It has been discussed for many many years that spinning away from negative to positive thoughts is essential to be successful in life. I agree, life will never offer you a bed of roses, there are rough patches and difficult times that trigger mental negativity.
But like Satan once said,
“The mind is its place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven.”
This quote holds answers to all our troubles. It’s just a game of mind. You’d be able to overcome every hurdle in life if you learn how to change your thoughts from negative to positive. All kinds of people struggle with this; whether you’re an introvert who has got a monologue running in your head all day, or an extrovert who is usually expected to put a foot in their mouth. Let’s learn in this blog how to change the direction of your thoughts.
Steps that help in positive thinking
Certain developments have to be shaped to reach the point where you will be able to transform negative into positive thoughts. It is imperative to understand positive thinking first. Positive thinking doesn’t mean that you ignore life’s unpleasant situations. It just means that you view the unpleasantness more practically and productively.
· Identifying negative thinking
To determine whether your thoughts are negative or not, here are some pointers that can be of use.
- Mental filtering: You have a habit of ignoring all the good parts of your day and only zooming in on the little bad part. When you filter out all the positivity, you’re only left with negativity.
- Personalizing: You blame yourself for every unfortunate incident that occurs around you.
- Catastrophizing: Expecting things to go in the south rather than hoping for good things to happen, this too without facts.
- Blaming: This is extremely common and is mostly observed in people who are prone to negative thinking. Not being responsible for your thoughts and feelings and blaming others.
- Perfectionism: Setting impossible standards that are unachievable.
· Positive thinking and constructive self-talk
Positive thinking can be approached if you start with positive self-talk. Turns out it is not only for introverts; extroverts, optimists, and pessimists- each one of us faces self-talk. Self-talk is defined as the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These can be positive but a majority of people say that negative self-talk rises easily. This is where you need to evaluate if you’re a positive or negative person. Whatever type of thoughts soar automatically in your mind, you can identify yourself.
However, quieting the negative inner voice is beneficial for our mental health. It affects our brain physiology, and the release of stress hormones like adrenalin and cortisol that make us ill. There’s a flip side to the coin; the negative self-talk can sometimes prove valuable. For example, if I’m eating a lot of junk, the negative inner voice may stop me from ingesting all the rubble.
· Focus on transforming from negative to positive thoughts
I’ve collected the main aspects of the process and listed them below. Through learning and consistent practice, you can transform negative into positive thoughts.
- Determining grey areas. To take the first step, it is important to recognize those areas of your life that you usually think negatively about. It might be your work, your relationships, or a petty thing as your daily commute.
- Keep a check. When thoughts are running through your mind, pause, and check yourself if those are negative or positive thoughts. Try to find a way to twist all the negativity into some sort of positivity.
- Try staying happy. Be open to humor. Seek happiness in little things and everyday occurrences. Laughing at life makes you less stressed and more positive.
- Follow a healthy lifestyle. Study shows that conducting a physical workout for 30 minutes every day is a life-changing habit. You can also break it up into 5- or 10-minute chunks throughout the day. It helps in managing stress, keeps the mind actively positive, and induces good sleep.
- Seek positive company. This is also crucial to the transformation we’re trying to achieve. Spending time in a positive and supportive company can bring about great change. They offer genuine advice and honest opinions but are always positive about it.
