Am I Positive Or Am I Negative – Here’s The Test How To Tell

Lots of people ask the question: Am I a negative person, or am I a positive person? Others go online looking for positivity tests or negativity tests, some way to test if they have a positive outlook or a negative one. Well, the best way by far to tell if you or someone else is positive or negative is to analyze your or their behavior.

There are a lot of personality tests that attempt to predict how someone looks at life – but even the best test is just a simulation. Instead, the best way to predict whether a person will have a positive attitude or not is to look at their basic behavior to life.

And this is because, more than just a belief, deeper than just education, personal behavior is an indication of who you really are, not just who you say you are.

Most of the things we do are not “pre-meditated”, which is to say that our response to situations is by and large automatic, determined by what our subconscious mind “deems” to be “what we want”, not necessarily what is best for us. The sum total of the things we do in response to factors in our situations and surroundings is what you can term behavior.

So, what are the behaviors common to someone who has a positive mental attitude?

Positive people act as if there will be a million tomorrows

We all know people who act as if the world will end any minute. These are people who constantly believe that the worst possibility is right around the corner. Negative people classify anything new as "evil." They classify anything old as "good." They refuse to have hope for the future, because they don't believe in it.

Positive people by contrast are hopeful people. They aren't blind to the world around them, but they tend to see the beauty, not the ugliness. A negative person will look at the clouds in the sky and expect a catastrophe. A positive person will look at the clouds and see the beauty that is in them. While a positive person acts as if there will be a million tomorrows, a negative person usually stays mired in a million yesterdays.

Those are very broad strokes above and it’s possible you fall in between these extreme depictions of positive and negative outlooks on life. Here are some questions that might help:

Do you constantly tend to feel or believe that you’re running out of time – time to change your life, time to make your dreams come true, time to make a difference, time to get the job done? Most positive people tend to believe that time will be on their side and that there is always time to turn their fortunes around.

Do you sometimes (or all the time) tend to think or believe that your situation is so dire (or your dreams too juicy) that it would be stupid to hope for a breakthrough?

Positive people tend to believe that if they can dream it they can achieve it. Learning to write may not seem like a big dream, but if you were born without hands or arms, this becomes an almost impossible dream. Some very brave positive people born with this handicap have gone on to achieve this dream!

Positive people concentrate on the here and now

Just because they believe in the future doesn't mean positive people live in it. They know that the "here and now" is the only life we have. They make the most of the time they have, because they have a lot of things to accomplish.

Positive people concentrate on the "here and now," not the "there and then." Are you positive or negative?

Being positive does not mean you sit around doing nothing but hoping for the best. Positive people believe in using their energy and their creativity to improve their circumstances, in the firm belief that this will happen, that however bad their circumstances may be, they have the power, (and maybe the luck) to achieve their goals.

Positive people see the best side of others

Most of us have something in our life, our looks, or our character that we're not too proud of. We have flaws in our character. While the negative person concentrates on those flaws, in himself or others, the positive person will concentrate on the best parts, not the worst.

Think about the most positive person you know. Have you ever heard him/her say anything bad about someone else? If you have, it's likely it was accurate, but most of the time, you have likely heard that positive person pointing out the good points of another person.

We all have the opportunity to see the best in others – and as Abraham Lincoln said, "If you look for the worst in people and expect to find it, you surely will."

You should constantly strive to look for the best in others. Sure, we all have flaws – but those flaws are what make us interesting. So, are you a positive person on this yardstick or are you negative?

Positive people are goal-oriented

Why goals? Here’s a quote from Earl Nightingale: ""People with goals succeed because they know where they are going...It's as simple as that." Positive people choose their destination – they don't just allow themselves to be pushed along by the prevailing winds.

Positive people know where they're going, and they want to get there. Negative people don't know where they're going, and they don't want to arrive.

This is not to say that because you’ve set goals and drawn up plans for your life you are not negative! Negativity comes in all sorts of guises, such as fear, uncertainty, doubt, self-limiting beliefs, etc. If you’ve set goals and drawn up plans to achieve your dreams but you do not feel that you’re worthy of success, this negative outlook will result into self-sabotage.

Positive people work to make the world better

There are all sorts of contributions they make – from planting flowers to coaching kids’ baseball teams. No matter what they do, they work to make the world better, because they believe they can make a difference. Negative people never feel they can make a difference in life – and so they never do.

Positive people take responsibility for their own moods and actions

While negative people blame the stars, karma, God, and other people, positive people know that more than anything else, their own actions dictate their future success. Positive people do not let their moods be dictated by the weather, the news, or the TV schedule. They know that their moods are under their own control, as are their actions.

They accept the blame, or the credit, for the actions they have made, and give credit when it belongs to their co-workers. So, on this yardstick, do you think you’re a positive person or a negative one?

Positive people do not give up

Positive people have learned that persistence pays off. They don't give up at the first sign of trouble, but keep going until their goals are reached. Like the bulldog, they grab hold of their quarry, and hold on tenaciously.

There, that’s the seven behaviors characteristic of positive people. So, if you’re asking am I a positive person or a negative person, score yourself on these 7 and see where you fall. Do you have a few places where you could do better? Are there areas where you sometimes score positive and other times negative?

There are a lot of advantages to being positive and having a positive outlook on life – positive people tend to live longer, to be more resistant to diseases, to live happier, and so on. If you scored yourself mostly negative, you’re not alone, but the good news is that positivity is something you can learn at any age. The time to start learning is NOW!