Thoughts come and go, but what if you have mostly negative thoughts? What does that do to you and what can you do about it?
What are negative thoughts?
You have all kinds of negative thoughts. For example, you may often think negatively about yourself or just worry a lot. In the latter case, you have mostly negative thoughts about the future and how to overcome all those bears on the road. This is also known as brooding.
Or you keep thinking about all the things you did wrong in the past. This is also known as rumination.
Obsessive thoughts are also often seen as negative thoughts. For example, you keep thinking about a particular problem you want to solve or you keep thinking about a particular negative theme.
In addition, you may be thinking negative thoughts. For example, you don’t want to have a certain thought and then make a negative judgment about that thought that you wish you hadn’t had. This actually doubles the number of negative thoughts. You don’t keep a positive thought.
The effect of negative thoughts
If you suffer from a lot of worry, it affects the way your brain works. This can disrupt thought processes, for example,[1] which is very inconvenient when you want to focus precisely on a particular task.
Making negative judgments about unwanted thoughts can cause you to become more anxious and suffer from depressive symptoms[2].
That in turn affects what you transmit to your environment, to the quantum field. Because of this, it also affects what you get back from those around you.
Getting rid of negative thoughts
Depression and anxiety are not fun to have and do not help you at all in your life. Therefore, it is helpful to do something about those negative thoughts so that at least they do not make you feel negative.
Doing nothing with the thought
In particular, judging a particular thought negatively can have many negative effects for you. Therefore, try not to judge at first. One way not to judge is to do something totally different with the thought, such as repeating a word from the thought very quickly. This takes away the negative feeling and the credibility of the thought[3].
So you can then more easily say that it is just a thought and that it is not the truth.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness also helps you suffer less from negative thoughts[4]. With mindfulness, you stay in the here and now with your thoughts. For example, you focus on what you are doing. If you still get a thought you don’t want to have then just let it go.
You take a few deep breaths and resume what you are doing.
Your posture
Your body and mind are always connected. Because of this, improving your posture can already do a lot for you. So chest out, shoulders back and you already feel and think a lot better[5].
Want to know more about negative thoughts and how to improve them to enhance your (work) life? Please contact me without obligation.
See you soon.
Petra
[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1097-4679(199001)46:%3C78::AID-JCLP2270460113%.0.CO;2-R
[2] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.5127/jep.041314
[3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005796703002894
[4] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-014-9637-5
[5] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02699931.2016.1225003