Do you ever struggle with negative thoughts?
Negative or unhelpful thoughts can have a strong and devastating impact in our life, health, work and our relationships.
It is important to understand how to remove negative thoughts and restore them with positive ones.
Here are a few common negative thoughts:
- Black and white thinking, seeing everything as one way or another, without any between.
- Filter thinking, choosing to see only negative side of a situation.
- Catastrophizing, assuming the worst possible outcome is going to happen.
- Personalizing, assuming you are to blame for anything that goes wrong, like thinking someone did not smile at you because you did something to upset her.
Try this ways to manage your negative thoughts:
1. Recognize and step back from negative thought patterns
Our minds have clever and persistent ways of convincing us of something that isn’t really true. These inaccurate thoughts reinforce negative thinking. If you recognize them, you can learn to challenge them.
Once you learn to recognize the negative thoughts you have just to start to step back from them. First step: learn to see this thoughts as simply thoughts. Don’t take them too seriously! Mental events that we achieved in the past move through the mind all the time just like weather passes through the sky. What I want to say is that we have a choice in how to respond to them. You cannot avoid bad moments in life, they are part of our life, but you can choose mentally to overcome this bad moments and the negative thoughts.
So realize that and take a step back from negative thought patterns, don’t let them became real.
2. Avoid external negativity
Take steps to remove or avoid people who have a negative impact on the way you think and feel. All of us are affected by the lower energies of negativity. Avoid to watsch on TV the bad news that can strongly influence the way we feel and think. Be aware of how much news you take in daily, there is a fine line between being informed and being psychologically connected and affected from this negative thoughts.
3. Balance your risk-averse fears
A high level of risk intolerance is based on fear, mostly fear of the unknown. If you are likely focus on the catastrophic possibilities, then try to think strategically. Balance your fears with facts and a strategic plan. The ability to recognize unhelpful thinking and step back from it is incredibly liberating, it can change the quality of your whole day and indeed your whole life.
4. Practice regular Mindfulness
We tend to get so busy then we lose touch with this deeper sens of self, this pure unconditioned awareness.
Mindfulness is the practice of waking up to the wellspring of wholeness and peace. It’s waking up out of mind wandering where we are lost in our heads, our old beliefs, habits, reactions and thinking patterns, so that we are able to live deliberately.
Through mindfulness we build our capacity to live from that deeper awareness and tame the mind.
Regular mindfulness meditation has been shown to decrease stress, depression and anxiety as well as improving immune function.
5. Helpful question for unhelpful thoughts!
Some kinds of negative thinking patterns can be quite ‘sticky’. You may find that you try to ‘name it to tame it’ and come back to your senses but the thoughts continue to have a grip on you. If you find yourself in this position there are some further tools you can use to untangle from your thoughts and change your focus. These are called the helpful questions for unhelpful thoughts.
- Is this thought in any way useful or helpful?
- Does this thought help me to take effective action?
Then you can (mentally) ask these questions below to create new focus and new possibilities. These questions will help you focus on constructive thoughts and actions and help you effectively face your day-to-day challenges and move towards living a more meaningful life. Again, you may only use one of these at a time but you could always try more than one too.
- What do I really want to feel or create in the situation? How can I move towards that?
- How can I make the best of this situation?
- Who would I be without this negative thought?
With these powerful questions you can change your focus from being stuck in negativity to being focused on what’s going well. They will also help you take constructive action and move towards living a more meaningful life.
Constructive thinking allows you to be happy when things are going good, and put problems in perspective when times get tough so you can stay calm and clear headed and deal with them in a practical efficient way.
Do you struggle with negativity? If yes, hope that my advice with a daily meditation practice will help you to overcome the negative thoughts.
Let me know 🙂
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