Negative thinking can be an unsustainable drain on your emotions, decisions and attitude towards life. Negative thinking is sometimes part of the human experience, but obsessing over it constantly is not good for your health and development. When trying to escape these ruts, it is best to know your vulnerabilities, work on them, and apply practical strategies. So, how do you identify and conquer negative thinking?
Understanding Negative Thinking Patterns
To be free, you must first understand negative thinking. Common patterns include:
- Denial: Putting yourself on edge constantly.
- Black-and-White Thinking: Everything is either great or bad, there is no in between.
- Personalization: Complaining to yourself about something that you don’t control.
- Overgeneralization: Making large inferences from one event.
- Mind Reading: Assuming you understand what people think of you, typically not positive.
If we acknowledge these patterns, we can begin to alter them.
Step 1: Cultivate Self-Awareness
You can’t change what you can’t see. Keeping yourself aware will also ensure you stop those bad thoughts before they blow up.
- Keep a Thought Journal: Record your negative thoughts as they come to mind. You can use this practice to identify patterns and triggers.
- Observe Yourself Through Mindfulness: Mindfulness exercises, like meditation or deep breathing, can get you in the present moment and allow you to observe your own thoughts without judgment.
Step 2: Challenge Negative Thoughts
Once you recognize negative thinking, attack it with facts and reason.
Ask Questions: Whenever you are facing an unwelcome thought, ask yourself:
- Does this belief be based on reality or inference?
- How do we defend or oppose this conclusion?
- What do I say to a friend who said this?
- Change Your Habit: Replace negative thinking with neutral, positive thoughts. You might say, for example, “I always screw up”, but you should say “I have screwed up but I am improving.”
Step 3: Practice Gratitude
Gratitude will allow you to stop dwelling on the negative things in your life and focus on the positive ones. You train your brain to look for the good, and then you feel better when you do this.
- Gratitude Journal: Write three gratitudes each day. They can be as mundane as a sunbathing day or a thoughtful observation by a friend.
- Don’t Wait: Say thank you to people by sending them a thank-you note or compliment. This fosters connections, and reinforces positive thinking.
Step 4: Fill Your Space With Positive Thoughts.
Your thoughts are greatly influenced by your environment and fellow human beings. You should try to have a healthy, positive community.
- Restrict Negative Influences: Spend as little time as possible with the people that constantly resent and condemn you. It’s not that you can’t experience all of the negative stuff but it’s very important to keep your mind safe.
- Find Positive Influence: Read books, listen to podcasts or follow social media platforms that push and inspire you.
Step 5: Set Realistic Goals
Bad thought stems more often from feeling overworked or undervalued. The more realistic and practical you are going to be, the more in charge you’ll be.
- Break Goals into Steps: If you have a big long-term objective in mind, think about it as little steps. Make sure to cherish each little win.
- You should be about Improvement and not perfection: Stop chasing perfection, start striving for the better and the consistent.
Step 6: Develop Healthy Habits
You can’t live your life without your physical and mental health. Healthy habits will make you feel better and less susceptible to negative thoughts.
- Exercise Everyday: Exercise stimulates the endorphins that make you happy and reduce your stress level.
- Moderation: You’ll stay brain and energy energized by consuming the right food.
- Get Enough Sleep: Sleep deprivation causes stress and negative thoughts, so get enough sleep.
Step 7: Seek Professional Support
Sometimes you need professional support to liberate yourself from your negative thoughts. If negative thoughts still plague your life, seek out a therapist or counsellor.
- CBT: The scientifically sound technique focuses on acknowledging and reversing negative thoughts.
- Chat Groups: Connecting with others going through similar difficulties can help and offer advice.
Step 8: Stay Patient and Be Kind To Oneself
Eliminating negative thinking takes time. Hold on to your growth and praise yourself for the little progress you made.
- Use Failures as Rewards: Don’t judge yourself for failures, use them as opportunities for improvement.
- Be Nice to yourself: replacing self-doubt with kindness. You need to be a friend to yourself.
Conclusion
Negative thoughts don’t have to control your thoughts. Once you recognize these loops, can open and reprogram your own brain, and learn to live well, you can set yourself free and form a new positive outlook. Keep in mind it’s not as easy as it sounds, but each positive step you take to the good is a step closer to a better, happier future.
Make it happen, give your brain room and some space to shine.
