Thrive Programme Advent Day 6 – Do you tend to think negatively about things in life?

There’s no way I’ll enjoy my weekend camping now!

I’m useless in the cold

I’ll probably hit traffic anyway, it’s Friday…

It’s bound to last all weekend knowing my luck

…. then it sounds like you are in the habit of thinking in the negative thinking style. So, do you think negatively ?

(Most people can have negative thoughts from time to time – this isn’t what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about when a person’s entire outlook on life is negative.)

Negative thinking gets in the way of being happy and enjoying life

It is often linked to avoiding things – if you think something won’t work/will be boring/won’t be enjoyable, you are not likely to do it.

It is often linked with social anxiety – if you think negatively about social situations, you are much more likely to feel anxious about them and avoid them

It can detrimentally affect how people recover from difficulties and challenges

It is often about protection from disappointment, failing and/or rejection

It can be about believing you don’t deserve to have a good life

If you recognise yourself here and you want to change then start to notice when you are thinking negatively and ACTIVELY CHOOSE to think more positively/helpfully. This doesn’t mean pretending that everything in life is positive. But it does mean making sure that the way you are thinking about things isn’t making a difficult experience harder than it needs to be by thinking very negatively about it.

Want to learn how to turn that frown upside down?