Most people spend a lot of time inside the mind worrying about the future, replaying all the events in the past and then focusing on those parts of life that will mostly leave them dissatisfied. Well, the negative, common or unwanted thoughts might prevent you from enjoying any experiences, distract you from focusing on what is important and also drain all energy from your body. They can further make you feel depressed and anxious.
However, with some dedicated practice, as mentioned by Jonah Engler, you can easily replace your negative thinking patterns with some positive thoughts, which will actually help you in life. It will surely make one major difference in daily comfort and happiness. Let’s focus on some of the plans, which will offer quality results all the time.
Recognize the thought distortions
It is true that minds have clever and persistent ways of convincing you of something that is really not true. These are mostly the inaccurate thoughts that will reinforce negative thinking. If you can easily recognize them, then you are able to challenge them as well. Some of the common thought distortions are:
- The first one is black and white thinking. It is more like seeing everything in one way or another, without making any such differences in between.
- Then you have personalization. It is more like assuming that you are to blame for anything that might go wrong, like someone did not smile at you because you have done something to upset that person, and so on.
- Then you have filter thinking. It is more like choosing to see only the negative side of the said situation.
- Finally, you have the “catastrophizing.” It is basically like assuming the worst possible outcome that is subject to happen.
Challenge the negative thoughts
Whenever you are likely to have a distorted or negative thought, stop and then evaluate if that is accurate in nature. Think about the ways you will respond in case a friend of yours will speak about herself in the same way.
- You can always offer a good rebuttal to her negative view.
- Apply that same logic to your own thoughts.
- Make sure to ask yourself if you are assuming the worst will happen or just blaming yourself for something that has gone in the way you want.
- And then you have to think about all the other possible outcomes or the reasons that something turned out differently than what you hoped.
It is time to take some break from your negative thoughts
Well, most of you might not know this but there are ways to separate your thoughts from the negative one. One major way to do that is by allowing you a certain time frame or even 5 minutes with the said thought. After that, you need to take a break from focusing right on it and moving on with the day.
Release the judgment
It is true that people not just judge themselves but others, mostly unconsciously. Constantly trying to compare yourself to other people or comparing your lies to some ideal livelihood will give rise to nothing but dissatisfaction.
- Whenever you are able to let go of the judgment, you can feel more at ease. The step is not that difficult but worth the effort and result you get out of it.
- Some of the ways in which you can take a break from the judgmental thoughts will include recognizing your own reaction, observing it, and then letting it go.
- Another major helpful technique is to get a positive judge.
- Whenever you are noticing that you are negatively judging a person, any situation or even yourself, try to look for a positive quality in its place.
Understand your emotions
Always try to look within and then just pinpoint the situations, which are otherwise the main cause of stress and negative emotions in life. Looking at the feeling’s source and your reaction will always provide valuable information.
- It is true that negative emotions can always come from triggering event like overwhelming workload.
- Your thoughts, which are otherwise surrounding an event, will also play a major role.
- The way you are actually interpreting what happened can alter how you are likely to experience the event and whether or not it can cause any stress.
You must change what you can:
According to expert life coaches like Jonah Engler, you must understand your emotions and the points that are causing them to change. You can also start taking steps for addressing the problems.
- Minimizing or eliminating some of the stress can trigger some negative emotions less frequently.
- Some of the ways to accomplish the same is by cutting down on job stress, mostly by delegating tasks, seeking support and developing boundaries.
- Your ways to learn and practice assertive communication for managing relationship conflicts at the same time.
- You need to change the negative version of thought patterns through a procedure, known as cognitive restructuring.
Not every possible source of stress can be eliminated or changed. It is vital to avoid ruminating about what you cannot change and focus on what will remain within your said control over here.
You need to find an outlet over here
Making some changes in your life can always cut down on negative emotions, but that won’t eliminate the stress triggers. As you are trying to change your life course to break less frustration, you also need to find healthful outlets for dealing with these said emotions.
- Regular form of exercise can offer emotional lift and an outlet for that negative emotion.
- Meditation can further help you with some inner “space” to work so that your emotions won’t get out of hand.
- You will also find opportunities for having fun and also getting some more laughter in life. It can always change the perspective and then relieve you of stress.
So, remember to follow these steps now and get the opportunity to deal with your negative thoughts and emotions with ease.