Written by: Rodolfo Parlati, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Every day, the head of each of us is crowded with many thoughts. Sometimes, these are pleasant thoughts, other times helpful thoughts, then there are thoughts about your future and other times they are harmful thoughts.
In particular, there are times when the mind is invaded by so many negative thoughts and this happens even if you tend to have a positive approach towards life. For example, it is the case of that series of events and unforeseen events that all concentrate together in the same period and put a strain on people's strength and balance. However, it is precisely in these moments that you need to pay more attention to your mind, as negative thoughts can easily accumulate and become real boulders, which you carry on your shoulders every day, consuming precious energy and limiting your creativity and self-efficacy.
Thoughts are essentially products of your mental activity. They are a way of seeing and experiencing the world around you, but they are by no means a faithful representation of it. This means that your thoughts can be wrong, that is, they can be excessively negative and represent only what is wrong, what you do not like about the experiences you live, leading you to neglect, instead, everything that is good.
All this comes from a primal instinct of human beings: survival. A primitive man must have been able to recognize the danger of an approaching ferocious animal because his own life was at stake. This instinct leads us to give more importance to dangers than to things that are already good. Today, fortunately, people no longer live perpetually exposed to this type of danger but our brain partially retains that primordial instinct and everyone should remember it when you think that everything goes wrong.
How To Turn Your Negative Thoughts Into Positive Ones
The perpetuation of a negative mental attitude can lead to various types of effects, such as reduced self-esteem, worsening of interpersonal relationships, as well as anxiety. So how do you replace a negative thought with a positive thought? Fortunately, turning a negative thought into a positive one is possible, thanks to some effective strategies to implement. It is a mental approach that trains you to stop believing negative thoughts, verify them, turn them into positive thoughts and then take action. Let's see how:
Write your thoughts. If you have a problem that constantly generates negative thoughts, you can deliberately decide to deal with it by taking a notebook or paper and writing down the feelings it arouses in you, what caused it and what you could do to improve the situation. This method allows you to clarify within yourself and it helps you to release some positive energy. A clear mind can think better and with greater clarity.
Listen carefully to yourself. To transform your negative thoughts, the first step is to listen to yourself. You should never interrupt your inner dialogue because this is precisely what signals to you how your thoughts are flowing into your mind. So, take some time to listen carefully to any thoughts you have, no matter what kind they are. This will also stimulate your self-awareness.
Embrace negative thoughts. Identifying your negative thoughts is a key step in transforming them into positive thoughts and actions, and if you can identify them, you can manage them and choose what to do, rather than become their unwitting victim. Once this is done, try to welcome them, as they present themselves, without feeling any judgment or fear. Negative thoughts should not be hidden or blocked at all. They are part of you and your humanity. As soon as you intercept them, immediately think about how to transform them. Becoming aware of your thoughts and accepting the situation you are starting from is the first step to change.
Change your posture. Emotions are closely related to your body. Continuous negative thoughts lead you to have a submissive, constricted posture, with your shoulders and head lowered or with a stiff torso or jaw. To reverse this trend, when you have a certain thought, try going for a walk to stretch your legs, spread your shoulders and chest wide, look up, feel your feet firmly on the ground and breathe deeply. By changing your physical attitude you can also change your mental one.
Use positive affirmations. A useful tool for transforming negative thoughts into positive ones is that of positive affirmations. These are phrases that you can repeat in your mind when negative thoughts assail you. They are essentially motivational phrases that belong to you and give you confidence. You can recite them at any time of the day and, in any case, whenever you feel the need for encouragement.
Meditate. The positive effects of meditation on the human brain have been well known for some time now. Even just 10 minutes a day are enough to get good results. To start, simply try focusing on your breath for about 1 minute and whenever your mind wanders, bring it back to the breath. As the days go by, try to extend the time. This will help you benefit from greater calm and clarity.
Reframe negative thoughts. A particularly effective strategy for transforming negative thoughts is to reframe them. Indeed, it is a question of transforming them from absolute concepts into relative. Put your thoughts under the magnifying glass and look for evidence to prove or contradict them. Reframing your thoughts adequately lightens their negative. In any case, it is good to be careful not to get carried away by a naive and unrealistic positivity.
In Conclusion
The moment you realize that negative thoughts and emotions are part of your human nature, you can immediately take all the necessary actions to impress in your mind even the positive things that happen to you in life.
One final tip is to practice gratitude. For example, you might keep a simple journal in which every night, before you go to sleep, write down at least three positive things that have happened to you in your day that you are grateful for. The simple fact of writing them gives these same events greater relevance because the human brain tends to remember what it writes better than what it only thinks.
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Rodolfo Parlati, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Rodolfo Parlati is a Professional Life & Executive Coach. Always inspired by the desire to impact others positively, his mission is to help people and professionals be happy and successful by finding out their inner potential and exploring the right path to follow to "give shape" to their goals. Passionate about building connections, the key elements of his coaching strategy are creating meaningful actions to attain the clients' goals, knowing what is holding them back, and supporting them in finding higher awareness. His natural curiosity has always driven him to be an eager lifelong learner, explore new fields, and look for the answers to any question.
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