reality that shows up in our life.

Our neurology cannot tell the difference between a real experience and a vividly imagined one – so our brain reacts to both just the same. When we spend time worrying about the future and creating imagined scenarios our emotional response feels real because our brain can’t tell the difference. For example, worrying about people’s reactions to your comments in a meeting and what they might be saying about you can allow the brain to create a story that is not real, but that you believe.

Instead, try to focus on using this same strategy of imagined scenarios to create confidence in yourself. Instead of worrying about the potential negative outcomes, try to visualise the ideal outcome you want and how good this will feel. Imagine pitching a winning idea in a meeting and your manager being thrilled with your performance. Picture how this outcome would feel and how you would celebrate, then use this to motivate and empower you to be confident and pursue the things you want out of work.

Although finding happiness in challenging times can be hard, being kind to yourself and taking a step back to look into your tho