8 Ways To Stop Negative Thoughts

When was the last time you had a negative thought?

A thought of guilt, fear, self doubt, self judgement or anger?

Negative thinking leads to low mood, unfulfillment and often depression. But how do you stop negative thoughts?

Who Is This Video For?

If you feel unfulfilled and lack motivation.
If you can’t stop thinking about something negative
If you have mood swings or feel depressed
If you want to live a more positive, happy life

How To Stop Negative Thoughts

Can’t watch the video? Here’s a summary of the key points made in the video.

1. Take Responsibility

Negativity is created by thought, and thought is created by you. Stop shifting blame and playing the ‘victim mindset’, negative thoughts are created by you.

It’s time to stop shying away from responsibility and become responsible for the thoughts and situation in your life. Sure it might sound harsh at first but knowing that you’re responsible for the negativity will allow you to take control and shift to positivity.

Of course there are things and situations that happen out of your control but you dictate how you deal with them. Take responsibility for the negative thoughts you’re having and understand only you can control and change them.

Read: How To Take Responsibility

2. Be Grateful

A form of negativity is coming from a state of lack. “I wish I had this”, “If I only I had more money”, “I’m never going to have a six pack like him”. These are all forms of negative thoughts that come from lack and typically being ungrateful.

You have SO MUCH to be grateful for right now, so shift your attention to what you do have rather than what you don’t.

You may have fresh water running from a tap, a roof over your head, clothing to wear and family that support you… be grateful for the things you’ve got and you’ll spark positivity.

Think about 5 things you’re grateful for right now. Write them down and really think about them and how they impact your life. You’ll quickly shift from a negative state to a positive one.

Read: The Power of Gratitude

3. Change Your State

Feel depressed? Then change your physical and emotional state.

There are various ways to do this, from affirmations to gratitude but typically I use the physical form. If you feel negative thoughts arise go and do a tough workout, raising the heart rate and releasing endorphins. Cold showers work great too.

Do what you can mentally and physically to change from the negative state you’re in to a more positive one.

Read: 12 Ways To Boost Your Mood

4. Use Affirmations

Affirmations are a great tool that are often under utilised.

Think of your mind like a computer. It’s programmed in a way to turn on the same way, to open your browser the same way and shut down the same way. It’s never going to surprise you, it’s programmed to be a certain way. Your mind works in a similar fashion, and your beliefs and behaviours stem from the way you’ve currently programmed your mind.

Affirmations are a tool which help reprogram your mind from negativity to positivity.

An affirmation is simply a statement that you say and feel which is aimed to reprogram your thoughts. For example if I lacked confidence I’d typically be telling myself that I wasn’t confident and I had a lot of fear. But I could use the affirmation “I am confident in all areas of my life and know growth is on the other side of fear” to start to reprogram my beliefs. I’ll say this aloud over and over again, write it down and really feel it as I do so.

Find an affirmation that relates to the strongest negative thought you’re having right now and continue to say it aloud, write it down and really feel it as you say it.

Here’s a good resource on Affirmations from Louise Hay.

5. Spend Time With Someone Positive

Spend 5 minutes with a negative friend and then spend 5 minutes with a positive you… you’ll notice a difference in your mood.

Seek out a friend or co worker who lives their life positively and their energy will rub off on you.

Read: Feed Your Mind Positivity

6. Seek Silence

We’re so consumed with our phones, work, friends on Whatsapp and the news that we forget to disconnect.

Seek silence in the form of meditation, visualisation or simply just turning all devices off and spending time alone.

Personally meditation (which I thought was for crazy people at first) has transformed my mindset and success. Try it.

7. Do Something For Someone

As humans our sole purpose is to serve ourselves but most importantly serve others too.

Do something good for someone. Buy a stranger a coffee, feed someone who is homeless, carry someones shopping or do a favour for a friend. Again this will help shift negativity to positivity.

8. Be Consistent

Last but not least (and most important) you need to be consistent. We all have down days, myself included and even the most successful people you look up too. It’s realising that your mood has dropped and consciously doing something to change it.

If you think negative thoughts over and over again it makes it harder to change. Reading an affirmation for two days won’t change your life, you need to be consistent.

Consistent action = results.