To achieve this, they must possess positive thinking, that is, a sound intellectual approach about themselves, their society, and life in general, and separate themselves from the negative thoughts that limit their abilities and disturb their life. Unfortunately, the modern world's pressures, problems, and challenges confront us in everything we consider, fostering negative thinking.
Negative thinking is more dangerous than anyone can imagine. It makes an individual's life a series of troubles and difficulties and a starting point for negative behaviors, leading to negative outcomes such as psychological illness, loneliness, fear, distraction, loss, dissociation, and constant stress and anxiety.
It is easy to think negatively. The surrounding environment plays a major role in its occurrence and evocation. By constantly thinking negatively, you condemn yourself to live in successive self-defeats, brokenness, and losses, escaping into the unknown.
What Is Negative Thinking?
The negative thought is nothing more than a person's internal dialogue. However, what makes it a threat that causes them endless troubles is repeating them until they become ingrained habits in them. Negative thinking, in general, is about being trapped in the past, as they think about all the negative things that happened in the past, live their present life in a state filled with negative beliefs due to that past, and feel afraid of the future. As a result, all of which makes their life an endless series of troubles.
A negative thinker can find negatives in everything, even if it is positive. They must find something to disturb the peace. They embrace core ideas such as either achieving everything you want or nothing at all, generalizing phenomena and events, bringing everything black to the soul, the absence of every positive thought or event, making quick judgments without thinking, and using negative emotions to manage situations living in a world of illusions based on the notion that "it must be," and uttering epithets toward oneself and others for no reason.
Negative thinking is a disease that consumes the individual and their society, hinders progress, keeps them stuck in their place for an extended period, or even pushes them backward, causing them to enter a state of complaint, submission, humiliation, whining, sadness, self-blame, and blame of others.
Negative Thinking Sources
- The narrow vision of some individuals: It results from a lack of awareness or misunderstanding. The individual tends to judge the entire subject based on their perceived part.
- Focusing only on a specific time in a person’s life, often a present period that they cling to, prevents them from thinking realistically about the future.
- Accumulating negative attitudes since childhood and thinking about them constantly.
- Poor self-confidence, self-centeredness, and exaggerating emotional situations without fully seeing the situation and in isolation from the social whole.
- Arrogance: Certain people are so arrogant and brash in their thinking that they analyze and probe situations deeply, even when they are clear situations that do not require searching for logical explanations. They exaggerate the situation to find an entry point for discussion and debate.
- Thinking inertia brought on by a poor first impression leads to hasty decisions devoid of careful thought and sound reasoning.
- Extremism among some individuals: Some individuals want to issue and generalize judgments, which results in behaviors that affect them and their relationships with others.
- Negative friends and their negative influence on individuals’ lives.
- Lack of goals: A person’s feeling of emptiness, the lack of an ideal goal in their life, and the lack of ambition lead to intellectual emptiness; thus, negative thoughts flow into their life.
- Absence of objective standards in human life that enable people to assess issues, subjects, and people fairly. It causes cognitive failure, which results in incorrect and illogical judgment approaches.
- Relying on ready-made templates or on others' experiences for judgment. Thinking here is based on generalization, which has a high probability of making mistakes, which seems logical given the individual differences. What an individual likes may differ from what another individual likes.
- Thinking about the personality weaknesses, not trying to improve them, and ignoring its strengths.
- Isolation, avoidance of social interaction, inability to achieve social integration, and the isolation and depression it causes.
The Power of Negative Thinking
Stanford University researched the power of negative thinking and its effect on the human body's organs. The researchers found that the stomach secretes some types of very strong acids. A laboratory mouse that had been fed a sample of these acids died as a result of the acid's effects. The experiment was conducted again to confirm the result, and each time, the outcome was the same, and all of the mice that consumed the acid died.
How to Get Rid of Negative Thinking?
To overcome negative thinking, one must attempt to cultivate positive thinking, which is defined as the capacity to control one's beliefs, assess one's thoughts, control them, direct them toward what produces positive outcomes, and create an optimistic thought process that aims to find a solution rather than wallow in misery. When someone thinks positively, they can see things for what they are, anticipate good things, feel driven to explore the unknown, and find all that is lovely about it.
Here are some methods to help get rid of negative thinking and develop positive thinking:
1. Psychological flexibility
Be psychologically flexible, which is a relatively permanent state that makes the individual psychologically, personally, emotionally, and socially compatible with themselves and with their social environment. It also prompts them to feel happy with everything they do, enabling them to exploit their energies and abilities as they should and achieve success.
2. Unconditional self-acceptance
Be satisfied with your abilities and talents, whatever they are, and strive to improve them. Do not blame yourself, and accept yourself without complaint. Have faith in your ability to accomplish all of your goals and aspirations. Have faith in your abilities to solve any issues you may encounter.
3. Always expect what is good and be optimistic
Always anticipate a better future with beautiful things. Even if you fail once, it is not a fixed measure in life, as this failure might be the beginning of great success. Today’s misfortunes might have benefits in the future. No matter how bad your circumstances or situation are, think that you will improve in the coming years.
4. Set goals
Determine what goals you want to achieve in life and strive to make your life interesting.
5. Make sure to be a responsible person
Complete the work assigned to you with accuracy and mastery. When you make a mistake, admit it and take responsibility. You don't need to succeed in everything you do.
6. Expand social relationships
Talk to people who are interested in you. Those who love you are your biggest supporters who will give you real advice to help you. At the same time, building good social relationships improves your work and familial situation.
7. Control emotions
Control your emotions and anger. Do not get too emotional even if others try to do so.
8. Respect
Make respect a basic theme in your life. Respect yourself, others, appointments, and others' opinions and ideas. Respect reflects a good image of you and makes others respect you in return.
9. Avoid negative friends
Distance yourself from pessimistic, melancholic people who see the negative in everything in life. They are going to make you fail.
10. Find an outlet for yourself
Learn a hobby and express your pain and feelings through it, such as drawing or playing a musical instrument.
11. Meditation, relaxation, and exercise
When you feel tired, take a rest and stop working. When you need a vacation, take it. Exercise regularly, as it is useful psychologically and physically.
12. Encouraging and rewarding oneself
Address yourself with love and be kind to yourself. When you accomplish something good, acknowledge it and strive to achieve more.
13. Pay attention to external appearance
To look better, try to project elegance and take good care of your body. Being well-groomed enhances your appearance and reflects a positive psychological state.
14. Avoid activities that you find unpleasant
Learn to say "no" when necessary. Do not bother doing things that you do not like or do not want.
In Conclusion
When you think negatively, you paralyze your life, live in constant fear of everything, condemn yourself to misery, move in darkness, and flounder in disappointment, regret, and despair.
As a result, your life becomes a tragedy from which you cannot escape or search for any hope to hold on to. Suppose you don't consider how to break free from that mindset and put in the effort to do so.
In that case, you will surely experience more tragedies in life and end up at the bottom from which you might never rise again or from which you might not be able to find support, which will eliminate any possibility of success you may have tried to attain.
So, be brave, resist those thoughts, start building yourself, and strive to achieve everything beautiful, no matter what difficulties you encounter. Always keep in mind that you are stronger than all these difficulties.
Add comment