People have a distorted view of the world when they are in a negative state of mind. It becomes a cycle where negative thoughts reinforce negative emotions, which in turn produces negative actions.If the cycle is not broken, and left to run uninterrupted, it inevitably has a detrimental physical and mental effect on the person experiencing the spin. In addition, if these cycles spin often enough, they can lead to clinical depression and anxiety. The key to avoiding this negative distortion and stopping the mental spin is to understand what initiates the cycle. Once mindful of the triggers, people can train themselves to avoid it, or stop it before it does any harm.

 

Worry and negativity are a misuse of your imagination. Beautiful things happen when you distance yourself from negative thoughts and people. Negativity is like poison. It distracts you, harms you and kills your energy. People either inspire you or they drain you. I don’t know about you, but I've made the choice to be around people who inspire and encourage me, and distance myself from those who only bring me down.

The two types of energies we possess are negative and positive energy. Positive energy makes us feel happy, energized, full of life, inspired, motivated and healthy. Negative energy makes us feel tired, unhappy, sad, depressed and angry. It's also important to recognize that an extreme volume of negative energy will create sickness.

Think about what your current lifestyle is and how you react to negativity. Do you take it and let people get the best of you, or do you make a conscious choice to remove yourself from the toxicity that negativity breeds? Be honest with yourself. Once you are able to determine where you fall on the spectrum, think about how you want to respond to negativity going forward. Do you or don’t you want to invite it into your life. Decide. Make a choice. And then make it happen.

If you’re only grateful when things go right, that's a form of negativity. Gratitude is positive. If you are grateful for what is (including the unpleasant), then you will invite more positive energy into your life.

“Live your life free from fear, judgment, negativity and worry. Have the courage to see the positive in every situation, learn from your mistakes and follow your dreams!” – Alynn Marble

The truth is that you can't live a positive life with a negative mind. Worry and negativity are a misuse of your imagination. Beautiful things happen when you distance yourself from negative thoughts and people.
Energy

Negativity is like poison. It distracts you, harms you and kills your energy. People either inspire you or they drain you. I don’t know about you, but I have made the choice in my own life to be around the people who inspire and encourage, and distance myself from those who only bring me down.

The two types of energies we possess are negative and positive energy. The positive energy will make us feel happy, energized, full of life, inspired, motivated and healthy. While negative energy, on the other hand, makes us feel tired, unhappy, sad, depressed and angry, but the extreme volume of negative energy will create sickness.
Creating a Positive Mindset

Think about what your current style is and how you react to negativity. Do you take it and let people get the best of you, or do you make a conscious choice to remove yourself from the toxicity that negativity breeds?

Be honest with yourself. Once you're able to determine where you fall on the spectrum, think about how you want to respond to negativity going forward. Do you or don’t you want to invite it into your life. Decide. Make a choice. And then make it happen.

If you’re not grateful except when things go right, you're setting yourself up to let negativity enter your life. Gratitude is positive. If you're grateful for what is (including the unpleasant school of life lessons), then you can invite more and more positive energy into your life.

“Live your life free from fear, judgment, negativity and worry. Have the courage to see the positive in every situation, learn from your mistakes and follow your dreams!” – Alynn Marble

Even the wealthiest, luckiest or most privileged people won’t be happy if they have a negative attitude. It’s so important to be grateful for what we have– whether it’s a little or a lot.

I encourage people to set goals and strive to achieve more in their life. I really like to foster ambition and the commitment to fulfil the ambition. But, one of the problems with <a href="https://www.coachingpositiveperformance.com/store/personal-effectiveness/personal-effectiveness-ebooks/ultimate-guide-goal-setting/" target="_blank" class=""><span class="italic_text"><span class="bold_text">goal setting</span></span></a> is that we tend to look outside of ourselves form the improvements we need to make. That is not always the right place to look. We need to understand that the best type of life is built from the inside out. Rather than just react to external circumstances, we think about what we really want from life and we make plans to create that life. Most of the great things we experience in life begin as thoughts in our mind.</p><p style="">With that in mind (pardon the pun) if you are having some negative experiences in life, it is quite possible that you are thinking negatively and this has produced some of your negative outcomes.</p><

4 Common thinking errors</h4><p style="">There are many different types of thinking errors and I will address them in greater detail in a later article. However, I want to address four of the most common and damaging thinking errors. If you are engaging in these thinking errors, you are going to create a negative mindset which will make it more difficult to create a positive life.</p><h4 class="" style="">1. Assumptions</h4><p style="">When we communicate with others, we often leave gaps in the information we provide. There is a natural tendency to try to close these gaps. The proper way to close the gap would be to ask the relevant questions of the person who is communicating with us.</p><p style="">If you have a negative mindset, you may not do this. Instead, you may try to fill in the blanks with what you assumed the other person meant. When you choose a negative assumption, you are taking the situation down a negative path and, the situation can easily escalate.</p><p style="">Many relationships have been badly damaged by assumptions.</p><h4 class="" style="">2. Mind reading</h4><p style="">This is very similar to assumptions where we interpret other people’s thoughts, behaviours and actions without ever asking them. For example, as someone who has struggled with social anxiety, I often felt that when others didn’t include me in activities, it was because they didn’t like me. I later found that it was usually because I gave the impression that I didn’t want to be involved.</p><p style="">I missed out on a lot of positive activities because I tried to mind read rather than put myself forward.</p><h4 class="" style="">3. Black or white thinking</h4><p style="">Many of us are raised to believe that something is either right or wrong. If it isn’t done the way we believe to be right, we often feel offended by what we see as an injustice. In reality, there are many ways to do most things. Rarely is something either right or wrong; there are usually shades of grey.</p><p style="">It is far better to think in terms of values i.e. what you are prepared to accept and what you are not prepared to accept. At least this way you are acknowledging that is your interpretation and others may not agree.</p><p style="">Having your own, clearly defined values, is a critical part of a positive life. If you are unclear about your values, check out <a href="https://www.coachingpositiveperformance.com/confirmation-values-based-living/" target="_blank" class=""><span class="bold_text"><span class="italic_text">Values Based Living</span></span></a>.<br></p><h4 class="" style="">
4. Catastrophic thinking</h4><p style="">Just because something goes wrong, it doesn’t mean that it is the end of world. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone has some tough experiences. Bad events usually seem much worse in the moment. If you tend to think of every small problem as a catastrophe, you are going to end up with a very negative mindset which hinders your ability to derive happiness and satisfaction from life.</p><p style="">The ability to remain calm, composed and confident in the face of adversity is a critical component of a positive mindset. When you learn to achieve this, you will experience a more positive life.</p><h2 class="" style="">Conclusion</h2><p style="">Happiness does not lie outside of you. When you are happy, the biggest factor in that happiness is you. It is the way you think, believe and act which brings that happiness into your life. We all want a positive life where we can be happy, with or without a reason for that happiness. When life is not going as we would like it to, it is very easy to look at outside factors. But before you do so, it may be more helpful to examine your mindset. Are you thinking negatively? If you are, it may well be that those negative thoughts are creating the negative life which you are currently experiencing. We all have some negative thoughts each day but when it gets out of hand, the consequences can be severe. So, if you are engaging in thinking errors, it is a good time to correct those errors.</p></div>