What did you think when you read the title of this post?
Shouldn’t stop negative thinking – surely she’s wrong? Negative thoughts are bad! They make people unhappy, they sabotage self-confidence, they create depression and anxiety. So surely, we should try to stop our negative thoughts from dictating our lives?
The problem is that when we try to stop having negative thoughts, we give those negative thoughts more power.
As the founder of psychoanalysis Carl Jung said
“What you resist, persists”
By this he meant that the more we try to push something away, the more important it seems in our lives, the more power it holds over us, the more difficult it is to let it go.
It’s the same with unwanted thoughts
Letting go of negative thinking is something that I help many of my clients achieve, but I always remind them not to try to force those thoughts away – that’s never the answer.
Negative thoughts will pop into your mind without any conscious choice on your part. They just happen because your mind has become trained to think in that way.
The good news is that we can change all that. We can train the mind to habitually and automatically think positive thoughts instead. If we do it in the right way
We can't always choose the thought that pops into our head - but we can choose the thought we follow it up with
The trick is NOT to try to force away negative thoughts.
Instead, just notice when one pops into your head - then follow that up with something more self-loving.
For example:“I’m doing my best, I’m working on changing this habit now”
Practice doing this and in a very short time the habit of negative thinking will diminish and instead you'll have formed a habit of self-loving positive thoughts.
So, don’t ever try to resist your negative thoughts. Allow them, but don't give them too much attention. Then place your focus on more self-loving messages.
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