How To Turn Negative Thoughts Positive
Aug 30, 2020
Negative thoughts can slow us down. The key then is to stop thinking negatively and focus on the positive instead. That’s what today’s post is all about. I’ll walk you through the process of turning your negative thoughts into positive ones. Of course, I’ll have plenty of actionable tips along the way.
Become Aware Of Negative Thoughts
Your first step will be to simply become more aware of your thoughts, particularly the negative ones. Monitor what you’re thinking. Stop yourself several times per day and audit your thoughts. You won’t be able to fix these negative thoughts until you become fully aware of them.
You’ll get better at this and catching various negative thoughts more often with practice. To speed up the process in the beginning, you can use the rubber band technique. Put a rubber band or hair tie on your wrist. Make sure it’s not too tight. Then snap it anytime you recognize a negative thought. The little sting from the rubber band makes you pay attention. After a couple of days of this, you’ll become aware of your negative thoughts without the rubber band to aid you.
Find Something Positive To Counteract The Negative Thought
When you catch yourself in a negative thought, it’s time to balance the scales with something positive. Acknowledge the negative and then come up with something positive. For example, if you find yourself thinking that you shouldn’t bother starting a garden this year because you have a brown thumb; counteract that with a mental statement about how good of a cook you are.
The idea is to not let the negative thoughts bring you down. You’re also simply acknowledging that the thought is there- not that it is right or valid. We’ll tackle that problem next. For now, simply get into the habit of following up negative thoughts with positive ones. The closer you can relate them to the negative one, the better. So an even better response to the earlier statement would be that you’re good at growing herbs on the window sill or that you have some of the prettiest house plants around.
Finally, Replace The Negative With Positive Thoughts
Last but not least, it’s time to truly turn the negative into a positive thought. The key here is perspective. If you look hard enough, you can find something positive in every negative thought. Thinking that you’re not a good gardener also means that you have the opportunity to learn more. You get to play in the dirt and experience. You could even think about how fun it would be to get some help and tips from a gardening friend.
Find something positive and start to focus on that. Think of shortcomings as opportunities for improvement. Once you get into the habit of turning your negative thoughts around, you open yourself up to a lot of happiness and almost unlimited possibilities.
What's the Difference Between
Anxiety & Panic Attacks?
Download our free printable workbook with writing prompts that will help you learn the difference between worrying & anxiety disorders, how to control your anxiety symptoms & how to speak to loved ones to get the help you need.
