Negative thoughts are the enemies of victorious life. Since our life is very much determined by our mind, our thoughts can make or break our life. Negative thoughts will distract your focus from the important and drain your energy. At the end, you will no longer have the ingredients necessary for success. Knowing how to overcome negative thoughts may make the difference between victory and defeat.
I believe there is an important principle at work regarding negative thoughts, and that is:
Attention is self-reinforcing.
If you give attention to negative thoughts, they will get stronger and stronger. What seems like a small matter in the beginning may become monstrous at the end. What you should do is breaking the vicious cycle by shifting your focus to something positive. You can then reinforce this positive attention until you completely defeat the negative thoughts (read more at attention management).
Here I’d like to share 20 tips to overcome negative thoughts mostly based on this principle. Not all tips are suitable for all situations, so choose the ones that work for you. Here they are:
- Realize that you only hurt yourself with negative thoughts. Don’t let them trick you.
- Decide that you will live your day with happiness and not let negative thoughts steal it.
- Look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I’m a positive person. I won’t let negative thoughts control me. I’m a winner in life.”
- Read positive quotes. You can go to Quotations Page or ThinkExist and browse the topics. Or, if you want random quotes, you can go to Random Quotations.
- Never say negative words in your conversation.
- Change the tone of your thoughts from negative to positive. For example, instead of thinking “This problem is too difficult” think “This problem is cool and challenging”.
- If you think negatively about someone, remember positive things about that person. Shift your attention to the positive side.
- Smile. It’s more difficult to think negatively when you are smiling.
- Walk and act confidently. Good body language helps you have good thoughts.
- Pray or meditate. Spiritual peace and calmness is among the most effective ways to overcome negative thoughts.
- Gather with positive people. Be careful not to choose the wrong people or the situation will only get worse.
- Take a nap so that you will wake up with a fresh mind.
- Read an inspiring book. Spiritual books often do well.
- Go out and appreciate the beauty of the world around you.
- Sing a cheerful song.
- Make yourself comfortable with failure. Failure is the stepping stone to success, so don’t be afraid to fail.
- Have realistic expectation. Accept the fact that people could make mistakes since nobody is perfect.
- If you think negatively about a situation, decide that you won’t give up even if the worst happens. Prove yourself to be a tough opponent. You are a winner.
- Accept yourself and be comfortable in who you are. You can’t be perfect but neither can anyone else.
- Help someone. Shift the focus away from yourself and do good to others.
If you liked this post, please give it a thumb up on StumbleUpon. Thanks!
Photo by DeathByBokeh
Comment by Mike Greer
18 14. February 2008, 12:36 am o'clock |
Years ago, I read a great quote from (I think) Philip Glasser [?] “To change what you are thinking, change what you are doing.” To operationalize this, when I start feeling stressed and negative, I either go for a walk or do a full blown exercise routine of some sort. And the negativity always seems to fall away. A while back, I began to realize that at least half the value of my exercise is #14 (Go out and appreciate the beauty of the world…). Recently, however, I’ve added even more value to my outdoor exercise by adding listening to inspirational audio books on my MP3 player.
My latest and favorite audio item is this freebie 42-minute mp3 item from LearnOutLoud.com titled 50 Things I’m Going to Do Today. Listening to this, in an active, open-spirited way, with your problems and goals in mind, you will find at least one new thing to try that will make a positive difference in your life. It’s sometimes funny and irreverent and always positive, encouraging, and life-affirming.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
17 2. February 2008, 5:29 am o'clock |
That’s a good tip, Leona. By turning negative thoughts into learning experiences, we turn the situation around into something positive.
Comment by Leona
16 1. February 2008, 12:12 am o'clock |
Thanks for the list
My favourite site for inspirational postive stuff is Inspire your day (http://www.inspireyourday.com.au).
If I am attentive, I turn the negative thoughts into learning experiences for personal growth to be the person I want to be.
They don’t have to be my negative thought they can be even be a negative comment for a stranger that has affected me.
thanks
Leona
Comment by Donald Latumahina
15 31. January 2008, 2:02 am o'clock |
Rhei,
I agree with you about the importance of faith. Faith can tremendously help us in time of trouble to keep our head up and move forward.
Comment by Rhei, writer Surefirewealth.com
14 30. January 2008, 5:17 am o'clock |
To forfeit negative thoughts, one should have the power to think or perceive things positively. In times of trouble, we should keep our faith to Him; we should remember that He’s there to comfort or rather help us when we’re down. We should not be afraid to fall down for He is there to help us up.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
13 28. January 2008, 1:49 pm o'clock |
Remez,
You brought good points about the importance of perseverance. I completely agree. Good results won’t come easily, and defeating negative thoughts is no exception. Without perseverance, it’s far too easy to give up before reaping the fruit.
Comment by Remez Sasson
12 28. January 2008, 3:59 am o'clock |
I enjoyed reading your article, and from experience I know that the tips you offered are useful and really work.
Defeating negative thoughts and developing a positive attitude is very important and can do wonders, but one has to persevere with it. Quite often, I hear people saying that they have tried to change the way they think, but nothing happened. The fact is that they tried for just a little while, and then stopped trying, because they didn’t get immediate results.
There is some important point that is often disregarded, and that is, if you try to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts for a few minutes a day, but think negatively for the rest of the day, you are actually defeating your efforts. Positive thinking has to be a sustained, ongoing project, not something you do sometimes and for a little while. Perseverance can in time turn positive thinking and attitude into a habit.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
11 26. January 2008, 11:58 pm o'clock |
You’re welcome, Dinah! It’s a great pleasure to know that you find the tips useful. And I’m sure you will soon overcome any negative situation you face. You’re a winner anyway :)
Comment by dinah
10 26. January 2008, 3:14 pm o'clock |
sincere prayer and meditation is indeed the best tool, you will surely feel the enlightenment and you will feel good from within, i like your tips and you really helped me as i am a bit down now, thank you so much! ;)
Pingback by Divorce - Make New Friends | Self Help Station
# 10. March 2008, 2:26 am o'clock |
[...] people that you can be friends with. If you still aren’t in the mood to go out, but you still feel the need to reach out to someone, try the Internet. You don’t have to go online looking for love or a new [...]