Learn to Overcome Negative Thoughts and Live Stress-free.

Posted on October 09, 2019 by Anil Kulkarni, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Negative thoughts create huge amount of stress & are like a cancer to the spirit. They slowly eat away at you until there isn’t enough left to support your hopes and dreams. Negative thoughts are damaging because they affect everything that comes afterwards. This includes your decisions, goals, actions, and results. Outcome? Anxiety & hyperactive mind diving deep into negativity.
The root cause of negative thoughts is crying about the past & worrying about the future, period! You would have, on many occasions, thought about how you could have changed something had you acted differently in a particular situation. This often leads to repentance & regret which then keeps bothering you about how you could overlook something which was so simple. As a rule, you magnify what you keep thinking about & thus the regret becomes so overpowering that it suppresses your positive responses & lets your mind believe that you cannot take right decisions in most situations. This develops into a firm belief & gets rooted into your subconscious, your most obedient servant. This further results in worrying about future & believing that your future is bleak as, you do not have the ability to take the right decisions at the appropriate times. This is a vicious cycle & unless you have a mind trained to handle such emotions, you are likely to become a victim of constraining beliefs.
Negative thinking can impact every area of your life. It limits your effectiveness and poisons your outlook on life. If the time you have to spend on self-development is limited, dealing with your negative thinking is good way to allocate your time.
Here is how you can control your thinking and be more positive:
1. Avoid thinking of yourself as a victim. When you have the mindset of a victim, you’re dooming yourself to a plethora of negative thoughts. A victim has neither hope nor options. The fact is, there are always ways to move forward. You have many choices.
Recognize your negative thought patterns. Your thoughts can be just as habitual as your morning coffee or your break for nature’s call. Notice your repetitive thoughts and when they occur. The first step to changing these thought patterns is to catch them when they first begin. When you notice negative thinking, change your thought.
• Either think a positive thought or redirect your thinking and focus to whatever you’re doing at that precise moment,
• Alternatively, you may just relax & get into a deep breathing state watching your breath & feeling it rejuvenate yourself.
2. Read positive quotes each day. If you can’t find the time to read a book, at least read a few positive quotes each day. You can buy calendars with positive quotes. There are also plenty of websites with quotes on a wide variety of topics.
3. Keep your mind in the present. Sure, you can look ahead, as needed, to make plans. But your thoughts must remain rooted in the present. Thinking about the past results in frustration and regret. Thoughts of the future can cause anxiety. Keep your mind on your current surroundings and task at hand.
• There’s no reason to worry about the next step. Take care of the current step first.
4. Ask yourself, “Do I know for certain this is a fact? Or is it just my opinion?” You may not really know as much as you think you do. You make a lot of assumptions based on your own perceptions. This can lead to the belief that a situation is less solvable than it really is. If you don’t have accurate beliefs, you’re already at a huge disadvantage. The wise thing to do is consult others, be it your parents, your spouse, a trusted friend, a mentor or just about anybody you can open up to. This certainly helps by getting another perspective.
5. Stop seeking perfection in everything you do. Perfection can be highly stressful. It acts as a slow poison. Expect that you won’t be perfect at everything. When perfection is the goal, you’ll always fall short and that opens the door for negative thinking.
6. Spend time doing something that makes you feel good. It’s easy to have positive thoughts if you’re doing something enjoyable. Spend time with your partner or a good friend. Make a list of things you like to do and spend some time each day doing at least one of them. Enjoy yourself each day.
7. Meditate. Meditation seems to be a cure for everything. It’s one of the best ways to learn more about your thought patterns. It’s also an effective way for learning to focus and direct
your thoughts.
8. Make a list of affirmations and take control of your self-talk. Instead of inventing positive self-talk on the fly, have a list prepared of positive things you can say to yourself. Build your self-talk around your goals and kill two birds with one stone.
Are your negative thoughts impacting your results and future? Negative thinking is a challenging habit to defeat. Monitor your thoughts and defeat negative thinking before it can take root. Replace those negative thoughts with a positive alternative. Make an effort to spend some time each day enjoying yourself.
Little by little, you’ll find that you’re spending more of your time thinking positively, and your life will take a turn for the better!