6 Powerful Strategies to Overcome Negative Thinking
Have you ever felt caught in a storm of negative thoughts, overwhelmed by doubts and fears? It’s a common and frustrating feeling, leaving you stuck and helpless. Thankfully, overcoming these negative patterns is entirely possible. In this post, we’ll explore seven effective strategies to help you overcome negative thinking and improve your overall wellbeing. Keep reading to learn how you can change your mindset and find peace of mind.
1. Cultivate Self-Awareness
a. Recognise Your Inner Critic
Have you ever really listened to your inner dialogue? From a young age, we’re often directed more towards our mistakes than our successes, making self-criticism a habitual part of our mindset. Many of us go through our days with a critical inner voice, full of self-doubt and negativity. These thoughts can drag us down, making us feel tired and unmotivated. Recognising this inner critic is the first step towards change.
b. Monitor Your Thoughts
Imagine if your thoughts were being recorded. Throughout your day, notice how you talk to yourself. Are you kind or critical? Do you use pessimistic language? Writing down these thoughts can uncover hidden patterns and surprising insights. Your internal dialogue shapes your external reality because negative words create negative images, sending powerful signals to your mind. By altering your inner conversation, you can build positive neural pathways that support your goals and overall wellbeing.
c. Let Thoughts Flow
Imagine your thoughts as leaves floating down a river. As you watch, each thought drifts past you on the water, which represents your mind. They come and go, but they don’t change the river itself. By observing your thoughts this way, you can let them pass without letting them disturb your inner peace or who you are. Remember, thoughts only stick around if you keep focusing on them, like trying to stop the leaves from going with the flow. Knowing that thoughts are like leaves on a river—always moving and passing—helps you see that they’re never permanent.
2. Transform Your Environment
a. Revamp Your Space
Our surroundings have a big impact on our mood and mindset. Sometimes, changing what’s around us can help improve what’s happening inside us. Start with your home: clear out clutter, move things around and update your decoration. Give away items you no longer use and throw away things that can’t be fixed. Turning your home into a place that brings you joy, with elements like positive quotes and affirmations, can have a powerful impact on your inner state and daily motivation.
b. Choose Positive Relationships
Surround yourself with positive people. Cut back on time spent with those who drain your energy and connect with friends or groups that support and inspire you. Being around uplifting influences can greatly improve your mood and motivation. Remember, if you continue spending time with people who are negative, pessimistic or bring you down, the opposite effect will occur, affecting your mood and motivation negatively.
c. Be Mindful of Media Consumption
The media we consume has a big impact on our thoughts and feelings. I remember one of my clients messaging me after a panic attack she had halfway through our 90-day programme. When I asked her what she was doing at the time, she said she was relaxing with her husband watching a movie. It turned out the film was a dramatic story, which triggered her body’s response.
This shows how even fictional content can affect us deeply because our unconscious mind doesn’t distinguish between reality and what’s on screen. Limit exposure to negative news and endless social media scrolling. Instead, choose uplifting and inspiring content, like comedies, feel-good shows and educational podcasts, as it will positively impact your mood.
3. Get Yourself Busy
a. Start Small
Moving your body is an excellent way to boost your mood, but turning it into a regular habit can be challenging. Begin by increasing your daily activity: go for walks with a friend, dance to your favourite music, or try a new pilates or yoga video on YouTube. Rather than fixating on the tasks ahead, which can lead to procrastination, focus on how great you’ll feel once you’ve completed them and how proud you’ll be for taking care of yourself. Small changes can lead to significant improvements over time.
b. Find Joy in Movement
Whether it's walking, dancing, gardening or even playing with kids, find ways to make these activities enjoyable and fun. Choose activities that you love and consider adding an accountability partner to help keep you motivated and consistent.
Think of your mind as a pressure cooker. Engaging in creative activities is like releasing the valve, letting out built-up stress and negativity and helping you return to balance and harmony with ease.
c. Feel the Benefits
As you start moving your body more often, you'll gradually notice the benefits. Regular activity helps release endorphins, which can lift your mood and ease stress. Over time, staying active will lead to lasting improvements in how you feel and think about yourself and the world around you.
