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April 28 - April 29, 2019
Your negative thoughts corrupt your mind and gradually pollute your emotions, behavior, and attitude.
Barbara Fredrickson who is a psychology researcher working at the University of North Carolina. To test the influence of different positive emotions and feelings on the human brain, she invited some participants and divided them into five groups. The first and second groups were shown different clips showing positive emotions. The first group saw clips containing joy while the second one saw clips based on contentment. The third group was labeled as the ‘control’ group and was shown neutral images. The fourth group saw images based on fear, while the fifth one saw images based on anger.
positive emotions and thinking help you see different options in a situation to resolve it in the best possible manner, whereas a negative mindset limits your actions and thinking capabilities as well.
‘I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. ‘’Jimmy Dean’’
A single thought can have a great and lasting effect. What you constantly think about eventually becomes what you are.
Catastrophizing: When you think that a bad situation is going to end up far worse than it actually is, you are catastrophizing. In a way, you are blowing things out of proportion. For instance, if you become feverish, you immediately think you are going to die.
Mind Reading: You think you know exactly what other people are thinking. For instance, if you always assume that your boss hates you, then you will end up believing that you will never get that promotion.
Over-generalizing: This refers to making a decision based on just one incident. For instance, if you forgot to include an important report in a presentation, you’d say, ‘I always forget to do this.’ even if it only occurred once.
Black and White Thinking: This means that you think that a certain scenario can only have either a bad or a good outcome, and that there can’t be any middle way. For instance, you may think ‘He is the best or the worst.’ Because of black and white thinking, you won’t probably consider that ‘He has his flaws, but he is a decent man.’
Critical Self-Talk: It refers to having a negative image of yourself. You constantly tell yourself that you can’t do something, or highlight your flaws and mistakes. For instance, always thinking that ‘I am a loser’ or ‘I am a failure.’
Predicting your Future: You believe that you know exactly how things are going to turn out. For instance, you think that you will definitely fail a test even before you actually take it.
you are in control with what goes on in your head, so make choose only what is helpful to you. With the right habits, you will achieve a positive thought process, and a mindset that is insusceptible to negativity.
Use criticism to improve yourself, but don’t let it take total control of your thoughts.
Keep telling yourself, ‘There’s a way out’ loudly and clearly. This affirmation will help your mind think clearly to find a way out of the situation you may be in.
Channel your energy into creativity. You don't need to be artistic to try your hand at something new. Instead of keeping your negative feelings to yourself, use it to create something.
Find inspiration from others. Chances are, there is someone who has also went through something similar. Read some books or blogs and learn from other people's stories. You'll find bits of advice that you can use in battling your own problems.
Recall your times of victory. When was the last time you overcame something difficult? Remind yourself that you are capable of rising above any situation.
Think about how this situation will help you. Tough times may give you doubt, problems and other unpleasant things. However, it can also help you develop qualities that will be useful in the future. These difficult battles can prepare you and make you more resilient to the challenges the future may bring.
NLP or neuro-linguistic programming is a term invented by Dr. Richard Bandler in the 1970s. He defined the term as "a system of alternative therapy based on this which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective communication, and to change their patterns of mental and emotional behaviour."
Self-anchoring is a technique that helps you experience a positive emotion upon saying or doing something that you have anchored that response with. Start by identifying a state you are interested in experiencing; for instance, self-confidence.
