by Kate Fitch, CMWN volunteer
Do you get overwhelmed by the idea of tackling your negative thinking? A lot of us know about affirmations and challenging negative thoughts, but some of us have so many negative thoughts that the idea of overcoming them seems impossible. But what if we only focused on one at a time?
Tackling one negative thought at a time was the only way I personally made headway with my negative thinking, so I challenge you to try it! You can go ahead and take on that one huge, intrusive thought that bothers you most, or start with something smaller to get your momentum going.
Here’s how it works.
- Identify the single negative thought that you want to work on.
- For example: “I am unloveable.”
- Come up with an affirmation to contradict it, even if you don’t completely believe it.
- For example: “I am worthy of love.”
- Come up with a symbol to represent this negative thought/affirmation.
- For example: a heart.
- Put this symbol everywhere you possibly can.
- For example: making your phone background a picture of a heart, drawing a heart on your hand, drawing a heart on sticky notes and posting them on mirrors, desks, cabinets, and doors.
- Every time you see the symbol, or catch yourself thinking that negative thought, repeat your affirmation to yourself.
Devoting my mental and emotional energy to handling just one negative thought at a time worked really well for me, and using this method made it simple for me to keep that work at the front of my mind. Try it for yourself, and pass this post along to anyone else you think might find it helpful!