Don’t be negative (9 tips to overcome negativity)
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The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the…
In this article, we will be discussing the phrase: don’t be negative. We will examine the signs of a negative person and various ways through which you stop yourself from being consistently pessimistic about your life and the way you live it.
Don’t be negative
For most of us, thinking negatively is second nature. It happens when things don’t proceed as we wish or when some major life changes occur that make us anxious and retreating in nature. Some people, on the other hand, are born with a disposition to think negatively in all situations that they encounter.
The first step is to be aware of your thoughts and the way we perceive ourselves, others, and the world. We need to be careful and catch ourselves in instances where we think, talk, or behave negatively. Here are some simple tips to help you gain awareness about your negative attitude towards life and other people.
Live more in the moment
We tend to get anxious and worked up for no reason when we engage ourselves in thoughts about the future or the past. Most tend to dread over future problems or past happenings. Rarely do we fret about the present moment and surroundings.
If you find yourself dreading past happenings or what is about to come in future times, constantly remind yourself that you only possess control over your current life and the present moment. The present moment is the only one that counts and which deserves your attention and time. Try to be proactive and be mindful of the habit of victimizing yourself as a consequence of circumstances or past events that occurred in your life.
The beauty of positive affirmation
Positive affirmations are statements that help to boost your self-esteem and confidence. Practice saying such statements about yourself and other people in your life. Make it a part of your routine and you could even start your morning by saying something nice about the day and yourself. This helps you to start the day on a good note and to be more aware of the good things happening in your day.
Be consistent and sincerely willing, while practicing these statements, and try to manifest your belief in the statements you come up with, about yourself and the world.
Stop dwelling
Dwelling and lamenting about what happened in the past does not help in any way. If something is bothering you and mentally disturbing you and your daily functioning, try to identify the root cause and see if you can fix it, immediately. Give it due attention and do not brood over it for a longer time. If it is something that is not in your control, learn to move on and get along with your life ahead. Brooding about what happened in the past is a terrible waste of time and energy and over time, it makes you feel worse about yourself.
Letting down your piled up emotional baggage is necessary to enjoy life as it happens.
The power of positive
Believe in the power of positivity. It might take time and hard work from your side to change your thought process and the way you see things. However, you need to trust the process and you need to trust yourself. You need to be willing to see the beautiful parts of yourself and embrace them unconditionally. Learn to appreciate your flaws and be brave to show them to the world. Be thankful for the person you are and the one you are becoming as life moves forward.
It is important to be grateful for the things you have achieved with sheer will power and determination. These reminders are necessary for you to realize how far you have come in life and the inner strength you possess. Try keeping a gratitude journal handy. Jot down the little and the major things for which you are grateful in life and continue this process every day.
Whenever you feel stuck and frustrated, take out your journal, and read through what you’ve written. This helps you in reaffirming that life can be beautiful and bright, despite the challenges that you’ve got to face. When we are constantly negative, we tend to focus on what we don’t have and forget about everything we’ve been able to achieve and enjoy, so far.
Ample movement
Movement of the body is important for the body as well as your mind. This is due to the release of endorphins in the body when we indulge in regular exercise of any form. It could be a ten-minute brisk walk or a ten-kilometer sprint. Physical activity makes you feel good and energized, despite you. If you are feeling miserably low and moody, you could try fifteen minutes of a quick cardio workout or a quick run would also do. It’s bound to make you feel better.
Identify your fears
It is extremely necessary to understand and identify the root of all your fears, to be able to manage them and eventually get rid of them, one by one. Negativity arises from our fears, at most times. The more fearful you are, the more negative you tend to be. Even if you fear something, do it anyway. Fear is a part of our life and we need to face it at one point in time.
Letting our fears define who we are harms our self-esteem and growth as a human being. It stops us from pursuing our goals and we tend to focus more on our shortcomings rather than our strengths.
Explore and expand new horizons
Be open to trying and exploring new areas of life and what it has got to offer. Life can surprise you if you let it be. Learn through the trial and error process and move on to new things if something is not working out for you. When you don’t possess the need to control everything happening in your life, you will give yourself more opportunities to grow and learn without constraints. New experiences in life provide you with chances to enjoy a fulfilling and exciting life.
