The word evacuation is strongly linked to the removal of troops or civilians from a danger zone or the removal of waste products from our body. Negative thoughts are emotions that could drive an individual to the brink of despair .It can be characterised by unhappiness, depression, stagnancy, lack of confidence, low self esteem and many more .At time of writing this post I have associated negative thoughts with danger zones and waste products hence I have used the word evacuation… .so please do sit back now and try to imagine all your negative thoughts as danger zones or waste products in the body and please do tell me how that feels …yuck… pain… hot…ugly I suppose? Hehehe… the idea is to replace these thoughts with sweet pleasant ones!
Negative thoughts can act as a constant reminder that certain proposed tasks, goals, achievements, purposes, ways of Being cannot be accomplished .It can be addictive and comes in various forms with ugly shapes.
Methods to Eliminate Negative Thoughts .
1,Replacement; this is a very basic way to eliminate negative thoughts yet very powerful and can be utilized by anyone. It, however, needs practise and with time you will surely rip the benefits. Here is how I have implement it whenever needed.
Note, your negative thoughts, don’t fight them.. simply acknowledge them! Remember you are the master of your thoughts and you are going to take control of them… Now!. For instance, you keep having negative thoughts or automatic negative thoughts like ‘I cannot do anything right !.. .. Simply grab that thought and change it instantly into something positive like ‘I can do anything right once I put my mind to it.. or I can do ….
Replacement is generally very power when combined with emotions attached to that thought .Now try and remember how you felt with the thought of I cannot do anything right came to mind.. did you feel happy? Did you feel proud of yourself? did you stand upright? Answers are probably “NOT” but for some crazy reason your body obeyed the thoughts going through your mind that had left you probably feeling unhappy and/ or down. . Can you see now how powerful our thoughts can be?
Remember this is about replacement so with your positive thoughts you want to feel the positive emotions. This is where practice is very important. Once you have changed your thoughts to say…. I can do anything right when I put my mind to it … try and start to feel the emotions which could be joy or a sense of purpose with your thought…. Remember this may take practice and the stronger you feel the emotion the better.. . I can tell you this is magical and works!
You may also try another method here by challenging your negative thoughts with steps demonstrated in this link.
2, NLP: according to How to Break Free from Negative Thoughts using Neuro Linguistic Programming Negative thinking affects us not just emotionally, but physically. Indeed, negative thoughts have real ramifications beyond just the thought itself. How can you use neuro linguistic programming and hypnosis to break free of this?Neuro linguistic programming is a means by which you can literally be taught to “retrain” the way you think. In other words, a therapist trained in NLP can help you rephrase and restate thoughts, and consider them in a different light, so that you literally begin to think in different ways that are more balanced and positive – and indeed, more realistic.
3, Visualization: this like replacement requires practise with skills. The reason visualization is so powerful is because as you create pictures in your mind of seeing yourself with what it is you want, you are generating thoughts and feelings of having it now. Visualization is simply powerfully focused thought in pictures, and it causes equally powerful feelings~ Rhoda Byrne . Here is a lovely post on imagery that can shed more light on this area.
4, CBT: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Cognitive_therapy is a form of therapy which pays particular attention to changing dysfunctional thinking which could also be known as negative thoughts. It helps its clients to develop skills to modifying beliefs, and change distorted thinking. It’s usually done in collaborative manner with the client. source;Wikipedia.
5, Spirituality and mediation; are generally linked to peace, positivity,love and relaxation. Negative thinking or thoughts is something that happens to everyone from time to time, practicing mediation or spirituality can also help manage these thoughts . If you are a Christian or believer you may find this useful ….. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7. Here is a short quick prayer point.. I bind,cast down and come against (..say the negative thought………..) trying to occupy my thought process in the name of Name of Jesus .
I Hope you have found these tips useful …. Now the big question is how do you manage negative thoughts ?
15. March 2010 at 5:32 am
Thoughts are simply thoughts – natural creations of our brains. We label them negative or positive this biases us against some of our natural thoughts. The best way to eliminate negativity is ti remove our mental bias against our thoughts.
15. March 2010 at 1:13 pm
I perform a lot since I’m a musician as well as a writer/blogger.
Performing comes with its own set of negative thoughts.
Will I mess up?
Will people think I’m any good?
Will I not live up to expectations?
What if nobody comes?
Etc.
It’s OK to have these thoughts, but they need to be redirected. Part of dismissing negative thoughts is realizing that even if they come true it doesn’t matter. So what if I mess up? So what if no one thinks I’m good? They are going to think what they think, and I’m going to think what I think.
This redirection of ideas helps me.
Nice post!
15. March 2010 at 4:25 pm
Negative thoughts are a big hazards to our frame of mind. We should always make a way to avoid it. Otherwise, it will influence our lifestyle, in a very negative way of course.
15. March 2010 at 5:42 pm
hi fatima,
how are you?
lovely article here!!! i guess affirmations would fall under replacement. i also listen to a lot of inspirational sermons, seminars,music… it has a way of equipping and motivating me.
and from the christian perspective, i believe Gods’ grace is sufficent and meditating on his word day and night refreshes our spirits.
15. March 2010 at 7:19 pm
Hi Fatima! Great article. I think I use “replacement” the most. Whenever it registers that I’m thinking negatively I nip it and try to replace it asap! It works well for me. I’ve been at this so long now that I seem to be stopping my negatives automatically.
Interesting picture too! Where on earth did you find that?
Hugs
suZen
16. March 2010 at 11:03 am
Another NLP technique is anchoring. I have a bracelet with the word trust engraved on it. I wear it on my negative days when I can’t seem to kick it and touch the word when I catch myself.
16. March 2010 at 11:53 am
Fatima,
A great list of tools for removing negative thoughts, some of which I’ve experienced. The others I’ve heard of but not used. I think we all deal with negative thoughts in different ways; some people have more success than others. Therefore, having a number of tools to use, such as the ones here, are very useful.
Thank you for sharing this information.
Regards
Paul
17. March 2010 at 1:45 am
all the methods you mentioned are effective fatima, especially cbt, i have tried that myself and got good results, thank u
17. March 2010 at 3:30 am
Negative thought can be bad especially when one is alone and there is no one around to give support and encouragement. It is important to first acknowledge the negative thought in the mind and then what I would do is to use the replacement method that you mention.
17. March 2010 at 7:39 am
Life is action, not thought. So basically, I ignore my thoughts and concentrate my attention on whatever I’m doing at the moment.
19. March 2010 at 4:21 am
@Ram, I take some of the process to remove these mental biases will include the above? Thanks for your comment.
True @One of the Guys,we all have these thoughts every now and then, I love the whole concept of redirection, it sounds cool.. Thanks for contribution.
And I belief we all love an outstanding lifestyle @Den Thanks.
Thanks @Ayo affirmation is great, and Our Lords Grace is defiantly sufficient …God Bless
Thanks @SuZen I sometimes use Fotolia for my Pics.
That’s True @Paul and hopefully people would find what suits them.
Thanks @Farock, CBT is favoured in our practise.
@BK, True with nights time being the worst for some people .Thanks for your comment.
@NP such a great way to deal with it, Thanks
23. March 2010 at 7:32 am
Is this a new look or did I miss something? Looks good!
26. June 2010 at 2:25 pm
Negative thoughts attract negative energy and negative energy causes
illness and every problem that we have. Negativity must be eliminated
at all cost and not ignored or given a different label! As a man/person
thinketh so is he.
2. July 2010 at 4:24 pm
Thanks for all your presentations. from here I know much useful knowledge,