NEGATIVE THINKING GETS YOU NOWHERE...FAST
"When you replace negative thoughts with positive ones,
you’ll start having positive results"
~ Willie Nelson
The more you try to get rid of negative thoughts, the more they seem to fill your head. Whether you’re worried about financial issues, relationship problems or difficulties at work, your worries, fears and anxieties can be hard to control.
Our automatic reaction is to try and suppress our negative thoughts by pushing them out of our minds. But repressing thoughts doesn’t seem to work, in fact sometimes it seems to make them worse, because they just come back even stronger!
Negative thinking can become a habit, and it’s easy to pick it up from other people. It’s something you want to eliminate because not only does it make you unhappy and depressed, it can also affect your physical health.
The habit of negative thinking can actually predict how likely you are to suffer all kinds of other illnesses later on in life. Not that your negative thoughts alone will cause you to become ill, but they certainly won’t help.
Here are some suggestions to get rid of negative thoughts:
Find something else to think about:
Rather than letting your mind wander around, focus on something specific, preferably one single thing. Aimless mind wandering often leads to unhappy thoughts, so focus on something as simple as a TV program, music or a task that needs to be accomplished.
Decide to think about it later:
Postpone your worries and have a designated half hour worry session set aside for later. Some studies have suggested that this can help people avoid negative thinking.
Accept your unwanted thoughts:
Some research suggests that focusing on a thought might help it go away, based on the principle of ‘exposure therapy’. So for this to work you should tackle your thoughts head on and think about them until the fear begins to fade.
Stop thinking in extremes:
Negative thinking often involves seeing the absolute the worst possible scenario.
So rather than thinking that you’re going to be nervous delivering your speech, you decide that you are really going to mess it up, end up being a laughing-stock and never be able to face anyone ever again!
Or for your upcoming vacation you’ll probably get sick and won’t be able to go, or the plane will crash, or when you arrive there you find that your hotel is still under construction!
Life doesn’t usually happen like that in shades of black and white, it’s usually in shades of gray. So try to cut out the ‘all or nothing’ thinking! Keep in mind that there will likely be good, indifferent and bad times in every scenario.
How hypnosis can help:
It’s easy to negatively hypnotize yourself into believing the worst, but on the other side of the coin you can just as easily learn how to think positively. I can show you how to replace your negative thoughts with positive ones to help you become calmer, more relaxed and overall happier.
If you or someone you love is anxious, worried or depressed, call me for a free consultation.
