We all have negative thoughts sometimes, but an excess of negative thinking can cause serious problems. It will impact on our relationships, our health, our work, and ultimately our life. Negative (unhelpful) thinking patterns make us feel anxious and depressed. They prevent us from enjoying our lives, distract us from focusing on what’s really important, drain our energy, and drag us into a bad mood.
If you are stuck in negative thoughts, here are some effective ways to help you to prevent and to deal with them. With the best ways listed below, and a little practice, we believe that you can break free of negativity for good. This will surely make a big difference in your day-to-day happiness and comfort. Try these ways to overcome your negative thinking!
- Question Your Thoughts
Whenever a negative or distorted thought taps you on your shoulder and tries to start growing in your mind, stop and ask yourself whether it is really true. It’s useful to question that thought and see if it is helping you go in a valued direction. Once you’ve slowed down and thought about the reason why the thought is so negative, you can shift your thinking towards more hopeful, positive thoughts.
Next time something happens and you have negative thinking, pause and ask yourself! We hope that you will feel better after trying this way.
- Practice Coping With Criticism
Nobody likes to be criticized, but it can be particularly difficult if you are self-critical and/or socially anxious. Rejection and criticism will bother you and pull you into negative thinking for days, weeks, or even longer. Knowing how to deal with rejection and criticism will help you get out of the bad mood and negative thoughts. You can also drive those criticisms to pave the way to your success.
- Switch Your Focus On Positive Things
Humans often dwell on the negative and overlook the positive. One way to deal with negative thoughts is to replace them with thoughts that make you feel better. For this reason, let’s switch your focus to something more helpful or uplifting. This will help you to think positively, feel good about yourself and your life. Focus on improving, rather than thinking the worst.
- Surround Yourself With Positive People
The people that you spend your time with have a huge influence on your life. If you are unable to manage and cope with your thoughts, then spend time with a friend who has positive energy, a positive outlook on life and is willing to listen to you. Share your thoughts and feelings. We believe that your friend can help you weather life changes, reduce emotional suffering and experience self-growth.
Nobody can deny that the more positive thoughts you have, the more positive results you will achieve in life. Negative thinking does not help you to have a happy and successful life, so try to replace negative thinking patterns with thoughts that actually help.
“It’s better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong
than a pessimist who is always right.”
– Farhana Yasmin/Intern-YSSE
