3 Ways to Deal with Negative Thoughts
Everybody deals with thoughts that they don’t like. Here’s my three best tips for dealing with negative thoughts:
Image source: https://medium.economist.com/can-we-know-what-animals-are-thinking-83991bc994c4
1. Don’t take thoughts seriously.
Where thoughts come from, we do not know. What we do know is that we have very limited control over the thoughts we think. If I tell you: DON’T think of a pink elephant. Ehh.. well you just did. So thoughts are not something we can completely control.
Next to that, thoughts are also not what we are. We are only watching thoughts unfold in our mind, we are only the watcher. Try practicing Meditation as a practice and in life.
Since we have no idea where thoughts come from yet, we don’t have to take the thought seriously.
2. Don’t get angry or irritated by your thoughts.
Because you cannot control thoughts, getting angry about a thought that pops into your mind, only makes things worse. Try not to be affected by your thoughts, only notice them.
The more energy you give a thought, the bigger it gets. Try being ok with the thought, mentally embracing it, even if it is a negative one. Acceptance is only a lack of resistance
3. Don’t give your thoughts more power.
Thoughts can be powerful if you give them power, thoughts can also be weak if you give them no power.
You give thoughts power by thinking more about them in any way, whether that is resisting the thought or it is cheering on the thought, it doesn’t matter. If you give the thought more attention, it will get stronger.
So, don’t talk about the thought, don’t dwell on it, don’t counter-think it by stating the positive opposite: just let go of the thought. You can do that by thinking other thoughts or distracting yourself.
Conclusion
We all think negative thoughts, relax, don’t take the thought seriously, try not to get angry or irritated by the thought, just notice it. And whatever you do, do not give the thought more attention or take it seriously.
Kees Blok is a Certified Life Coach, Coaching People in Amsterdam and Remote to Reduce Stress and Improve Flow through Meditation and Coaching.