Having negative thoughts is natural for every human being. If you have been telling yourself lately “I can't control my negative thoughts” then this article is definitely for you as negativity is killing your confidence and opportunities for growth and success.
Rather than focusing on negativity try to channel your energy in a good way and start doing things, such as pursuing a new career or taking professional training, that you always postponed before. So keep reading to find out how to stop negative thinking. You will find out effective strategies and tips that will help you to cope with negativity, change your mindset, calm yourself and become more confident in yourself.
1. Understand the root of negative thoughts
To avoid negative thoughts you have to understand the reason why it happens. Some studies revealed that usually incompetent and unskilled people tend to overestimate their knowledge and abilities. If you have negative thoughts about your skills and abilities it’s a sign of your intelligence. Your self-doubt demonstrates that you are capable enough, able to cope with challenges and to analyze the situation. You think before acting and while thinking some negative thoughts can pop up. Your brain is just considering all possible outcomes so rather than block negative thoughts, consider it as constant processes in your brain.
2. Determine the level of your emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence or EI is the quality that is extremely valued in the professional world and it’s highly important to possess it. 71% of HRs and recruiters claim that EI is much more important than a person’s IQ. 58% of them will never hire a person with low EI and high IQ. So among prominent aspects of EI, we can name the ability to recognize your emotions, notice other people’s emotions, ability to understand what triggers your emotions and to control yourself. Negative emotions that we cannot control cause negative thoughts that we can handle. Instead of reacting negatively to your emotions, try to cultivate your EI to recognize your emotion and realize that this kind of emotions causes such thinking. To avoid negative thinking do your best to express this emotion externally not internally.
3. Determine actions that reinforce negative thoughts
Very often, parents offered their kids a stimulus at the wrong time and it reflected on their adulthood. In case a kid was sad parents gave them some sweets instead of sitting together and discussing the reason while helping them to express these feelings. Therefore unhealthy relationships with external stimulus are forming. If you get used to turning to an external stimulus to make you feel better you create a negative thinking loop. After you indulge your stimulus habit you will get down after the initial satisfaction disappears. To stop negative thoughts you have to stop such unhealthy habits. They kill your confidence so your task is to replace it with new good habits such as art, sports, professional courses, etc.
4. Invest in your confidence account
If you think about how to stop negative thoughts then this strategy is a good one. To boost your confidence you have to do some little things regularly. Once a negative thought occurs, you will have some confidence you can rely on. Here are great confidence-boosting activities that you can implement in your everyday life. Create a list of your strengths, do a power pose every single day, take yoga classes, challenge yourself to make crazy requests of people. These activities will help you avoid the confidence-killing effect of your negative thoughts.
5. Don’t compare yourself to other people
That’s one of the biggest mistakes that kill your confidence. It’s difficult not to compare in the era of social media where people share their polished life. Once you start comparing yourself to others you start feeling the lack of something. You should be more aware of yourself, of what you are good at and of what you love doing. When you stop comparing yourself you will be doing things that bring you joy, satisfaction and you will feel more confident. There will be no time and room for negative thoughts in your life as you will focus on doing what you love and improving your skills.
6. Start practicing mindfulness
Mindfulness is not a solution to your negative thoughts. However, mindfulness is a new way of life that will help you with paying attention to small details, realizing and feeling the moment. How can it help to deal with negative thinking? The answer is quite simple. While practicing mindfulness you will learn and soon will be able to release all negative thoughts that keep you away from inner harmony. Your mind will always be fresh, you will feel productive, more confident and ready to tackle new challenges.
7. Do more - judge less
Negative thoughts can become more powerful and can take control over us if we judge other people, gossip or make some negative comment about others. As a consequence, this way of thinking can become your new habit that will affect your life and your personality. Instead of talking rubbish or judging people try to concentrate on your career, hobby, family. Channel this energy in the right way and it will positively influence your everyday life. Besides, this positive approach will soon become your new way of life that will make you confident and successful in all spheres of your life.
