{"id":36847,"date":"2015-11-16T14:21:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T22:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=36847"},"modified":"2015-11-19T00:55:37","modified_gmt":"2015-11-19T08:55:37","slug":"7-steps-crush-negative-thoughts-start-believing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/7-steps-crush-negative-thoughts-start-believing\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Steps to Crush Negative Thoughts and Start Believing in Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There you go again.<\/p>\n

Criticizing yourself with negative thoughts and constantly worrying about what other people think.<\/p>\n

You worry about what people think of your opinions and your decisions. You don\u2019t feel good about yourself, so you hold back. But this only achieves one thing. It keeps you right where you are in life, missing opportunities and wondering what if\u2026<\/p>\n

What if I had applied for that job, or what if I had asked that person on a date?<\/p>\n

Allowing your negative thoughts to chip away at your confidence bit by bit does more harm to your self-belief than anything said by other people.<\/p>\n

And you know what? Those negative thoughts are just lies.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s time to change the narrative, and you are the only one who can.<\/p>\n

You should never let your worries stop you from achieving your hopes and plans. Worry, or negative thinking, is only driven by fear. A fear of the future or of failure. But with the right tactics, you can banish these thoughts from ever holding you back.<\/p>\n

The following seven steps will radically change how such thinking affects you. Once you start using your mental powers differently, you\u2019ll be bursting with newfound confidence.<\/p>\n

1. Recognize the true impact of your thoughts<\/b>
\nGather evidence about how your thinking affects your daily experience. By knowing and observing your thoughts, you will come to recognize when and how they affect the events in your life.<\/p>\n

Take a few minutes each day to reflect on how you felt at different times. Write in a journal to record how certain thoughts made you feel and when they occurred. Then ask yourself how those feelings affected your mood and outlook. Once you see patterns, you\u2019ll be able to anticipate them more effectively.<\/p>\n

2. Stop lying to yourself<\/b>
\nNegative thoughts or worrying can be shown for what they truly are. False. Worrying is a form of lying to yourself.<\/p>\n

For example, in the run-up to a recent vacation, I started to worry about flying. In my mind, I pictured all kinds of scary possibilities. So I said to myself,\u00a0 \u201cRight, let\u2019s see what happens,” and carried on regardless.<\/p>\n

Well, the holiday turned out to be a nice, relaxing time. Travel went without a hitch, and my negative thoughts proved to be a million miles from reality. Just fiction. Try collecting a few of your own examples like this to see just how unfounded worry can be.<\/p>\n

3. Trust in a friend<\/b>
\nDon\u2019t feel you have to face this challenge by yourself. Confide in people you can trust.<\/p>\n

A friend might also have recurring negative thoughts thereby giving you both an opportunity to discuss and support each other.<\/p>\n

Chatting over a coffee and being open about your thoughts with a friend will not only help you take a rational look at your thoughts, but friends also offer you the advantage of being on the outside looking in. They\u2019ll see a version of you without the influence of your mental narrative, giving you another voice to listen to.<\/p>\n

4. Plan your worry<\/b>
\nIn Dr. Wayne Dyer\u2019s first book, Your Erroneous Zones<\/i>, he teaches us that not one moment of worry will make things any better. It\u2019s not just false but also a waste of time.<\/p>\n

You must live life regardless of worry, seizing exciting opportunities and believing in yourself.<\/p>\n

One way to help is to set specific times just for worrying. Try reserving 5\u201310 minutes a couple of times a week to have a good old worry about things. After this period of deliberate negative thinking, jump right back into life safe in the knowledge that you\u2019re done with worrying for a while. This will help you box negative thinking into specific times, encouraging you to live negative-free the rest of the week.<\/p>\n

5. Cultivate new thoughts<\/b>
\nYou probably know why you have negative thoughts. Maybe slow progress in your career has made you doubt your abilities? Perhaps you tried a new hobby and gave up? Negative events can pull you into a habit of negative thinking, and before you know it, confidence is lost.<\/p>\n

Whatever the cause, you can encourage more positive thoughts by purposefully separating the past, even recent past, from the present and giving your mind something new to think about. You might consider the following:<\/p>\n