Here’s a Quick Way to STOP Negative Thoughts

“What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?”

- Julia Cameron

Are you carrying around some junk? You know, those hurtful and disastrous things that you may have been told by someone during the course of your life. It was supposed to be taken with a grain of salt or simply ignored but most of the times we take that criticism and wear it like a hat of shame! Negative thinking can make all sorts of things incredibly difficult. It is like a leak in your confidence bucket — constantly drip-drip-dripping away your confidence and self esteem.

Negative thinking can be useful to help assess the possible pitfalls in a potential plan of action, but you need to be able to turn it on and off at will. Otherwise, negative thoughts will sabotage your self belief, your confidence and your achievements. Here are some effects of negative thinking:

Sleeping problems
It can become very difficult to get to sleep, because you feel worse at night. There are a number of reasons why. While you’re trying to drop off to sleep, there’s nothing to distract you from the worries that may have been lurking in the background during the day.

Sapping your self-confidence
The more problems you think you have, the less able you may feel to cope with them, and this can increase your sense of helplessness. This reduces your confidence, making you more vulnerable to your fears.

Unhelpful strategies
Under this kind of pressure, it may become very difficult for you to concentrate and carry on with everyday life, so that your problems tend to build up. It’s emotionally draining to feel anxious all the time. It may feel as though your whole life is being taken over by it.

Negative thoughts are not reserved for just a few people or situations. Everyone is plagued by negative thoughts at one time or another. However, once you begin thinking about what you’re “thinking about”, you’ve already taken the first step to controlling negative thoughts.

Research shows that people who receive positive distractions for just eight minutes show a remarkable change in their moods and in breaking the cycle of repetitive thought. So, next time you catch yourself repeating the same negative thoughts over and over in your mind, use the STOP acronym:

1. S - Say the word STOP!

Interrupt your internal destructive thoughts. Tell yourself firmly to “STOP” over thinking. Be strict, and don’t let them intrude on your thoughts. It also might be helpful to visualize a box to place all your negative thoughts in, which you may open at a later date or time.

2. T - TAKE a break!

Take a deep breath. Then, take a break. Go for a walk or a hike, read a great book, listen to your favorite music. Do something to take your attention away from over thinking, and if possible, change the environment.

Also try some relaxation exercises, they often focus on replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. This could involve imagining yourself in a new setting, such as a beach, a designer home or a garden. You could visualize your worries as physical objects that can be discarded, such as stones or rocks you could heave into the distance.

Sometimes, doing a relaxation exercise makes people feel quite uncomfortable. You might feel that it’s not working, or that you’re doing it wrong. It’s best to take the attitude that you’re just giving it a go, and that these negative thoughts are normal. Surprisingly, learning to relax takes practice.

3. O - Focus on the OUTCOME!

Focus on the OUTCOME of your goals. Affirm why you are committed to your goals. The way we feel and what we experience in our body comes from what we focus our attention upon during a given moment. And at any moment, we are “deleting” most of what is going on around us. That is, to feel bad, we have to delete (not focus on, not think about) everything that’s great in our life. And vice versa. For us to feel good, we have to delete the things we could feel bad about.

4. P - PRAISE yourself!

PRAISE and acknowledge yourself for the progress you are making. Remember, you’re looking for progress, not perfection! Give yourself a reward every time you’re successful with overcoming negative thoughts. And remember small changes make a big difference.

By recognizing that you do have negative thoughts you’ve taken the first step. Now, start playing Devil’s Advocate and challenge yourself to find the positive. Turn your thoughts around and your moods will follow suit.

And remember, you are what you think!

我们总是过分在意和放大我们所关注的事物，好的事情会被放大，坏的事情也会被放大，关键在与我们怎样选择。

--茱莉亚.卡梅隆

你的心中是不是总有一些阴影？你看，在人生的旅途中肯定有人对你说过这样的话：你应该有限度的关注或者尽量忽略那些消极的想法。但实际上大部分时候我们对别人的批评和自己做过的傻事总是过分的在意。消极的想法可以使一些事情变得异常的困难，它就像水桶上的一个窟窿，让你本来满溢的自信和自尊一点点的流失。
或许消极思考在你评估某些可行性方案的时候是有用的，但你必须学会收放自如。否则，消极思想将会侵蚀掉你的信仰、信心和成就。以下是一些消极思考产生的结果：

睡眠障碍
你的入睡会变得困难，因为你在晚上感觉很糟糕。当你尝试入睡的时候，却没有办法清除掉你的潜意识里的白天产生的焦虑。

腐蚀自信
当你觉得自己越不对劲，你对自己的掌控力就越弱，这会增加你的无助感。它会腐蚀掉你的自信，使你被恐惧打败。

错误决策
当处在某种压力之下，你将很难集中精力于当下的事情，导致问题随之而来。你总是惶惶不可终日，感觉整个生活都被它所占据。

消极思考并不是某些特定的人的专利或只会在某些特定情形下产生。每个人都或多或少的被消极思考所影响。然而，当你意思到你的想法取决于你是"怎么想的"，你就已经成功迈出了战胜消极思想的第一步。

研究显示，只要接受积极的外界刺激八分钟，人的情绪就会得到明显的改观并且阻断掉不断循环的消极思想。当你下次想阻断掉不断在大脑中循环出现的消极思想，就用我下面交给你的STOP（停止）法则吧！

1. S - Say the word STOP! 大声喊停

打断你头脑中的破坏性想法。坚决的告诉自己停下来。你必须坚定立场，不能让它们侵入你的思维。你还可以想象你头脑中所有的消极思想都被禁锢在一个盒子里，这个盒子在很久以后才会被打开。

2. T - TAKE a break! 放松一下

做一个深呼吸，然后休息一会。来一次散步或者远足，读一本好看的书，听你喜爱的音乐。做一些把自己的注意力从思考中解放出来的事情。如果可以，改变一下环境。

还可以做一些放松的练习，它们可以让积极的思想代替你的消极思想。你可以想象自己置身于一个全新的场所，比如一片海滩、一间设计室，或是一个花园。你可以想象烦恼是可以随手扔掉的东西，比如你可以投掷得很远的石头。

有时候，做放松练习会让人觉得不舒服。你可能会以为它不起作用了或者什么地方做错了。你最好是改变想法顺其自然，就当那些消极思想是很平常的。吃惊吧，学会放松是要训练的！

3. O - Focus on the OUTCOME!专注于结果

只关注你做的事情的结果，确定你为什么要执着于你的目标。我们的感觉和经历来源于你在某个特定时间所关注的事情，于此同时除此之外的大部分细节会被大脑删除。从而为了找到糟糕的感觉，你必须删除（不关注，不思考）你生活中所有好的东西，反之亦然。所以为了让自己感觉良好，我们必须删除掉那些让我们感觉糟糕的想法。

4. P - PRAISE yourself!赞美自己

赞扬和奖励自己的进步。记住，你所追求的是进步，而不是完美！每次成功战胜消极思想的时候应当给予自己某些奖赏。正所谓：不积跬步，无以至千里；不积小流，无以成江海。

通过认识自己的消极思想你已经成果迈出了第一步。好了，现在就像电影《魔鬼代言人》里的一样挑战自己改变自己吧。改变你的想法，你的情绪就会随之改变！

最后记住：你的思想决定你是谁！