There’s Power in Positive Thinking and Science Agrees
8 ways to flip the script on your negative thoughts
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Have you ever considered the number of times in a day that you say or think something negative? When you’re struggling with your mental health, it can feel like all of the horrible, defeated, pessimistic thoughts seem to flow freely—and with minimal effort.
But what if you could rewire your brain to immediately react in a more positive way?
We’ve talked about the mental health habits that you can incorporate into a busy schedule, and positive thinking was among those habits. Research shows that positive thinking can actually change the structure of your brain and its functioning, and we think that needs a little more attention.
How can thoughts change your brain function?
Your thoughts react with your brain and body in different ways. Every positive or negative thought plays a part in your overall ability to think, move and act.
Negative thoughts can lead to:
Less controlled movement and coordination
Slower brain functioning
Trouble processing thoughts
Affected memory and impulse control
Positive thoughts can lead to:
Increased productivity
Improved focus
Intensified ability to think and analyze thoughts
Improved problem-solving
Enhanced creativity
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What’s happening in your brain?
Through repetitive mental and physical activities, your brain has the ability to actually change its structure and function. Your brain is constantly making connections to your thoughts and feelings. As your brain is adding new information to all of your previous knowledge, more and more connections are being made. Which then leads to changes in your brain.
When you think a positive thought, there is brain growth and reinforcement in your prefrontal cortex—where positive thoughts are developed. With the repetition of positivity, you can strengthen the different neural pathways that stimulate positive emotions, feelings, and actions.
How do you think more positively?
When you’re struggling with your mental health, it can seem impossible to ‘look on the bright side.’ Negative thoughts can feel debilitating and unrelenting, but with a little creative work, you can get that negative chatter to quiet down.
Here are some simple ways to trick yourself into thinking more positively, even when it feels difficult.
1. Pay attention to your thoughts
By paying attention to your thoughts, and the negativity they may hold, you can begin to notice trends in your thinking that you may not have seen before. Sometimes you need to take a good, hard look at the different aspects of your life, and you may be able to find a trend in where your negativity stems from. Maybe you always think negatively while at work, or you always feel down when you’re communicating with a certain friend. Once you start to become aware, you can start to take small steps towards eliminating those negative thoughts.
2. Be kind to yourself
It can be helpful to take a look at the way that you speak to yourself. It’s easy for the negativity to creep into your self-talk, and once it’s there, those thoughts become more concrete in how you view yourself. If you find that you’re stuck in a cycle of negative self-talk, imagine that you’re speaking to a loved one. Speak to yourself with kindness, you deserve it.
3. Change from “can’t” to “can”
Sometimes we get caught in a loop of negativity, thinking things like “I can’t” or “I should’ve”. Take that one thought and replace it with “I can”, “I’m strong”, “I will”. It doesn’t necessarily need to be attached to an action or decision on your part, it’s just replacing a simple thought with something more positive.
4. Practice gratitude
Practicing gratitude reduces stress, improves self-esteem and serves as a reminder of the great things in your life—even when the bad feels overwhelming. To start, challenge yourself to think of and write down just one or two things that you’re grateful for every day. Whether it’s a person, a moment or a thing, that gratitude can help create an overall sense of optimism in your life.
5. Surround yourself with positive people
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Feelings can be contagious. Surround yourself with people that bring happiness into your life. Being around positive people can help lift you out of a rut. Their positive words will sink in and impact the way that you think, speak and feel too.
6. Start your day off right
Begin each morning with a ritual that kickstarts your positive attitude. Sometimes morning can be rough, but there are some steps you can take to make things better. By starting your morning in a positive way, you’re setting the tone for your entire day. If it begins in a frantic or stressed way, you’re already setting yourself up for the negative emotions to flow. Let it start and continue in the best way possible.
7. Be honest with yourself about the difficult things
There are some thoughts that you’ll need to work through in a different way then just fighting through it with positivity. It’s ok to admit the difficulties that you’re facing. Sugarcoating isn’t the goal, it’s about maintaining a sense of positivity as best you can, while also taking the steps to work through the more deeply-rooted negative thoughts.
8. Stay with it
Remember, this takes time. You’re completely rewiring your thinking patterns! Little actions like positive self-talk, focusing on small, great moments in your day, or finding a mantra that helps you can all create those positive thinking patterns that will last.
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You have over 2,000 thoughts per hour. That gives you thousands of opportunities every day to take one thought and shift it to something positive. Make positive thinking a habit. Your brain will thank you.