Challenge your Negativity

Negativity can be debilitating and take up a lot of room in your mind. Feeling sad and disappointed is healthy, but toxic self-talk magnifies your misfortune, skewing your perceptions of reality.

The first thing to do is become aware of how you talk to yourself. What are you saying in your mind about yourself? Be on the lookout for red flags, such as victimizing thoughts (“Poor me” type of thinking). If you notice that the thoughts in your head or the words on your paper after your journaling exercise are toxic self-talk, it’s time to change your mindset.

To change your mindset, you need to start challenging yourself. Is the thought accurate or is it distorted? Each time you prove to yourself that the negative self-talk is incorrect, your mind will start to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. And when that happens, your mind will shift from feeling heavy, cluttered, and chaotic (negativity) to lighter and free (positivity). 

A part of challenging yourself is to start gaining more positive experiences. Practice gratitude and compassion by doing something to make your life or someone else’s life a little bit better. When you catch yourself thinking negatively, do something that helps you or someone else. That way, the next time you experience negative self-talk, you can acknowledge that your brain isn’t always right.

by Melissa Eisler

Excerpt from the article: “15 Ways to Declutter Your Mind”

https://chopra.com/articles/15-ways-to-declutter-your-mind