Nine Ways to Overcome Negative Thoughts and Think More Positively
Are you being mean to yourself??
Negative thoughts are like a cancer to your spirit. They slowly eat away at you until there isn’t enough left to support your hopes and dreams. Negative thoughts are damaging because they affect everything that comes afterwards. This includes your decisions, goals, actions, and results.
Negative thinking can impact every area of your life. It limits your effectiveness and poisons your outlook on life. If the time you have to spend on self-development is limited (because who has the time to go live in an Ashram & meditate for hours on end??), working on your negative thinking is good way to allocate your time.
IT IS ALSO NOT YOUR FAULT!!! Our ancestors survived because they paid close attention to dangers and expected them to be around every corner. If they let their guard down…they died!
These thoughts are popping up because in a mixed-up way it’s your minds way of trying to keep you in the comfort zone…because even if you’re not happy or fulfilling your life purpose, at least you are ALIVE.
There is HOPE though. Once you are aware that negative thoughts are just like any other anxious thoughts (not true, temporary, etc…) you can question whether you want to believe them..or NOT.
Become the BOSS of your thoughts and cultivate positive thinking by practicing these nine tips:
1. Avoid thinking of yourself as a victim. When you have the mindset of a victim, you’re dooming yourself to a plethora of negative thoughts. A victim has neither hope nor options. There are always ways to move forward. You have choices.
2. Recognize your negative thought patterns. Your thoughts can be just as habitual as your morning coffee (or hot water with Celtic Grey Sea Salt). Notice your repetitive thoughts and when they occur. The first step to changing these thought patterns is to catch them when they first begin. When you notice negative thinking, change your thought.
Try to replace it with a more empowering thought or redirect your thinking and focus to whatever you’re doing at that moment. This is a great time to practice heart centered breathing while cultivating a renewing emotion like compassion or ease.
3. Read positive quotes each day. If you can’t find the time to read a book, at least read a few positive quotes each day. You can buy calendars with positive quotes. There are also plenty of websites with quotes on a wide variety of topics.
4. Keep your mind in the present. Sure, you can look ahead, as needed, to make plans. But your thoughts should remain rooted in the present. Thinking about the past results in frustration and regret. Thoughts of the future can cause anxiety. Keep your mind on your current surroundings and task. There’s no reason to worry about the next step. Take care of the current step first.
5. Ask yourself, “Do I know for certain this is a fact? Or is it just my opinion?” You don’t know as much as you think you do. You make a lot of assumptions based on faulty knowledge. This can lead to the belief that a situation is less solvable than it really is. If you don’t have accurate beliefs, you’re already at a huge disadvantage.
6. Avoid the idea that perfection is possible. Expect that you won’t be perfect at anything. When perfection is the goal, you’ll always fall short and that opens the door for negative thinking. Strive for excellence instead and when you mess up…just go back and fix it next time.
7. Spend time doing something that makes you feel good. It’s easy to have positive thoughts if you’re doing something enjoyable. Spend time with your partner or a good friend. Make a list of things you like to do and spend some time each day doing at least one of them. Enjoy yourself each day.
8. Meditate. Meditation seems to be a cure for everything. It’s one of the best ways to learn more about your thought patterns. It’s also an effective way for learning to focus and direct your thoughts. I LOVE the Calm app and do the daily Calm each morning as well as a meditation right before bed.
9. Make a list of affirmations and take control of your self-talk. Instead of inventing positive self-talk on the fly, have a list prepared of positive things you can say to yourself. Build your self-talk around your goals and kill two birds with one stone. I like to keep affirmations on my kitchen counter so that I see them a few times a day.
Are your negative thoughts impacting your results and future? Negative thinking is a challenging habit to defeat. Monitor your thoughts and defeat negative thinking before it can take root. Replace those negative thoughts with a positive alternative. Make an effort to spend some time each day enjoying yourself.
Little by little, you’ll find that you’re spending more of your time thinking positively, and your life will take a turn for the better!
About Jennifer Bronsnick, MSW, LCSW
Jennifer Bronsnick is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker & Anxiety Treatment Specialist. She supports women and teen girls who struggle with anxiety, self-doubt & perfectionism tap into their innate resilience, get to the root of their fears and implement custom healing strategies so that they can experience peace of mind, more self-confidence and be liberated from the suffering that living with anxiety causes. Jennifer uses a variety of treatment modalities including Human Design, Mindfulness-Based Therapy, Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis + Health Coaching, Energy Psychology tools, Heartmath and more! She believe that everyone's experience of anxiety is unique and the solution should be customized to the client’s needs and desires.