What we think is what we believe, and our thoughts become who we are.
With that being said, negative thinking is a very harmful yet easy pattern to fall into, and your thoughts are your reactions to what is happening in your life.
Some examples of Distorted Thinking Patterns that you need to avoid
WIN or LOOSE
This type of negative thinking creates the illusion that there is only black and white with nothing in-between, and as soon as you do not live up to the winning dream that you have set for yourself you consider yourself a complete and utter failure
Generalizing to the extreme
This is when the smallest negative setback sets of a thought pattern of perpetual defeat, everything is negative and you are a victim of all that this entails.
Selective Filtering
Thinking with a selective filter as I call it especially when seen in a negative light means that you take a situation then zoom in on the negative while cutting out everything out, in this manner you end up dwelling on only the negative to the point of your reality being tainted by the thoughts.
Eliminating the good
This is where you eliminate all things positive as if they could never outweigh the negative, leaving you to believe that it doesn’t matter what happens life is negative.
Negative conclusions
This is one of the more common ones in my opinion, people tend to draw negative conclusions backed and based solely on no facts what so ever, and then stick to their guns as far as their thoughts are concerned.
Here are a few ways to stop negative thinking in your life:
NEGATIVITY ESPECIALLY AS THEY ROUTE IN THE FORM OF THOUGHT THAT IS HOSTED IN OUR MINDS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT ANYONE VOLENTERALY WANT TO NURTURE, AS IT CAN HOST AN ARRAY OF DEVASTATING IMPLICATIONS IN ALL ASPECTA OF YOUR LIFE.
So here are a few ways that you can curb negative thinking and break the cycle once and for all.
Step 1
Recognize:
Negative thoughts are normally repetitive and the first step is that you need to recognize negative thought patterns in yourself.
Negative thoughts are unproductive and they really do not serve you well.
Only when you learn to recognize and identify negative thought patterns will you be able to have a choice about how you would like to react.
Things to look out for are:
• Anxious Thoughts and Worry
• Criticism and Self Beating
• Regret and Guilt
• Problems
• Feeling “Not Enough”
Step 2
Become a spectator:
This step asks you to stop directly identifying with negative thoughts, and rather become a spectator to your own thoughts; people often get trapped in negative thinking leaving them feeling hopeless and not knowing what to do and still knowing that they need to deal with things.
And sometimes it isn’t simply as easy as “just stay positive!”
So, how are we supposed to navigate our thoughts here?
• Be Mindful
Start to pay attention to what is happening in your head, this is necessary to free yourself from negative thought patterns. When you are mindful of your thoughts and bringing your thoughts to our conscious attention are we able to change our thinking patterns and change the often-repetitive cycle of negative thoughts. Also, when you are a mere spectator to your own thoughts, how could they possibly maintain a hold over you.
• Act before your negative thoughts do
As the case is with many things in life, you will find it easier to deal with things when they just arise or deal with small matters before they become big issues; the same applies when it comes to negative thoughts, when you realize that they are showing face, you need to make work of eliminating them before they gain too much momentum. This can be done by taking a step back and disconnecting from your negative thoughts, try to view them from a spectator seat in a neutral position.
Benefits of being an impartial witness to your negative thoughts?
One of the greatest perks of this method is that you are not ignoring or distracting yourself from them nor are you pushing them away; you are actually facing them to the full. While you are becoming more aware of what is actually happening and causing these negative thoughts.
I must add that this can be a lot easier said than done especially at first, I think that one of the reasons flor this is because we are so used to get drawn in a slump or even just sweeping negative thoughts under the rug; however this will get easier as you practice this.
This method also allows you to take in everyting you are thinking and feeling without being attached to their core, this makes the negative thoughts seem more material and manageable.
Step 3
Live in the moment
The majority of negative thoughts that flood our mind comes from two basic directions; The past and the future, let me put it this way, the past tends to influence negative thoughts because we allow ourselves to linger in the past and on the other hand there is matters of the future that can easily take our focus to a negative space as we tend to dwell on what if’s and concerns of things that has not even happened yet.
The biggest problem with either these is that we neglect anything positive in the wonderful moment that is NOW
So, whenever you feel yourself dwelling on negative thoughts that might be streaming in from matters of the past or present, remind yourself that you are currently in the time space where you are making things possible for yourself, and all the positive thoughts that will sprout from this very moment.
GET YOURSELF TO THE HERE AND NOW!
One way that will make this easier for you to achieve could be to practice being more aware in your everyday life by focusing on things like sounds, smells color and textures of things that you are surrounded by and when you feel negative thoughts coming on just fall back on what you have practices, pick one thing that truly stands out to you in your direct space, then make a point of experiencing that one thing to the full, in other words direct your full focus to that one thing; this is a sure way to bring you back to the here and n ow in stead of future or past negative thoughts.
Step 4
Make a choice
Oh, freewill is a great thing to have on our side when we use it in our favor.
If you have taken anything from step 1 – 3 It should be a newly founded awareness and when you are consciously aware of your negative thoughts that means that you now have the right munition to combat them and by this; I mean that you can now choose to change those thinking patterns from negative to positive.
This allows you to let go of those circulating and manifesting destructive thoughts and replace them with positive resonating constructive thoughts instead.
Positive or constructive thoughts
• Aid in good health and energy levels
• Allows for a better night’s sleep
• Help you face day to day life more effectively
• Allows you to appreciate life more
• And aids you in dealing with things in a more practical and productive way
