7 Strategies That Turn Off Negative Thoughts

It is easy to fall prey to a dynamic of negative thoughts, especially when we have accumulated several of them and that this has generated an inertia which mainly affects the filters that we use to process information. The thoughts we are telling you about here can be triggered in the same way that a small snowball that is allowed to roll grows. Thus, a small and innocent thought, released without consciousness or intention, can end up becoming a great colossus that contaminates all our emotions, all our behavior, as well as the rest of our thoughts.

Like the force of the ball rolling uncontrollably, ever larger, ever faster, negative thoughts drain our energy and rob us of our strength. The more you devote yourself to these negative thoughts, the stronger they will become. Moreover, in the same way that it is more difficult to stop this little snowball when it has already rolled several meters in the valley and that it has gained in size, it is also more difficult to stop a snowball. negative thoughts that has already started to roll.

Life presents us with challenges, often without giving us breaks and without considering the remedies we rely on. It is normal to have negative or defeatist thoughts about this panorama. However, feeding them, retaining them and even pursuing them decreases our quality of life and poisons the image we have of ourselves. What need do we have to attack our self-esteem in this way?

Negative thinking sometimes hurts and often conditions our behavior. It can lead us to act desperately when we don’t have to, or even stimulate the possibility of throwing in the towel when all is not lost. Ultimately, negative thoughts usually condition our decisions, and not really for our good.

Because of this type of thought there is a curious phenomenon : even if you are aware that you must forget this thought, it is very difficult to deactivate it. The more you think about forgetting it, the more it will be present. Hence the fact that you sit there ruminating on an idea that not only gives you a bad time, but can also seriously compromise your sanity.

So how do we eliminate this negative thinking? In reality, one cannot completely avoid negative thinking. Sometimes negative thoughts are just a spark in our mind. When this happens, we need to be aware of them so that we can immediately recognize them and thus know when we are thinking negatively.

The following strategies will allow you to turn off negative thinking and allow you to think positively.

1) Observe Your Thoughts: Negative thoughts are usually the product of cognitive distortions or irrational thought patterns. Observe them as if you were a spectator. If you don’t let them take over your mind, they will simply dissipate. Accept your negative thoughts and let them go.

2) Re-think each question you ruminate on: Ruminations are excessive thought patterns. When we ruminate on an idea, we do it with the conviction that we can only solve something by thinking more about it. Something which, in general, is unnecessary. You need to identify what is true in your thoughts and dispel what you have created in your mind before you start looking for a solution. Don’t be surprised if after eliminating this idea you find that there is no problem beyond the one you have created yourself.

3) Activate and act physically on your thought: when you find yourself invaded by a negative thought, get in motion. Changing the chip to awaken positive thoughts is not so easy when your mind is busy looking for the right way to suffer. This is the time to go for a walk, go for a run, dance or do yoga. Don’t stop to think – you have a very busy mind – just let your body take the reins and take your mind elsewhere.

4) Avoid what triggers negative thoughts in you: a song, a picture, a reading, what you see on television, the company of certain people… When you are aware of the stimuli that trigger negative thoughts in you, avoid -the. And, as much as possible, replace them with others that awaken pleasant sensations in you. Don’t beat yourself up and complicate things.

5) Surround yourself with positive people and pleasant experiences: if what you see, what you listen to and what you read is positive, if the people around you are positive, it will be easier to maintain the negative thinking from a distance. Any negative thought triggers will be easier to turn off if optimism surrounds you.

6) Repeat positive affirmations where you previously thought negatively: Negative thinking is usually a learned habit. So, instead of letting yourself be overwhelmed by the usual negative thinking, get into the habit of thinking positively under these circumstances.

7) Remember that no one is perfect and move on – it’s easy to dwell on your mistakes. But the only thing you can do is learn from it and move on. Nothing is going to change, however hard and often you may ruminate. And if what awakens your negative thoughts is a weakness or a limitation, focus on your strengths and virtues. If you can’t, change what is there, make the most of what you have.

Negative thoughts are fleeting and temporary ; they don’t have any real power of their own, but they can do a lot of harm if given the opportunity to grow. A thought has no other power than what you give it. Negative thoughts gain momentum when they activate. Deactivating them afterwards is a difficult task: it is no longer a thought, we are indeed talking about a dynamic here.

Everyone is responsible for how they handle their own thoughts. It doesn’t matter why this thought arose: the important thing is that you can chase it away and generate a suitable environment for this thought time to be reduced. The key is to catch those negative thoughts before they have time to build up in your mind and gain allies.