Overcome Negative Thinking

Everyone has negative thoughts, but for some people, they can consume you and get in the way of your daily life. If you find that you are overwhelmed by negative, pessimistic thoughts to the point where you have trouble with your personal and work goals, it might be time to change them. The following methods can be extremely helpful at helping to reframe them, so you have a positive outlook and improved mental health.

Examine Your Negative Thoughts

This may seem counterintuitive, but before you can reframe and move past all your negative thoughts, you need to embrace them and even analyze them further. The reason this helps is because in many cases, you realize the thoughts you are having are not very realistic, and that they come from other things, whether that is stress or irrational fear. Get out a notebook or journal and write down the biggest negative thoughts you are currently having. Next to each one, talk about what the thought is and how it got there. Can you trace it back to its origin? If you can, this can let you see what might have motivated you to think this way. It may very well be that you don’t have a lot of evidence to support the thought, helping you to let it go.

Start Keeping a Journal

This is one of the reasons having a journal is helpful, but not the only reason. When you are trying to reframe your negative thoughts, you often want to work out what they are and come up with solutions for turning them into positive thoughts. This is when using a journal can be effective. Writing everything down in a journal daily gives you a healthy place to vent out your frustrations and often helps with the stress that has been overwhelming your mind.

Brainstorm Your Thoughts

The next exercise you can try after really analyzing those negative thoughts is to brainstorm. This is when you take the thoughts and come up with a resolution that turns it into action. You want to find actions that can help you reframe it into a positive thought. If you find that you are over-stressed and thinking negatively about the holidays because of everything you have going on, is there something you can drop or get help with? Brainstorm ways to reduce how much is your responsibility, and you just mind find that with the stress receding, your thoughts are becoming more positive.

Ignore the Extremes

Extremes are when you think of something in the best or worst scenario. Most things in life aren’t so black and white, so it is important that most of your thoughts are somewhere in the gray area. Sure, something might not turn out as good or bad as you thought, but most likely there is some type of shining moment in just about everything. Don’t think extreme lows, such as something being the ‘worst’ or ‘completely fail’ – try to think of the potential good and possible drawbacks of any situation or scenario, and suddenly you won’t be quite as negative with your thought patterns.

Name the Thoughts and Say Goodbye to Them

This is a fun imagery exercise that is great for those nagging negative thoughts you just can’t seem to get rid of. Think of the most negative thoughts that always seem to consume your mind and bring your mood down, and give them all a name. They can be anything you want, as long as you can remember and identify them. Now close your eyes and picture the names you have come up with for the thoughts, then send them away. Turn them into balloons in your mind, and watch as those balloons fly away, never to return.

Focus On the Positive

This seems like an obvious suggestion, but it goes deeper than just appreciating the good things in your life. It is much easier to focus on the bad than the good, so what you want to do is stop minimizing the positive things in your life. Really focus on the good things, whether it is a new relationship, a job, your favorite place, a good book, absolutely anything that brings you joy, happiness, and optimism.

Surround Yourself with Positivity

The people you spend time with can have a larger impact on how you think and feel than you might imagine. Even though mindfulness essentially only has to do with you and your own thought patterns, others can definitely influence its effectiveness. It is important that you try to surround yourself with as much positivity as you possibly can. You may not want to get rid of negative people completely, but reduce how much time you spend with them. Spend more of your time with those that exude optimism and always seem to have a good way to look at everything.

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If you’re finding yourself stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious call or email me for a free, no obligation, consultation. Remember, you deserve to have the life you want! heather@setsailtherapy.com 317-648-9295.