4. Practice Gratitude
a. Reflect Daily
Spend a few minutes each day reflecting on positive moments. These can be anything from a kind word someone said to you, a beautiful sunset or a personal achievement. Writing these down can help reinforce positive thinking.
b. Get a Gratitude Stone
One of my clients was feeling particularly overwhelmed by negative thoughts until she started going to bed each night thinking about what she was grateful for that day. I suggested she find a stone during her walks, which she then used as her gratitude stone. Each night, she would hold the stone and tell it three things she was grateful for that day, no matter how small. Keeping the stone by her bedside reminded her daily to do this small but powerful exercise. Over time, this simple practice shifted her perspective, helping her focus more on the positives in her life.
c. Share Your Gratitude
Share your gratitude with others. It could be a warm smile, a thank you note or a message to a friend or colleague. Even simple gestures, like giving a thank you sign to someone who lets you merge in traffic, can boost your own positivity and the way you feel about the world you live in. Remember, a smile in an unexpected moment can lift your mood and transform how you feel. By giving this gift to others, you invite the law of reciprocity, where positive actions come back to you in surprising ways.
5. Create a Vision Board
a. Visualise Your Goals
A vision board is a great tool for keeping your goals and dreams in focus. I always encourage my clients to collect images, quotes and objects that represent what they want to achieve in the coming months. Place these items on a board where you can see them every day. This way, you keep your goals and positive outcomes at the forefront of your mind.
b. Make it Personal
First, clearly define what you want to achieve. This is a key benefit of the exercise, as we often know what we don’t want but aren’t always clear about what we do want. Include personal touches like photos of loved ones, places you want to visit and milestones you aim to reach. Making it personal helps you stay emotionally connected to your vision. You might also add something you’ve already accomplished in the past to make your goals feel more achievable.
c. Review and Update
Regularly review and update your vision board to match your changing goals and dreams. For example, if you're currently on a fertility journey, your fertility vision board might later evolve into a maternity vision board. This keeps your motivation strong and your focus clear as your life goals and personal growth develop.
6. Reprogram Your Mind with Hypnosis
a. The Power of Hypnotherapy
When negative thoughts keep repeating uncontrollably, hypnotherapy can be a powerful tool. It works by reaching deep into your subconscious mind to change patterns and beliefs that you may not even realise are affecting your life and relationships.
b. Rapid Transformational Therapy’s Approach
Rapid Transformational Therapy is designed to help you break free from unhelpful thoughts and habits. Many people aren’t aware that they can control their negative thinking patterns. Each thought triggers an emotional and physical response in our bodies. From childhood, we form imprints from our experiences and beliefs, which continue into adulthood without us fully understanding their impact.
We often don’t realise the negative language, thoughts and feelings we carry or the subconscious connections we’ve made. If you’ve ever felt stuck, wanted to shift from a negative to a positive mindset or found yourself obsessing over the same issues, Rapid Transformational Therapy can help. It reprogrammes your mind, creating new pathways to replace unhelpful patterns, allowing you to experience a more positive and fulfilling life.
c. Experience Transformation
Hypnotherapy can lead to significant changes. Many people notice improvements in their mood, outlook and overall mindset within just 21 days. It can dramatically shift the way you see yourself and the world. By accessing your subconscious mind, hypnotherapy helps create lasting positive changes, offering freedom from painful problems and struggles you might have thought you could never overcome, even after years or decades of suffering.
Conclusion
Negative thinking might seem like a big challenge, but with the right approach, you can overcome it. By developing self-awareness, changing your environment, staying active, practising gratitude, creating a vision board and using hypnotherapy, you can break free from negative thought patterns and embrace a more positive mindset.
Remember, you have the power to change your thoughts and, consequently, your life. Start applying these strategies today and see how your mental and emotional wellbeing improves.
If you found these tips useful, please share this article with others who might benefit. For more insights and support, follow me on @freeinfertility and stay tuned for more empowering content.
Let’s tackle negative thinking together!
