Intro
Throughout life’s highs and lows, negative thinking will be a part of it. For some people, the negative thoughts won’t stick around for long. But for others it feels like negative thoughts consume them and start impacting their mental health. Negative thoughts play a role in anxiety, depression, stress and can cause low self-esteem. When you’re going through a tough time, struggling with negative thoughts, it can be hard to see the good in life. But it is possible. There is always light at the end of a tunnel. This blog post aims to arm you with some tools on how stop negative thinking.
How to stop negative thinking
1. Become aware of negative thinking
You can only change what you are aware of. Start to observe your thoughts and see how negative thoughts show up in your life. An example of a negative thinking pattern is when you jump to conclusions. You assume that people always think the worst of you. Or you assume that a situation only has a negative outcome. Elisha Goldstein PhD says, ‘Thoughts simply aren’t facts; they are mental events that pop up in the mind and are dependent on our mood’.
To become more aware of your negative thoughts, check out these negative thinking patterns.
2. Practice mindfulness techniques
Mindfulness techniques like meditation help you become aware of your negative thoughts and emotions while helping you accept them without judgment or criticism. Mindfulness also helps bring you back to the present moment, while also building greater self-awareness. The experts over at verywellmind.com say this ‘Mindfulness sets out to change your relationship to your thoughts. Try viewing your thoughts and feelings as objects floating past you that you can stop and observe or let pass you by’.
Try this: Set aside 5 minutes of your free time to meditate. Focus on your breath while allowing thoughts to come and go. Don’t place any judgement on the thoughts you have. Just become aware of what they are.
3. Reframe thoughts into positive ones
Once you’re aware of your negative thoughts and thinking patterns, you can start to reframe them into more useful thoughts. This will be difficult at the start but overtime, more positive and rational thoughts will come more easily. When reframing thoughts, Rachel Goldman PhD gives this advice ‘You don’t want to set yourself up for failure by replacing the thought with something that may not be realistic. A helpful technique could be to ask yourself what would you say to a friend in this situation’.
Reframing thoughts could look like this:
- I’m a failure – I’m learning
- I’m not good enough – I’m growing at my own pace
- I’m unlovable – I’m worthy of giving and receiving love
- Life is too hard – Life is challenging right now, but I can get through this
- I’m broken and irreparable – I’m healing and that can take time
Try this: Spend 5 minutes writing down negative thoughts that you have and reframe them into more positive and realistic ones!
4. Get negative thoughts out of your head
Struggling with negative thoughts can consume you and take up a lot of mental capacity. Getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper, feels like a weight being lifted from your shoulder. It offers you better clarity on your situation, helps you build awareness on your thoughts, and can help you identify negative thinking styles.
Try this: Take out a pen and paper, or open a note on your phone, and write down all the negative thoughts you’ve been having!
5. Ask yourself how you’re feeling
Getting in tune with how you’re feeling can help you understand your thoughts and emotions more clearly. Sometimes negative thoughts can happen when your bodies needs aren’t met through things like, sleep, food, and water. Start to ask yourself regularly how you’re feeling:
- Are you tired?
- Are you hungry?
- Are your basic needs being met?
- Are you anxious about the upcoming work project?
Once you’re aware of how you’re feeling, it gives you the opportunity to understand where the negative thoughts might be coming from if some of your basic needs aren’t met or you’re anxious about an event in the future. Which makes it easier to come up with a plan to combat the negative thoughts.
6. Practice gratitude
When you’re struggling with negative thoughts, you can miss all the little things that happen in life which could make you smile. It’s easy to focus on what you don’t have or what’s going wrong, but this only compounds the negative thoughts. Practicing gratitude helps you seek out the good in life and everything you do have. It can shift a negative train out thought into a more positive one.
Try this: Take two minutes now to say out load 3 things you’re grateful for.
Conclusion
From time to time, everyone will experience negative thoughts. They can be a natural response to life’s events, and for most people will pass on quickly. However, negative thoughts can become a habitual way of thinking that starts to consume you. It’s important if you’ve been struggling with negative thoughts that you start becoming aware of your negative thoughts and thinking patterns. You can practice mindfulness techniques like meditation to help build your awareness. Once you’re aware, you can start reframing your thoughts into more practical and helpful ones. Gaining control over your negative thoughts won’t happen overnight. It will take time and practice but you are more than capable of achieving it!
To learn how to develop a more positive mindset, check out this blog post.