How to Stop Negative Thought Patterns and Reprogram Your Thinking

by Erika Slater

Negative Thinking on Napkin Saying

Are you the type of person who tends to, “hope for the best, but expect the worst”?

Okay, perhaps your thinking patterns are more negative than that as you mostly thinking about, and are expecting, the worst nine or ten out of ten times because you’re conditioned to disappointment, and let downs from past experiences.

Do your past mistakes and experiences keep you rooted in this negativity, rendering you helpless to feel like there’s a continual ‘black cloud’ following you around?

If so, then this article make help you begin to break out of this rout!

You don’t have to live in the world of negative thoughts forever. You can start to create a mental shift immediately to help your thoughts become more positive.

But to change our thoughts it helps us first to understand where negative thoughts or thinking patterns come from…

 

HOW DO WE END UP IN NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS?

Same Old Thinking on BlackboardGenerally speaking, they’re manifested, created or developed from past negative experiences.

Now we all have rough days or weeks where things just don’t seem to go our way. One negative experience just stacks on top of another until we feel like hiding away for a while. We don’t live in a five-star world where everything is just wonderful and positive every minute of every day. Right?

While this may bring our mood down for a while we know it’s temporary and expect things to get better.

It’s like the difference between feeling sad for a while and being in deep depression.

In fact, those who are diagnosed with depression have a tendency to also be stuck in negative thought patterns. If you feel stuck in a depression then you should seek medical advice as you may need professional intervention to help get you out.

Often times, negative thoughts started out from experiencing mistakes, criticisms or even personal threats, which may have been psychological in nature. The events may have been so negative or powerful you couldn’t shake them from your attention, and you continued to think about them. Finally, they became your center of attention.

Tell a child repeatedly they’re bad in their early years for long enough and they’ll eventually believe it! The child that’s compared unfavorably to other children eventually “gets the message” – I’m not as good as others.

The longer this persisted, the more likely your thinking pattern became tainted with negativity.

Embarrassed Child in ClassroomDid you know that it takes roughly 21-28 days to create positive or negative habits? If you continued to focus on your negative experience(s), then you started to create a ‘habit’ of looking for the negative or bad in most, if not all, your experiences.

You see, thinking patterns become your reality. Your lenses of perception (mental, emotional and psychological) become intent, even content, with only focusing on the negative.

Thoughts become things, and where thoughts go… your energy flows.

If you’re continually looking at situations as being negative, then guess what? You’ll find the negative in them as your energies will either draw them to you, or you’ll create them!

The longer you become grounded in this way of thinking, feeling and acting, you’ll limit your life’s experiences – they’ll become cynical, pessimistic, negative or even paralyzing. Some individuals will become rendered so helpless they’ll never act on the opportunities, or take the chances, challenges, or even risks needed to not only succeed in life, but also enjoy life to the fullest.

Bottom line: negative thinking can keep you sitting on the sidelines of life watching others succeed because you’re so worried about making mistakes or failing!

But it doesn’t have to be this way…

 

REPROGRAM YOUR WAY OF THINKING TO POSITIVE THOUGHTS:

Thougts Feelings Concept ImageYou CAN reprogram your thinking and though it’s easier than you think, you’re not going to erase a lifetime of negative patterns overnight. It will take time but there are steps you can take to start the process and begin to change your life.

The first step is identifying you have negative thinking patterns hindering you. With that said, you need to start monitoring your negative thoughts.

Ask yourself, “what is thinking this way getting me?” Most likely, nothing and moving you nowhere fast! The key is to stop negative thoughts as soon as they come into your mind and shift your focus onto something positive.

Monitoring your thoughts can be tricky though – easy to spot after the fact but difficult when you’re in the middle of it.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a system to help change your thoughts and I’ve provided a link below in the resource section for you to learn more about CBT.

Once you become adept at catching yourself ruminating on negative thoughts then use these techniques to distract you away from them.

Visualize yourself in a store and go shopping for whatever is your fancy – food, books, games, clothes, etc. Whatever you enjoy shopping for picture this in your mind thoughts and focus. If shopping doesn’t “float your boat” then think of a concert or other entertainment your recently enjoyed and take yourself back there.

Look around at who you’re spending time with, and if these folks also possess mostly negative thoughts as well then find yourself new company. People can drag you down and let’s face it we tend to mix with folks that think and act the same. At the very least their negative worry habits could rub off on you. Surrounding yourself with people who think positively, and operate in a supportive way, can make a big difference in changing your habits of thinking.

Reframe in Word CloudReframe the thought making you think negatively. Look for the positive in a bad situation. For example, if you’re stuck in traffic and start the walk down the “woe is me” path then look at it as an opportunity to use this time to learn. Listen to a podcast or a radio program where you can learn something new. This will redirect your negative thoughts.

If you’re still struggling with monitoring your negative thoughts and changing them, then hypnosis can be a powerful solution. Hypnosis can help you to change up negative thoughts and shift your attention to positive thoughts and outcomes.

Interestingly, you can be taught through hypnosis that whenever negative thoughts enter your mind, these become the triggers for your conscious mind to focus on something positive.

Once you do this repeatedly (over 21+ days), your unconscious mind will now have positive thought patterns from which to draw from, and eventually this will become your normal and default thought pattern.

Seek out a local hypnotherapist to do one-on-one sessions. If you want to consider working directly with me through my online or in-office sessions then check out my Special Hypnosis Services Programs.

Alternatively, you can find a self-hypnosis program for self-study. If you’re ready to stop negative thinking and enjoy a new perspective then check out this self-hypnosis session here >>>

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES RELATED TO NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS:

Stop Fighting Your Negative Thoughts >>>

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 101 >>>

Stop Smoking Hypnosis Session – What to Expect for Success >>>

18 Tricks to Make New Habits Stick >>>

Library of Self-Hypnosis Downloads Products >>>

 
Erika Slater CH
Free At Last Hypnosis
Massachusetts

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Interested in making a significant change in your life and interested in learning more about what I do and how I do it? Discover my hypnotherapy services here or contact me here.

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