4 Steps to build self confidence and control negative thoughts
Are Negative Thoughts Destroying Your Relationships? Happiness? Career? Learn to stop negative thinking to control your emotions and build self-confidence.
Four steps to stop negative thinking with simple, effective Mindfulness
Recognize
Notice that you’re having a negative thought.
- Hear the thought in your mind. We chatter in our head up to 500 words a minute if you don’t pay attention the words will go unnoticed.
- Feel the emotions in your body. If you’re tense or sweating, or you have a knot in your stomach, or if your body feels lethargic or blue, identify the thoughts that are creating these feelings of anxiety or depression.
- See yourself procrastinate. You can see that you are not in action. Procrastination is usually the result of fearful thoughts.
Stop & Reset
Stop your negative thought before it gains unstoppable energy, and then reset your mind, like rebooting your computer. If you allow a negative or fearful thought to keep running through your brain, it recruits more and more neurons in the amygdala, the emotional part of your brain, making the emotion stronger. At some point, the emotion is so strong it takes over your thinking and you lose your ability to be rational
Replace
Replace your negative thought with a positive thought that’s in your control and true. What thoughts bring a sense of joy or ease to you? How do I feel now? Breathe deeply into you!
Reward
Acknowledge and reward yourself for taking control of your thoughts; rewarded behaviors tend to increase in frequency. Your reward can be as simple as saying to yourself, “Yes, I took control of my mind this time!” Notice the difference of sensation in your body and mind.
This simple technique to stop negative thinking gives you more control of your varied, negative emotions. Negative thoughts typically come from a belief and thought the pattern you’ve probably had for a long time, possibly since childhood. It takes focus and discipline to recognize, stop, reset, replace and acknowledge your negative thoughts until you can build a new thought pattern. It’s easy to do when you catch your negative thought early; keep repeating, being mindful, love and honor your learning curve until the new thought pattern develops. You’re worth the effort.
PS. This can be done internally, in the privacy of your own mind. Breath deeply and go for it!
