Let go of negative thoughts to a more positive new year

The way we perceive, think, and feel impacts the way we react and can develop into a pattern of negative thought and behaviour.

Often we don't even realise these patterns exist unless we take the time to reflect and challenge these often automatic thoughts by catching them when they appear.

Years of automatic thinking can replace a more reflective and considered curiosity that perceives obstacles and setbacks as challenges to accept or overcome rather than 'my lot' in life.

Unhelpful thoughts can include: always expecting the worst outcome from any situation, ignoring the good side of a situation and only focusing on the bad, seeing things as either only good or only bad with nothing in between (black and white thinking), and considering yourself as the sole cause of negative situations - "it's just my luck".

Negative thought patterns are often categorised as:

1. All-or-nothing thinking: This cognitive distortion happens when a person thinks in extremes and cannot see the gray area between good and bad outcomes.

2. Catastrophizing: This negative thought pattern, emphasizes worst-case scenarios. Catastrophizing situations can lead to or increase anxiety.

3. Negative self-talk: Thinking poorly about oneself can significantly lower self-esteem and confidence and stop us from even trying.

Challenging and learning to replace unhelpful and often negative thoughts is one of the best ways to help us deal with stress and anxiety, and can make a real difference to mental health by considering situations with curiosity and exploring the facts rather than putting life down to luck or fate.

Useful steps

Take a step back and challenge unhelpful thoughts by thinking about what evidence really exists to support them.

Become curious about your thoughts. Be a detective and challenge your thinking!

• What are some other options to a situation?

• Are you considering facts or reacting from emotion?

• Is there good evidence for it?

• Are there other explanations or possible outcomes?

• What would you say to a friend if they were thinking this way?

• Consider why you allow negative thoughts to go unchallenged.

Keep a diary.

Seeing your negative thoughts on paper can help to ground us and see the irrationality of thinking in black and white. It can also help to identify patterns of negative thoughts such as when we're in pain or lonely. Are my thoughts fact or my opinion?

Challenge and reframe your thoughts.

If you catch yourself thinking a certain way.

Try “yes, but” statements. Reframe thoughts with “yes, but” statements to identify positive things, even in negative situations. For example, “Yes, I didn't get that promotion, but I am proud of my effort, made new connections, and challenged myself to try something new.”

Reframing your thoughts can help break the negative spiral and give you a new perspective – things are often not as bad as we perceive. Learning to think in a clearer, more positive way will often open up potential possibilities that were previously clouded by negative thinking.

Contact me and Let's Chat About the many ways you can learn to reframe your thoughts, learn to think more flexibly and be more in control.

Most of all -

Acknowledge and celebrate small victories. You are worth it!

Let go of negative thoughts

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