Posted on September 30th, 2022.

According to many experts, there are seven different ways to defeat negative thinking, and we will address six in this article. The seventh is you seeking professional help if you feel unable to defeat these thoughts on your own.

Everyone faces problems, whether they are personal struggles or stress, family issues or work problems. There is a lot to deal with, so negative thoughts frequently enter your mind all day long and every single day.

If you strongly entertain those thoughts each day, they can miserably lead to a constant pattern of negative thinking. This could lead to various levels of depression or even cause you to suffer from anxiety, which could be influencing some of your negative thinking.

Negative thinking produces negative moods and it can be difficult to shake these feelings. It isn’t impossible and it’s definitely worth the fight. it’s important to be exposing these thoughts and even learning from them. If you learn how to control those thoughts, you can literally change your life for the better.

Our healthy or unhealthy thinking produces healthy or unhealthy feelings which result in healthy or unhealthy behavior. So, it’s truly an understatement to proclaim that your thinking is the rudder that guides your life.

Here are several ways to deal with negative thinking and take back control of your life.

1. Acknowledge

Becoming aware of your negative thinking is first on the list. Signs may include getting angry over small mistakes, or things beyond your control; exaggerating unfavorable events, believing that bad things only happen to you; drawing negative conclusions from an uncertain situation (paranoia); being unable to accept loss or disappointment to a point that prevents you from participating. Acknowledge them and address them.

2. Evaluate

When you have admitted to your negative thinking, you can then evaluate it. It’s important to get clear on why you are thinking negatively. Is it a dominant thought, does it make sense, or is it something you have created in your head based on your emotions?

Rather than buying into the bad thoughts, rephrase them. If you think, “I’m a failure,” change it to “I have these thoughts telling me I’m a failure.” We are all subject to negative thoughts, but what is vitally important is recognizing that they are just that- thoughts. They only have power over you if they are either believed or left unchallenged. The power is yours to either give or take away.

3. Understand

Negative thinking can be caused by many things including disappointment, sadness, and even triggered memories. Negative thoughts can be a product of an emotion you are subconsciously dealing with. It is important to recognize such emotions and understand where they started in the first place. In fact, most emotions are formed initially as a direct result how you think and believe. You can probably see now how thoughts and emotions can form a vicious circle of torment.

Once you have acknowledged these underlying feelings or conscious thoughts, you can try to understand them and even correct them. Your thoughts and your emotions are different elements, so you need to learn to distinguish them and keep them separate and in their places.

If you find yourself thinking that you’re inferior and that everyone does too, get a handle on where its coming from. You can’t change what you don’t understand and just because you think or feel something doesn’t make it true.

4. Rationalize

Being caught up in negativity allows negative thoughts to freely take over, making us believe they make sense. They can drive you crazy and grow quickly like a snowball rolling downhill. When you calm down and rationalize those thoughts, you can understand that things aren’t as bad as your thoughts are telling you it is.

Write down your negative thoughts and read them back to yourself. Challenge their validity. Instead of jumping to your first and worst conclusions, review the thinking rationally. Allow yourself to move forward by becoming both judge and jury as to where the real truth lies.

5. Dismiss

Once you’ve analyzed your thoughts; you can understand where they come from and how to effectively dismiss them. You recognize when they crop up and learn to ignore or replace them before they become an unpleasant cycle.

The next time you find yourself in the midst of a bad day which can lead to a spiral of negative thoughts, sound your inner alarm. Decide that you are taking charge of how you will respond. Choose not to be a victim of your circumstances that could make you feel horrible if left unchecked.

When you find yourself experiencing negative thinking you must remind yourself that they are only thoughts prompted by insecure emotions. If you are struggling to dismiss them, block them out by doing something positive. Replace negative thoughts with encouraging ones. Talk to yourself out loud until you have successfully shifted your emotions in a positive direction.

6. Practice

Practicing positive thinking will obviously lead to more positive thoughts. More positive thinking leads to more positive thoughts, even if you force those positive thoughts when next faced with negativity. The intentional repetition and practice of positive thoughts will ultimately make them a new habit of yours.

So, when you’re next faced with a negative thought, acknowledge it and challenge it. Find a sliver of positivity to focus on and emphasize that instead.

In other words, to get rid of your darkness try turning on some light. The powerful light of positive thinking will go a long way in driving out the darkness of your negative thinking.

Text and image source: clicke here.