Do you allow negative thoughts to creep into your day?
Do you feel worse after you allow this?
You aren’t alone.
Thinking positive is important, but it is also important to not allow negativity to invade your thoughts. But if this happens, get rid of those thoughts as quickly as possible.
Imagine you are getting ready to go on a first date after being set up by a friend. She tells you that he is the most amazing man and that he will surely fall for you. You try on your little black dress and it’s too tight. You look at yourself in the mirror and negative thoughts start creeping in.

STOP!

What just happened? You allowed negative thoughts to penetrate your inner sanctum, that precious place where positivity dwells: your positive mind.
The negative thoughts you have throughout the day might not be about those extra pounds you put on or how you look. They might be about how well you think you did at work, how capable you think you are doing things at home, or even how good a friend you think you are.
For some reason this happens a lot. We tend to allow negative thoughts in when there is no place, or reason, for them.

Why do we do this?

• We overgeneralise
• We think too much about the past
• We are too focused on the future
• We can’t see that there is a positive in pretty much everything

Did any of those resonate with you?I have been guilty of doing at least some of these several times a day. That was until I realised how important thinking positive was. Positive thinking is focusing on the positive, rather than the negative, aspects of a situation. This definition makes thinking positive seem pretty simple, but if that’s the case, why can’t we do it more often? Well, we can. We just need to teach ourselves how to get rid of negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. I have found 5 different ways, that are backed by research, to help you get rid of negativity and start thinking positively.

Recognise what you have going for you

You are amazing. You are capable of doing whatever you put your mind to. Focus on that. Recognise the talents and abilities that you have. Notice your strengths, as well as your weaknesses, for any given situation. Figure out how you can improve the abilities that you have. As part of this, incorporate positive self-talk. Whatever you say to yourself, either when you’re alone, or in your head so no one else can hear, make it positive. This absolutely goes hand-in-hand with recognising what you have going for you. The more you can recognise what you have going for you by incorporating positive self-talk, the more positively you will feel. A study conducted in 2015 discovered that using this positive thinking strategy can reduce negative thoughts by almost 30%. That’s a pretty big jump. What’s more important is that the women who participated in this study started having stronger positive relationships with themselves and with others. It improved their self-esteem and they began to enjoy life more.

Think about hope

Hope can be used to decrease negative thinking and increase positive thinking. It’s amazing how much hope can actually do. A recent study on positive thinking and depression indicated that having hope was very important for positive thinking.When a person begins to hope, they are more likely to see things positively, reduce any kind of sadness or depression they might be feeling, and increase the positive thinking they have about the future. What this does is help decrease any worry a person has about the future and helps them think more positively in the present.
Start your day with a sense of calm
Starting your day with a sense of calm is a great way to shape your day in a positive way. To do this, start with meditating, or thinking, for only five minutes while focusing on a positive affirmation (positive self-talk). You could do this before you get out of bed, while you’re showering, or even while you’re getting dressed. What this technique does is help you start your day in a positive way. Positive affirmations are amazing and if you focus on those during the first moments of the day, just imaging how your day will unfold. The woman who studied using this techniques realised that starting the day with a sense of calm really cemented the day. The positive affirmations were things to think of during the day, and even use if a negative thought began to creep in.

The one-breath technique

The one-breath technique was devised by Terry Orlick as a way to maintain positive thinking when negative thoughts creep in. This technique is pretty cool. Basically, all you do is breathe in slowly and deeply and out even slower, whenever a negative thought starts to come into your space. The one breath that you take is enough to move past that negative thought and into a positive one.

Write it down

Keeping a journal about the ups and downs you have during the day is a good way to gain perspective on your thought processes. When you have a negative thought, write it down, and then write down at least three positive things that you could have thought instead.
If the negative thought you have is about your ability to do your job, write down three ways you have excelled or succeeded in your job.
This is a great way to get you on track to thinking more positively, because you are changing your negative thoughts into positive ones.
This technique was studied and determined to be effective in changing thought processes, as well as behaviors. But what’s more is that it doesn’t take a lot of effort and you will be happy with the results.
Positive thinking is very important to how we view ourselves and the world. You aren’t alone if you have difficulty with positive thinking, but the more you practice the techniques discussed earlier the more likely you will be able to leave negative thinking behind and embrace positive thinking.
You can do it! After all, you are amazing; you are wonderful, and you can do anything you set your mind to.