Good morning, friends!

We all know how important positive thinking is and we've all heard the countless stories/ideas/blogs/newsletters on positive thinking.  Something I struggle with when I read about positivity is how to STOP focusing on the negative.  I know I'm not supposed to focus on the things in my life I don't want, but very few authors really cover different ideas on HOW to shift your thinking.  I found this blog this morning that I thought has some interesting feedback on how to avoid negative thinking.  The tip that speaks most to me is to focus on what you're doing, rather than letting your mind wander.  I know I'm super guilty of that, and I challenge I'm going to try to work on.

I hope you find this as helpful as I did.

Have a good one!

xoxo,
ryann

How to Avoid Negative Thinking

July 11, 2011 By Remez Sasson

It is no secret that negative thinking is part of almost everyone. Sometimes, there are more negative thoughts, and sometimes less, depending upon the moods, and external events.

Unpleasant situations, problems and difficulties arise in everyone’s lives, and these events cause negative thinking. Quite often, you might not be aware of the thoughts you are thinking, and can get easily immersed with negative thoughts and negative moods.
 
It would be a good strategy to avoid negative thinking. There are various techniques you may use to avoid negative thinking.

Here are a few techniques for avoiding negative thinking:

1. Try to be aware of your thoughts. It is usual to think in an automatic way, hardly aware of what you are thinking. If you strive to become watchful of your thoughts, you will know when you are thinking negatively, and then, the next step, of avoiding them, will become easier.


2. When catching yourself thinking negatively, consciously, try to think of something else, something positive and uplifting.

3. Choose to watch happy and funny movies, instead of movies about disasters and unhappiness.

4. Think often about the goods things you have in your life, and less about the bad things. Look at the filled part of the glass, not at the empty part, even if the empty is greater than the full.

5. Align your thinking with your actions. When doing something, focus on it. When eating, think of eating, when dressing, focus on dressing, and exercising focus on the exercise on your body. In this way, you will not make a place for negative thinking.

6. Sometimes, during the day, visualize yourself doing something you love doing, like being on the beach, being in a beautiful place, or being in the company of people you love. You may think about happy events or success you had recently. All of these thoughts are positive ways to avoid negative thinking.

7. Be aware that sometimes, problems and difficulties are blown out of proportions. Often, they are minor problems and difficulties not worth your time and energy. Having this point of view can help you avoid negative thinking when facing problems or difficulties.

8. If negative thoughts persist, write them down, and analyze them to see if there is any truth in them.

9. Don’t fight your thoughts. If you fight them, they become stronger. A better approach would be detachment.

10. Surround yourself with positive people.