7 Practical Ways to Overcome Negative thoughts.

by Busola Omotoye

We are bound to have negative thoughts, feel anxious, nervous, depressed and afraid. However, where it becomes unhealthy is when we let these negatives emotions get the better part of us, leading us further into drastic problems.

Negative thoughts are sometimes built on valid reasonings, but most times are fabricated thoughts with no basis. We will be looking at some practical steps to overcome negative thoughts when we are faced with them.

7 Practical Ways to Overcome Negative Thoughts.

1 Recognize Your Emotions: The first step to overcome negative thoughts is to recognize your emotions. This isn't the time to start apportioning blames. Rather, it's best you start by understanding how you feel at that particular moment and accept your feelings.

Understanding your emotions helps you figure out lasting ways to resolve them. For example, failing an exam as a student can be painful and dreadful. Most times, it's usually the students' fault due to lack of preparation. Other times, it could be carelessness, over confidence, or the "my village people syndrome". Whatever the case may be, once it has happened, accept it.

2 Ascertain the origin of your negative thought: The second step to overcome negative thoughts is to discover the origin or source of the problem. Identifying the source of a problem helps you fathom the best approach to solve it and enable you to develop coping strategies which could help you better manage future negative experiences.

It also aids to fosters emotional resilience and improve behavioral changes. Ascertaining the origin of your negative thoughts also helps you realize their efficacy.

3 Practice Gratitude: The benefits of practicing gratitude cannot be over emphasized. it's one of the most substantial ways to overcome negative thoughts and it consistently works effective. Remember the saying, what you think, you become? This statement

explains that a person's thoughts and mindset, influences their actions and ultimately their future.

Consider the role of the RAS (reticular activating system), located in your medulla(brain). Its job is to filter sensory information which helps you stay alert, focused and conscious. It zeroes in on your thoughts and seeks to validate them. The most important point is that It works with what you feed it, if you provide it negative thoughts, you get negation results: conversely, feeding it positive thoughts yields positive results.

Often, we tend to capitalize more on our losses rather than our wins which is not ideal. Being grateful for what you have puts you in a better position to acquire what you do not have.

4 Highlight Your Strengths and Accomplishments: Rather than dwelling on your shortcomings and missteps, focus on your strengths and accomplishments. This aids in building self-confidence. Asides this, ensure you identify your weaknesses, and thrive to work on them- this will yield more beneficial results and help in overcoming negative thoughts.

5 Prioritizing Self-care: This is a crucial way of controlling negative thoughts. Prioritizing selflove or worth entails valuing your well-being, both mentally physically and emotionally. It includes practicing self-love, setting healthy boundaries, acknowledging your strengths, accepting imperfections and fostering a better relationship with yourself. Ultimately, it's about treating yourself with kindness and compassion.

The way you value yourself reflects in the kind of company you keep. Surrounding yourself with the right set of friends assures you emotional and mental stability. This is why it is important to learn ways to prioritize self-love. When you surround yourself with people who love you and have your interest at heart, it helps fosters and develop your self-esteem and brings out your best version.

6 Set Realistic Goals: Set SMART goals- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. This gives you a framework which helps to keep you determined and makes you accountable. Also, ensure you move at your pace, don't over exact yourself.

Learning ways to effectively set goals gives you a better chance of achieving them.

7 Self-Care Routines: Prioritize self-care activities such as exercise, adequate sleep, and hobbies to maintain a balance in your life. Engage in activities that can help boost your mental health and relief stress. In essence, find what works best for

Dwelling on your negative thoughts does not yield results, neither will it change the narrative of a particular situation.

So, what's the point?

Feeling sorry for yourself and your present condition is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.

If there is one thing I have come to realize, it's that filling yourself with negative thoughts takes more than it actually gives. It takes away your happiness, joy, fulfillment and replaces it with anxiety and fear.

It makes you belittle yourself, magnifies your inadequacies, trivializes your potentials, and makes you feel inferior. When this happens, your mental, emotional and general well-being is put at stake.

I'll leave you with a statement by Willie Nelson,

once you replace negative thoughts for positive ones, you start having positive results.