« Why Personal Ethics Are Important | Home | Self Esteem Lesson From An Eleven Year Old »
Pitfall of Negative Thinking
By Kim | February 17, 2008
Negative thinking has a sneaky way of creeping up on you if you’re not careful. Even the most dedicated self-help, personal development junky finds his or herself falling victim to negativism at times. It happened to me today in the workplace. One of the supervisors I work with was explaining why one of our employees was unhappy in the office. This employee is one of the employees I label as the ‘floundering five’ because they are always critical, negative, whinny, complainers that never focus on anything positive. It gets old and irritating at times. I guess I let them get to me today. Years of ‘automatic’ negative thinking patterns snatched the opportunity to take over. This type of thinking became so natural over the years that I hadn’t even realized I was doing it.
Fortunately, I caught my negative thinking today before it could zap me of all of my positive energy. That’s when it dawned on me the pitfalls of negative thinking. Being that most of us love complacency it’s so easy to fall into familiar habits (whether good or bad). When this happens to you (and it will) don’t beat yourself up, because it provides the perfect opportunity for negativity to creep in and take over. Just remember, the reality is that you’ve probably been thinking more negative thoughts than positive thoughts over your lifetime and it’s going to take constant work to reprogram your thinking habits.
I think one of the earliest victories over your thoughts is conscious awareness of negative thinking. Once you are aware you are doing it, then this provides the opportunity to change the thought. I wish I could tell you that there is a magic pill or formula to change negative thinking into positive thinking but there is not. I’ve found that the willpower and desire to change as well as consistent effort work the best for me. Remember, we get what we think about most. Understanding that our mind’s focus usually comes true was enough incentive for me to work on changing my thoughts.
As an example, my youngest son plays football with a friend who always seems to feign being hurt. This young man dramatized injuries so much that this year it actually happened. I also know of a woman who always thought that people in the office were out to get her. She constantly negativity thought that management would find fault with her performance to discipline her. Well, her performance started to decline to the point where she is getting her wish. Believe me, negative thinking is extremely powerful. Unfortunately, we’re more inclined to fall victim of negative thinking faster than positive thinking. Someone once pointed out to me that people are more likely to share negative experiences with people before sharing positive experiences. It was explained that a positive customer experience is likely shared with several people while a negative customer experience is likely shared with at least three times the amount of people. In my case, I know this is true.
So how can you fight negative thinking? I’m the type of person who needs all weapons and tricks at my disposal to overcome bad habits. I always try to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. I try to use visualization, but it can be challenging for me at times. This is when I bring in the reinforcements. Music is an excellent tools to help me think positively. Humor is another weapon of choice. Sometimes smelling freshly baked cookies and cakes helps. Do you get the picture?
In the case of the employees in the office who prompted this post - how did I deal with the negative thinking they prompted? Over time, I have developed a funny visual in my head of these ladies sucking sour lemons. I also take great enjoyment in watching other employees earn well-deserved promotions ahead of them. In a nutshell, I feel sorry for them. This goes a long way in curtailing my irritation.
Just remember, don’t fall victim to the pitfalls of negative thinking, because you might just get what you’re thinking about.
Topics: Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Success |
February 17th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Jason Rakowski