How's that voice in your head sounding lately?
Does it talk to you with kindness and compassion or is it telling you how you're failing at everything?
Is it thinking of actual outcomes without disturbing who you are or is it telling you that the small comment your partner made the other day probably means your relationship is over?
The mind often tells us a lot (and I mean a lot) of negative things throughout the day, leaving us reeling on how to just turn it off or even just to turn down the volume a little bit.
Nate Klemp recently wrote a great article for Inc. that discusses the neuroscience of quieting the mind and how to break out of negative thinking.
The 3 steps are:
1. Notice your negativity bias. Simply notice the mind and the negative thoughts it is feeding you. Like a cloud in the sky, the negative thought arrives and passes.
2. Shift to a moment of gratitude. If your mind is going to spend all this energy producing negative thoughts, let's make it produce some positive ones, particularly grateful ones.
3. Rewire your brain. Once you've got the gratitude in place, take it in, really take it in, savor it, feel the positive emotions of the gratitude, and enjoy the positive thoughts of the gratitude.
You can read the full article here:
Klemp writes that this process takes less than 30 seconds. So go ahead, give yourself 30 seconds the next time a negative thought is attempting to ruin your day. Try this technique out and comment about the results below.
I help people with anxiety, depression, and trauma.
Comments