How to Avoid Negative Thoughts

Unchecked thoughts snowball…

I’m a mindset coach.  

Most people have no idea what I mean when I say that, so I’ll explain what I do:  I show people how their perception affects every area of their life – from their relationships to their bank accounts – and give them tools to look at things differently so that they can get different results.The trap of negative thoughts

People don’t always realize that the negative things they are experiencing are a result of their perception or their thinking.  Here are some examples of commonplace thoughts that can have less than desirable results:

• I don’t know how.
• She doesn’t value me.
• He doesn’t respect me.
• I’m unappreciated.
• I always say the wrong thing.
• She’s mad at me.
• The other shoe will eventually drop.
• I didn’t work hard enough.
• Guys are sleazy.
• I need to have my ducks in a row before I can proceed.
• I don’t get paid enough.
• I’m the outsider.
• I have to do this on my own.
• My kids are more important than I am.
• People take advantage of me.
• I’m giving more than I’m getting.
• I can’t tell people about what’s going on in my life. 
• My family can’t handle my stuff.
• I don’t want to burden anyone. 
• I’m not good enough.
• It’s my fault.
• I have no idea what to do.
• I don’t know what my role is.
• It sucks to be me right now.
• She doesn’t support me. 

How Negative thoughts snowball

You may recognize some of the above thoughts as running through your mind every now and then. Thinking those thoughts is not going to kill you.

The issue is that all too often we let our thoughts go unchecked and they snowball.  

When the same thought is repeated over and over, it becomes a reliable truth even if it really has no merit.  We start to see ourselves and others through the perspective of these “truths”.  We expect certain people to react in certain ways and specific things to happen based on our perspective.  And, because we’re pros at finding what we’re looking for, it’s easy for us to experience whatever it is we expect.

Why we should avoid negative thoughts

Did you know that the above thoughts, when repeatedly echoed in your head in different situations at different times and subconsciously accepted by you can have the following outcomes?

• career dissatisfaction
• being fired
• being denied promotions
• under-education
• under-earning
• isolation
• strained relationships
• frequent moving/instability
• emotional overeating
• chronic obesity
• infidelity
• divorce

Those things bite the big one.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that if you think any of the thoughts I listed at the top of this post, you are doomed to a crappy life. 

Results are the fruit of tiny seeds of thought

I’m saying that if you don’t recognize you’re thinking negative thoughts and you don’t do something to address them, your passivity has the potential to result in great harm.  All of those icky outcomes I listed are the fruit of the tiny seeds of misguided thinking.  

If you want different fruit, you’ve got to think different thoughts.  THAT is the big deal about mindset.

What can you do today to change your mindset? Let me know below.