Chances are, you – like everybody else – sometimes dwell on what goes wrong in your world and negative thoughts build on each other, taking away way too much space from the positive.
Negative thoughts are extremely powerful and if we aren’t careful, they can take over our mind and impact our whole life. Negative thoughts are like a snowball system that is rolling out of control and becomes bigger and bigger, faster than we think.
Left to their own devices, negative thoughts rob us of our strength and drain our energy and the longer we wait to stop them, the harder it will be to stop the ball from rolling. So how can we eliminate this negative thought pattern?
While we can’t completely avoid negative thoughts, we need to become aware of our negative thoughts as soon as they come up, recognize them and know that we are thinking negatively. Over time, our TOP 10 strategies will allow you turn off negative thoughts and help you to start thinking more positively.
#1 Observe Your Thoughts
Take a step back and simply observe your thoughts. Generally speaking, negative thoughts stem from cognitive distortion or are patterns of irrational thought. Watch your thought as if you were a spectator. If you don’t give them the power to take over your mind, they will simply disappear, just like logs floating down a river, sooner or later they will disappear from your sight. Accept that negative thoughts pop up in your mind, but don’t hold on to them and allow them to leave again.
#2 Move Your Body
One of the best ways to get rid off negative thoughts when you find yourself trapped in a negative downward spiral, is to get moving. Simply changing gear in your mind can be challenging when your mind is taken over by negativity and it’s hard to switch to positive thoughts, however, when you move your body, dance, go for a walk, practice yoga or go to the gym, you put your energy on your body and allow your body to take over to bring your mind into a different place. Work up a sweat, let endorphins flow and you don’t give negative thoughts the chance to linger and take root.
#3 Smile
This is probably one of the easiest strategies. If you make a conscious effort into smiling more, even if you don’t feel like it, the energy of the smile draws in positivity and pushes negative thoughts out of the way. Whether you are home alone, with friends or walking down the street, show your pearly whites and instantly feel better. You get an even bigger boost of positivity when you laugh out loud.
#4 Help Someone Out
However bad you may feel about yourself or your life right now and are overwhelmed with negative thoughts, remind yourself that there is always someone out there who needs help. Maybe a friend needs help painting their living room or a co-worker needs help finishing up a project and most likely there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer in your area. Make a difference and positively and directly impact someone else’s life, because there are few things as fulfilling as being of service and with that let go of negative thoughts and find plenty of reasons to be positive.
#5 Keep Positive Company
If you can’t get negative emotions, feelings and thoughts out of your mind, your social circle may be to blame. There are numerous studies that show that you pick up behaviors from the five people closest to you, so if you hang out with negative Nancy’s who ruminate and worry a lot, it is likely that you pick up this habit as well. Avoid negative people as much as you can and instead fill your life and social circle with positive, uplifting people.
#6 Enjoy a Cup of Tea
Negative thoughts can pop up for a number of different reasons, but if yours stem from the feeling of being lonely, you may get comfort by literally warming up. A recent study showed that people have less negative thoughts and feelings about a past experience where they felt lonely when they were holding a heating pack. Physical warmth from a cup of tea or a long hot shower can be a great substitute for emotional warmth as a quick fix, however, in the long run we do need real human interaction.
#7 Turn Off the News
Watching the news can be devastating, especially when you are struggling with negative thinking, so the solution is simple. Take a break from the news. Turn it off, because the last thing you need when you try to eliminate negative thinking patterns is to watch or read about the horrors that dominate the news. Instead of learning about murders and war, seek out positive stories, share them and let good news take up the place where all the bad news have been festering.
#8 Develop Positive Statements to Counter Negativity
Negative thoughts can take on a life of their own and quickly lead to a negative downward spiral, but instead of putting yourself down all the time, develop positive statements about yourself that can counteract all the negativity. Take a moment and make a list of things that you actually like about yourself. What are you good at? What are your strengths? In order for counter statements to work, you need to belief them, at least to some degree.
#9 Remember: Thoughts are Temporary
Negative, as well as positive thoughts are temporary and short-lived, unless we make it otherwise. Thoughts don’t have any power on their own, but negative thoughts can definitely hurt us, if we allow them the chance to grow. It is important to remember that thoughts only have as much power as we give them and negative thoughts can really pick up steam if we don’t put a stop to it. So remember, thoughts don’t last forever, acknowledge your negative thought and then let it go.
#10 Write it Down
Writing is a great mental exercise that can help us to release negative thoughts. Sure, writing will bring us initially closer to our negative thoughts, but only until we put pen to paper. As soon as you vomit the pain and hurt onto a piece of paper, you can release your negative thoughts in a very tangible way. You can even tear up that piece of paper and burn it after your done. Try it for yourself, it can be an extremely cathartic experience.
It’s easy to fall prey to negative thinking patterns as negative thoughts are a natural part of our life. Keep in mind, negative thoughts don’t define our character, however, we more often than not give too much power to our negative thoughts and allow them to cause damage to our future. Put a stop to the power of negative thoughts and start to refocus your mind on positivity.
NEGATIVE THOUGHTS ARE POWERFUL, BUT POSITIVE THINKING IS EVEN MIGHTIER
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked
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