How to Manage Negative Thinking

“How to Manage Negative Thinking” was written by guest contributor, Jenny Marchal

Negative thinking can have a detrimental effect on our lives and can cause us stress, anxiety and depression. For a lot of people it has become a habit – always seeing the glass as half empty rather than half full. You may not think there’s much difference between the two but one can lead to a happy life and the other a much less happy one. The consequences of a negative mind are less confidence and lower self-esteem, less happiness, less energy, less enjoyable social interactions and less health benefits. What may seem like just a habit can subtly lessen your well-being and quality of life without us even necessarily realising it.

Negative thoughts are normal. First of all, it’s completely normal to have negative thoughts. We are all processing billions of thoughts a day and for these to all be positive would be a tall task. Negative thoughts are all part of normal human functioning but it’s when the negative thoughts outweigh the positive and start having an impact on our daily lives that the problem occurs.

Your thoughts aren’t true. When we start to realise that what goes on in our heads isn’t reality then it becomes easier to make peace with them. How we view the world isn’t how someone else views the world and it’s important to remember this. It’s the same in that, if someone else thinks or sees something negatively, it doesn’t mean it actually is something negative.

Is a problem still a problem even if you don’t think it’s a problem? Ponder this question for a minute. If something you thought was a problem suddenly wasn’t seen as a problem anymore – was it a problem in the first place? This shows that the ‘problem’ never actually existed other than in your own mind. If you think like this then you can start to realise that most of our negative thoughts aren’t valid.

You don’t have to believe your negative thoughts. With that in mind, you don’t have to believe your negative thoughts. You have a choice to believe them or let them go. You just have to be open to the fact that life isn’t out to get you. We can go through, and learn from, negative experiences but ultimately we have the power to see things a certain way.

Positive thinking is always going to be beneficial to our overall happiness. Consciously seeing the positive in a situation rather than focusing solely on the negative is where we want to be but getting rid of negative thinking by just being more positive isn’t necessarily the way to achieve this.

It’s really important to notice our negative thoughts for what they are. Accept that the negative thoughts are only in your head. The tiny step of noticing the thought and not believing it is where the growth really lies. Once you get used to doing this then negative thoughts will go as easily as they came and it’s in this space that you can adjust the thought to a more positive one.

The more you appreciate why negative thinking does not have a positive impact on your life, and why you are better off without it, the more your mind will be motivated and energised to get rid of it. Your brain will start to naturally see the glass half full and life can start to get a whole new perspective

-Jenny Marchal

Are you learning to live positively?

If you liked Jenny’s article (“How to Manage Negative Thinking”) feel free to sign up for my free Law of Attraction newsletter for more inspiration to help you attract positive outcomes into your life.  You can also become a member of my LOA member website and gain access to a library of video tutorials, ebooks, audiobooks and meditations.  Learn how to attract the things you want with fun, clarity and success!   Join today for as little as $1.99. XO, Andrea 

About the Author: Jenny Marchal is a freelance writer. Her hobbies are breakfast, lunch and dinner although writing, travelling and exploring are her biggest passions. She likes learning all about positive psychology and writes about it over at her blog: A Life Less Ordinary – Habits For Happiness.

Andrea Schulman