40 Positive Affirmations for Negative Thoughts
We all have negative thoughts at times. The problems start when our negative thoughts start to take over and become dominant making us feel that the worst will always happen or that we are not good enough. These problematic thoughts if allowed to go unchecked start to interfere with your ability to deal with life. Positive affirmations for negative thoughts can help to change the balance and help you build self-esteem and change unhelpful thought patterns.
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Where do Our Negative Thoughts Come From?
Our negative beliefs are usually rooted in the past and are a mixture of what we have heard or learnt from others, our own experiences and past mistakes.
As an example, if you were young and a teacher kept on telling you that you were stupid for not grasping a simple concept it wouldn’t take long for you to believe the adult and start to question your intelligence. As you grow older those thoughts can be amplified by further negative experiences and create problems with confidence and self-esteem.
We all have negative thoughts but depending on our past experiences some of us have more than others or skewed ways of thinking that can cause problems. Even though these past events are often no longer applicable or no longer serve a purpose they hang around causing issues such as anxiety, depression or a general feeling of not being good enough.
Positive affirmations for negative thoughts are designed to help you make a conscious effort to alter the way you think to something more helpful or useful.
Can Affirmations Change Your Thoughts?
Positive affirmations are one of a number of tools that can be used to change the way you think. They are useful to help change old habits around the way think by making you focus on the alternatives.
Negative thought patterns are usually a blast from the past that keep on triggering because of past mistakes or comments from others. The issue is that that whatever started them in the first place is not applicable in your life years later. If you allow the thoughts to carry on running they will mess with your emotions and prevent your happiness.
By using a positive affirmation you are reminding yourself that your brain is telling you something that isn’t true and replacing it with something that is more likely to happen. Positive statements said regularly start to change your conscious and subconscious thoughts to something more helpful.
Self-hypnosis for positive thinking is also another way of doing this. Repeated suggestions in hypnosis help you alter subconscious thought patterns so you train your mind to think differently.
Negative Affirmations
You may not realise it but negative affirmations are passing through your mind all the time. This negative self-talk has been there for years and repeated over and over again so that you believe it.
If you use negative self-talk regularly it has the power to hamper your life and make you believe that you don’t deserve good things happening to you.
Positive thoughts and affirmations are just a way of doing the opposite of what you have been doing for years to help change your life for the better.
How Do you Turn Negative Thoughts Into Positive Affirmations?
Our negative thoughts often pass through our minds unchecked. As we have been thinking them for years we are often not paying conscious attention to them instead we are allowing them to flow through our minds without assessing whether the information is true or not.
To turn these negative thoughts into positive affirmations take these steps to free yourself from old thinking patterns.
1) Spend a week or so trying to pay attention to any negative thoughts that appear in your mind. Write each negative thought that you think of down on a piece of paper or journal to assess.
2) Take time out to review all thoughts and start to ask yourself whether what your mind is telling you is true or not. Ask for proof as your gut feelings will not always give you an accurate answer.
3) Now reframe those negative thoughts into something more positive. As an example, if your negative thoughts told you that you were not going pass a job interview write the opposite and create your own affirmations. Such as I am ready and capable of passing any job interviews that I attend. Do this for all your negative thoughts.
4) When you have a list of the new thoughts start to use those positive affirmations daily. This positive thinking exercise can help you to train your subconscious mind to stop negative thoughts if you practice it regularly.
How to Release Negative Thoughts
Positive affirmations are just one way to release negative thoughts but there are plenty of other tools and strategies that you can use on your journey to a better life. Here are some supplemental things you can do to change your life and take control of how you feel.
Lower Your Stress Levels
When you are dealing with high levels of stress especially for a sustained period of time it can impact your mental health and create negativity. You can read our article on good coping mechanisms for stress to help you reduce yours.
Exercise is a great stress buster so we highly recommend that you find a way to manage yours by walking or using an indoor exercise bike or treadmill to help you relax.
Get Quality Sleep
Our thoughts are more likely to be negative when we haven’t had a good nights sleep. A lack of sleep impacts our ability to think rationally as well as our physical health. Learn how to get sleepy with our tips and strategies and use our Sleep Deeply Guided Meditation to help you switch your mind off at night.
Journal Your Thoughts
As part of your daily routine start to use journaling as a way of learning more about yourself and the way your mind thinks. Journals are a great way of helping you to understand your thoughts and can assist you with putting them into perspective. Our self-love journal prompts are a great tool to help positive changes with confidence and self-esteem.
Use Mindfulness to Combat Negative Thinking
Mindfulness is a tool that is widely used to help your mind focus on the present rather than worrying about the past or thinking about the worst things that could happen in the future. When it is practised regularly it can increase your happiness and positive thoughts. Mindfulness cards are an easy way of using it as a form of self-help at home.
Practice Gratitude to Build Positivity
We can spend so much time focusing on unhelpful thoughts or negative energy that we forget about all the great things that are going on in our lives. When you focus on being grateful for your life, family and friends it changes your perspective. The Gratitude Book is an example of a self-help book that uses this way of thinking to help you to be more optimistic.
Affirmations for Negative Thinking
Positive affirmations for negative thoughts can make a difference in your life. Use our favorite affirmations to help change your unhelpful beliefs and counteract negativity.
- Today I am choosing to focus my thoughts on my happiness.
- My life is filled with peace and joy.
- I can be a success in anything I choose to do.
- I am never giving in to my fears.
- I can control my feelings and make them positive ones.
- I have all the qualities to live the life of my dreams.
- I have the power to do anything I choose.
- I acknowledge the positive side of my mind rather than the negative.
- I can peacefully detach from any negative thoughts or feelings.
- I am filled with optimism for my future.
- A positive light surrounds me and protects me wherever I go.
- I am filled with energy and the power to improve my life.
- I am surrounded by an incredible family and wonderful friends.
- I have all the qualities needed to make my life a great success.
- I deserve to live a happy and fulfilling life.
- I am enough.
- I love and respect myself.
- I always encourage myself to follow my dreams.
- I am healthy, strong and capable.
- I can influence how I think and feel.
- I choose to feel happy at this moment and not worry about the past or the future.
- I am at peace with myself.
- Even when things go wrong I choose to focus on the positives.
- Every day I am getting closer to my goals and dreams.
- I am confident and believe in myself.
- I allow myself to use my powers to achieve great things.
- Every day things are getting better and better.
- I choose not to dwell on my past mistakes.
- I refuse to allow doubt to stand in my way.
- I am letting go of what I can’t control.
- I am choosing to have a positive state of mind.
- My life doesn’t have to be perfect to be amazing.
- I have the skills and determination to do achieve my goals and dreams.
- I am choosing to believe in myself.
- I can overcome obstacles that stand in my way of success.
- I am filled with the energy to make my life a success.
- I feel positive about the good things that are going to come my way.
- I acknowledge my fears but know that I can overcome them.
- I am leading a happy and fulfilling life.
- I am resilient and strong.
More Positive Affirmations to Help Your Change Your Mindset
Affirmations for Happiness and Success
Affirmations for Career Success
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