Gooooood morning lovely people!!! 🙂
Happy Tuesday!!
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Have you ever had a really great day, and then a teacher or friend told you something that set you back? Or maybe you thought that because you didn’t get a promotion this year, you’re destined for failure in your career?
Welcome to another How-To Tuesday, my favorite posting series of the week. 🙂
I love helping people, so these posts make me feel like I’m your own personal counselor or therapist. Sit back, relax, and read on!
So, negativity. It’s inevitable in our society.
Even the most optimistic person is not immune to negative thoughts, but for some, the destructive talk of self-doubt can be relentless.
Dr. Daniel Amen defines them as “ANTs”, or “Automatic Negative Thoughts”. He says that these are, “the little voices that pop into your head and tell you you’re not good enough, not thin enough, a bad daughter, mother, worker”.
Here are 9 signs you need to tame the monsters in your head:
- “Black and white” thinking – It’s basically the warped idea that dictates that if you miss one day at the gym you therefore have no self-discipline and might as well give up on exercising. NOT TRUE.
- Using the words ‘always,’ ‘never’, or ‘every time’ – If you find yourself saying something like “I will never lose weight” you are acting as if you have no control over your actions. YOU DO.
- Focusing on negatives – If you find yourself dwelling on negatives at the expense of positives you’ll be more inclined to give up than persist.
- Thinking with feeling – When you assume your feeling about something is true, you may not question it. THINK WITH LOGIC INSTEAD.
- Guilt – Using words like “should’ve, would’ve, could’ve” allows feelings of guilt to build up and start to control your behavior.
- Labeling – If you label yourself as a “loser” or “failure”, you take away your control over your actions and you’ll start to believe your negative labels. AVOID LABELING YOURSELF.
- Fortune-telling – Predicting the worst even though you don’t know what will happen. I’m guilty of this too. Did you know that if you allow yourself to get stressed about something, it can depress your immune system and increase your odds of getting sick? YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS.
- Mind-reading – When you think you know what someone else is thinking. News flash: YOU DON’T.
- Blaming others – It’s toxic to blame others and take no responsibility for your own successes and failures. Hello vulnerability! You are responsible for how your life turns out. YOU CAN’T KEEP BLAMING OTHERS.
Guess what. You can avoid these negative thoughts.
Keep positive people around you, distract your mind, throw the thoughts away, reframe your situation.
Go for a walk, have a cup of tea, tell yourself you’re more than what you think you are.
Remember:
Learning how to challenge your negative thoughts takes time. Be patient and forgiving with yourself.
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Have a beautiful day <3