I have a tendency to think negatively, and I'd really like to stop. It's making my life a lot harder than it needs to be. These are some ways that you can easily change your thinking to brighten your mood and have a better day.
1. Practice Noticing Your Negative Self-Talk
We often have expectations for ourselves that promote feeling bad. For instance, if you're about to make a healthy meal, you might expect it to taste bad. If you're considering going to the gym, you might be expecting yourself to make a fool of yourself while lifting weights. Every time you catch yourself expecting a future experience to be negative, make a note of this.
When you catch yourself thinking this way, ask yourself, "How can I think differently about this future situation?" If you're having trouble thinking differently, try asking yourself these three questions:
a. What is the worst that could come of this situation?
b. What is the best that could come of this situation?
c. What is the most realistic outcome of this situation?
2. Track the Accuracy of a Thought and Replace Inaccurate Thoughts with More Realistic Thoughts
Much of our negative self-talk is completely irrational. For instance, since I often struggle with negative thoughts about my body, when I eat a piece of cake, I often think, "Oh dear, this is going to make me gain weight." When this thought or others like it enter my head, I need to step back and think about how weight gain actually happens. Well, it happens when people consume more calories than they're using, so as long as I don't each a whole sheet cake or sit around all day, I'll be just fine.
3. Behaviorally Testing Your Thought
If you simply can't get an irrational thought out of your head, then you can test it yourself. Let's use the cake example again. At the beginning of the week, you weigh yourself, buy a cake, and cut it into seven pieces. As a part of your otherwise healthy diet, you eat a piece of cake every day for a week. At the end of the week, you weigh yourself. As long as you've maintain exercise, it's likely that you haven't put on any excess weight.
This simple exercise can be applied to a lot of different forms of irrational self-talk. It's a great way to prove yourself wrong once and for all to get a recurring negative thought out of your head.
5. Practice Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation is all about thinking about your breathing. Here's a short video describing meditation.
The monk in the above video asks meditators to be aware of your breath. In other words, you should think about the sensations the breath gives you rather than thinking about the breath itself. Using meditation is an amazing way to evade negative thoughts. This is a good habit for anytime that negative thoughts enter your mind because the breathing will bring you back to center. You can then focus on what you really want and need in life.
6. Practice Self Love
A good way to feel better about yourself and get rid of negative thoughts or worries is to be kind to yourself. When a negative thought comes into your mind, talk to yourself the way you would your own child. Be reassuring and remind yourself that it's okay to feel this way. I often tell myself that, "Everything will be okay."
When it comes down to it, you are the one who decides your own happiness because you are the one in control of your emotions. Utilize your own brain power to have a good day as many days as possible.
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