Mind the perspective
When something does not go well, try to reframe the situation from a positive perspective. Try to view every challenge as a stepping stone to your growth and as a gift. Every challenge comes with a gift and in every gift, there exists a challenge.
Even when it becomes difficult and debilitating, put your mind into it and try to see the good things that can come out of it. Do the best you can and leave the rest behind!.
Signs you are being negative all the time
- You tend to see things only from your perspective and do not respect other’s opinions and values.
- Social media stresses you out and makes you feel worthless and envious of your peers.
- You don’t make it a point to follow through with your commitments and promises you’ve made.
- you keep thinking you’re too old for trying out new things and exploring the unexplored dimensions of life.
- You always let your past come in the way of your possibilities and opportunities.
- You don’t appreciate yourself for your achievements in your growth.
- You tend to involve in constant fights and disagreements with your partner and loved ones.
- You have a persistent tendency to see the world in all or nothing terms.
- You are severely anxious and afraid to try out new possibilities.
- You constantly complain about your work and your colleagues.
- You tend to get jealous and envious very easily.
- You get frustrated if any kind of change occurs in your routine.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed the phrase: don’t be negative. We discussed the various ways through which one can stop being negative all the time and the signs of a negative individual.
FAQs: Don’t be negative
What is a negative person?
A negative person is someone who has automatic negative thoughts throughout the day and is mostly stuck in such a loop of thought. Such people tend to be lost in a spiral of negative and unwanted thoughts concerning any circumstance or person. They tend to think negatively about themselves and others often and cannot find the motivation to see the brighter side of things and positively perceive things. They are rarely able to spot the possibilities in life and mostly end up giving their attention to the pitfalls of life and regretting over them.
Why is negative thinking bad?
Persistent negative thinking is a huge turn off for running your life smoothly. Prolonged negative thinking and engagement with negative emotions dismiss your brain’s power to think, reason, and form happy memories. It drains your brain’s energy level and makes you mentally exhausted and frustrated. It has also been revealed through studies that, cynical thinking increases the risk of being exposed to dementia.
Why do I always see the negative in things?
The tendency to persistently view the negative aspects of everything is known as ‘negativity bias”. It is a very common phenomenon and largely affects a huge part of the world’s population. Adults tend to pay more focus on negative experiences and information, than on positive experiences and feelings. This happens due to a lack of mindfulness and the ability to realistically comprehend the sensations and information perceived from the surroundings.
Negativity bias has the potential to further lead towards problematic behaviors and it stops you from enjoying the good things that happen in your life.
Can negative thinking cause mental illness?
It is completely normal and human to experience negative thoughts, occasionally. We are humans and none of us are perfect to the dot. There are times when our emotions slip out of our hands and where we feel tired and demotivated to engage in our personal growth. However, negative thinking, as a way of life, causes serious harm, in the long run. It affects the way you think about yourself, other people, and the world around you and gradually it starts creeping into your work/study and everyday functioning, leading to the development of other forms of mental disturbances and illness. These conditions include mental states such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, thought disorders, and such kind.
Why do I attract negative friends?
There is a constant longing for people to be around those who make them feel mentally healthy and better, at all times. They seek those kinds of people who see the brighter side of life and have the ability to uplift the ones who are consistently moody and pessimistic. However, if you are a person who is intrinsically motivated and loves to cheer on other people, there are chances for you to attract people who will drain you of your energy and ability to keep up with their pessimism.
This may not be the case always. However, there are high chances for this to occur, and you might end up feeling tired and overwhelmed by the end.
Does anxiety cause negative thinking?
Anxiety can lead to persistent negative thinking and vice versa. This is because they are learned behaviors that often repeats itself during situations of danger or fear. It is also a common trait observed in anxiety and depressive thinking. For people suffering from anxiety, negative automatic thoughts occur continuously and turn thoughts into paralyzing panic attacks.
They find it difficult to control the occurrence of these panic attacks and to keep a tab on their negative thoughts.
References
https://www.canadianliving.com/health/mind-and-spirit/article/9-ways-to-stop-being-negative
