We are so excited to introduce you to Dani DiPirro, our featured expert from Beautiful University’s Interview with the Experts series. Dani is our guide to maintaining a positive attitude and living in the moment. Remember, this is YOUR life! Looking for inspiration? Read on for the full interview!
Live your WHOLE life,
Shannon + Meg
Dani, congrats on being crowned Elle magazine’s Coach of the Month for March! We know you’re excited! Tell us how it feels to have all your hard work recognized.
Thank you! I’m thrilled to be featured as Elle Magazine’s Coach of the Month. It’s very exciting to be recognized for what I’ve been working on for years, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to share my insights with a wider audience via Elle’s website and through the magazine.
Positively Present is a blog and personal development website completely dedicated to focusing on “the positive” and “the now” in every situation, everyday. You mentioned that you lived with a negative attitude for 25 years. What sparked your evolution and what inspired you to share it with the world?
When I was 25, I was at a low point in my life. I didn’t love my job, my relationship status wasn’t ideal, and I was struggling a lot to feel happy. I started doing researching online and in books about how to be happier and, as I researched, I began to see that happiness was more like a result of experiencing something, not a state of being. To me, happiness is an emotion we experience from time to time, while positivity is something that can be cultivated on a daily basis. I started focusing on positivity and realized that, in order to really stay positive, I also needed to stay present, to stop dwelling on the past and worrying about the future. After reading countless websites about happiness and self-improvement, I thought it might be nice to start my own site, sharing my journey of trying to live a more positive, more present life. And that’s how, in February 2009, PositivelyPresent.com was born.
We know that our mental state, attitude, and thoughts have an effect on our physical health. During even the most difficult times, there is always a way to find the positive and move through the experience. How do you keep a positive attitude and what are some techniques in your toolbox to spot the “positive” even in the most difficult of situations? Have you noticed a change in your physical health since your conscious decision to “live in the now”?
One of the greatest tools for creating more positivity in life is to focus on gratitude. No matter how difficult a situation, there is always something to be grateful for.
It’s very difficult to be unhappy or upset when you’re focusing on all of the things you have to be thankful for.
In addition, it’s important to focus on acceptance when going through a tough time. You don’t have to like what’s happening, but if you accept it for what it is — if you try to take a step back and see it from a neutral point of view — you’ll remove a lot of the pain and stress from the situation, which makes it easier to stay positive. Positivity can certainly lead to a more healthy lifestyle. When you’re focused on the positive, you have less stress and, as we all know, less stress leads to better health. In addition, having a positive mindset can help you to make positive choices when it comes to your health as well, like eating better and choosing to exercise.
You started documenting your experience on your blog and your book The Positively Present Guide to Life, which will debut in March. How did you determine that you had so much more to share with the world? What impact can readers expect after reading the book?
I’ve always been a book lover so it made sense for me to take what I’ve been working on at PositivelyPresent.com and put it into a book format. In our very digital world, I think sometimes it’s nice to have something tangible that we can hold and look at. The book is based on the blog content, but it takes it further and goes more in depth with insights on how to stay positively present at home, at work, in relationships, in love, and during change. In addition, the book features inspiring, illustrated quotes throughout as well as accessible activities to help readers take the advice from the page and use it in real life.
What are you most grateful for?
I’m most grateful for the supportive friends and family I have in my life who have encouraged me to follow my heart and do what I love to do. Without their love, inspiration, and support, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today so I’m incredibly thankful for them.
Where can people find out more about you and your work?
For more about me + my work, visit DaniDiPirro.com. For weekly inspiration and articles on living a more positive, present life, check out PositivelyPresent.com. And don’t forget to friend me on Facebook (@Positively Present), tweet me on Twitter, find me on Pinterest, and follow me on Instagram!
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