You stub your toe in the morning. The next thing you know the coffee pot stopped working. You try some “instant coffee” but it just doesn’t cut it.
You mutter to yourself, “my day is ruined!”
That’s negative thinking. How do you turn these events around?
You use the power of positive thinking.
Positive thinking can add so much to your life.
It’s been said that when you think in a positive way you tend to live longer and be healthier.
Don’t Be A Negative Nancy
I remember hearing Kathy Lee Gifford use that expression on her show.
What can you do if you are naturally a negative thinker? You can change your thinking pattern to one that is more positive.
If you really want to begin to think positively and change your life for the better, look at the following ways you can incorporate into your own lifestyle:
Be responsible for your thoughts
No one can tell you what to think or control how you react to your thinking. That’s totally up to you. When you begin to take responsibility for your thoughts, you’ll face the reality of what they’re doing to or for you and be more able to change those negative thoughts.
Plan to think positively
Whether you realize it or not many of our thoughts come from the subconscious mind. When you plan to think positively, you won’t be as apt to take what you’re thinking about as reality. We can all think of negative scenarios but instead take the time and opportunity to think of the positive aspects. There’s a reason why many people like to read positive affirmations. It gears the mind towards positive thinking.
Avoid negative people
Think about the people you spend the most time with. Are they negative thinkers? Negative people can ruin your best-laid plans to think positively. They can feed the fire of self-doubt and anxiety. Don’t allow this to happen to you. Find people who will support and encourage you.
Write down your thoughts
This is a really important step in controlling your thoughts. At the end of the day write down your thoughts. Step back and look at what you’ve written. Is there a pattern that you need to disrupt? Are there areas you could change? You’ll see what went wrong with your thoughts and be able to improve them.
Consider the repercussions
For example, if you have a deadline for a project and you realize there’s no way you can meet it, consider what might happen. If you rush to finish it on time, will it be as good as you wanted? If you take more time, will it cause other problems? Think of alternative solutions. For example, you could ask for an extension to the deadline?
Minimize catastrophic thinking
If something goes wrong do you immediately think the worst will happen? Instead of falling prey to that try to minimize it and lower your anxiety level by being practical. If you’re susceptible to those thoughts, it might be a good idea to avoid situations (such as television news) that might cause you anxious thinking.
Enjoy the moment
In other words, treasure what’s going on in your life right now. How many times have you heard people say they wished they had done this or that? If there is something you have on your bucket list why not try achieving it? Spending too much time guessing or analyzing your future might cause you to fail — especially if that’s happened in the past. If you think you’ll fail, you probably will.
When you accept reality for what it is, you will find that you can control your thoughts. Once you do this you will be empowered to face stressful situations in your life and to change the way you think. It will become easier to maintain a positive attitude the more you practice thinking positively.
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Originally published at medium.com