How To Free The Mind Of Negative Thinking

Negative Thought Patterns Offer You Nothing. Here’s How To Change them.

It’s rare for most people to go through a day without picking up on the negative influences of people around us. We are like magnets, absorbing the energy out of the air. When in a hostile or fearful environment, our thoughts can become harmful if we don’t take swift action.

This article discusses a negative mindset and what you can do about it. The thoughts coming from our historical experiences determine the quickness of intake. We can push negative thinking away or keep dunking the sponge of pessimism and wringing it into our lives.

Applying Feedback to Your Life

An advantage we all have as human beings is the cognitive ability to recognize where we are in life, reshape and adjust, then make constructive changes. This recognition — change cycle is a feedback loop. There are many forms of feedback in our life.

The common thermostat is one that constantly monitors the temperature and adjusts according to our choice. When feedback fails, that could be a problem. For instance, consider the feedback loop within an autopilot that keeps a plane on track.

Imagine your plane departs the airport and you expect to land in Reno, Nevada, in a few hours. After a brief nap, you wake up with a landing in Bogota, Colombia. Someone in front of the plane turned on the autopilot and wasn’t paying attention to their location.

Your Internal Feedback Loop

Within your physiology, you can tap into your own feedback loop. When you feel burdened, upset, fearful, or worried about the future, recognize where you are. It’s critical to know that negative thinking offers nothing good for you, it never does.

An Approach That Works

There are many ways to change the energy within you from negative to positive. Here is one approach that caters to your learning style, whether auditory, visual or tactile. This method allows you to hear better messages in your thoughts and lets you see and feel them kinesthetically. One, some or all can help you.

Your Current Feelings

When you recognize the feeling of being pulled toward the negative side of your mental and emotional territory, write what you feel. I’m a big fan of steno pads with the vertical line down the center. Write what you feel NOW on the left. Describe how you feel in your body, your breath, or tightness in your neck, chest, shoulders, or other physical manifestations.

What You Want Instead

On the right side of the paper, write what you want to feel like instead of the description of your current feelings. Most often, the positive things will be the opposite of the negative… pretty simple. Refer to the image below for an example of the current feelings, and how to describe what you want instead.

The Abdominal Breath

For full details of the abdominal breath and how it can calm you (and why), visit my site and you can download a free bookmark to guide and remind you to take time to breathe.

After you’ve written how you feel and your chosen positive feelings, it’s time for 3 slow abdominal breaths. This begins the process of calmness and release of anti-stress hormones.

The Process

• Sit or lie down in a comfortable place.
• When taking an abdominal breath, take a S L O W inhale through your nose and fill your lungs with air. Let your breath in last 4 to 6 seconds (the slower, the better so aim for 6).
• As you inhale, press your stomach out and hold that breath for 6-seconds.
• Now, S L O W L Y exhale for 6 seconds out your mouth (or nose, depending on what’s the most comfortable for you).
• As you exhale, pull your stomach in and hold that for 4 to 6 seconds.
• Repeat the process at least three times.
• After a few breaths, you’ll should notice a sense of calmness starting.

Write Your Personal Affirmation

From your list of positive conditions on the right side of the page, create at least one affirmation from the KEY things on your list. The example in the photo has 3 possible types of positive messages to feed your mind. Create something easy to remember, and simple to say.

Throughout your day, take a few moments for 3 Abdominal breaths and repeat your affirmation(s) to yourself either internally or aloud. If you’re walking from one point to another, that’s a good time to focus on them. Some of my clients use their affirmations as a mantra when on stabilized cardio machines like exercise bikes or elliptical. They’ve found it helps empower them through their workout. You shouldn’t do this while driving or operating machinery.

At Night, Before Rest

At night, right before sleep, your mind is more receptive to calm, supportive messages that can work for you during rest. As you settle in for sleep, take 3 abdominal breaths and notice your calmness increases. Then, tell yourself the following at least 10 times:

Every Day in Every Way, I AM Better and Better. (Then, add your affirmation to the end.)

The reason we say these messages at least 10 times is to compound the power of them. The more your subconscious hears a positive message, the stronger subsequent beliefs form. The subconscious knows what needs work before our normal conscious mind does. This is the purpose of the “Every Day” statement. I recommend you read my earlier article, “How to apply autosuggestion to empower your life”. The article gives greater details and gives some pretty cool examples where it helped people.

I’ve seen incredible changes in clients that adopted this approach and turned it into a daily habit. The more you apply this, the better it will work in your life. I’ve also seen people that were naysayers and tried it once, expecting life change with no effort on their part. When I work with clients for their betterment, the key word is: WITH; we work together in partnership.

I train people how to create satisfying and productive lives. Yet, they need to do the work. When my primary focus was through hypnotherapy, I’d get some clients that just wanted to get in the chair, close their eyes and leave with a perfect life and not take part in the work. If a person isn’t willing to be part of their own success, then I don’t work with them. Don’t be that person.

You deserve a rewarding life, just go through the process and you’ll see positive changes.

If you struggle with confidence or allowing yourself to get relaxed to apply the affirmations, then I can help you through online hypnosis sessions and coaching. Just reach out to me here.

A Review

In this article, we looked at negative thinking and where it comes from. Then, we viewed feedback by recognizing where you are in your life and choosing to take action. Finally, we looked at creating positive changes by reaching a place where your subconscious is open to productive beliefs to empower your future.

Here is the order to perform this approach:

1. When you recognize negative feelings, write your current state and how you feel.

2. Write the changes you want.

3. Abdominal breathing.

4. Write your personal affirmation.

5. Abdominal breathing and focus on your affirmation(s) throughout your day.

6. Abdominal breathing + “Every Day” statement + affirmations at night before bed.

7. Optional: Start each morning upon waking with affirmations.

Allow Time For YOU

It only takes a few minutes each day to do this. Someone, or something, will try to fill your day. Be sure to take time for you. I’ve seen it work hundreds of times and it can work for you too.

⭐️ About Anthony M. Davis

Anthony M. Davis is a Leadership, Success & Stress Coach, Board Certified Therapist, and Top-100 International Travel Photographer. His free book, “Keys to Your Success” is available. Get your copy now.