Reframing negativity

We’ve all had negative thoughts. We can’t deny it.

They can be heavy thoughts about your self-worth.

Or they can be less heavy, like anger at a colleague for incompetence.

Over time, habitual negative thinking is linked to anxiety, depression and many types of mental health disorders.

Today’s prompts are a science-backed guideline for reframing negative thoughts.

You should do them step by step, and I added some instructions where required.

I’ve used this multiple times, primarily when dealing with work-related frustration.

At some point, my mind started automatically reframing the negative thoughts as they happened, and I stopped getting angry.

It’s quite amazing the first time that happens.

Today’s Prompts

Step 1: Identify your negative thinking

Here’s where you classify your negative thoughts. The most common types of classifications are:

(a) Focusing on the negative and ignoring the positive.

(b) Seeing yourself as the cause of negative events.

(c) Always anticipating the worst outcome.

Step 2: Decide which thoughts to reframe

Is there an area of your life that causes more negative thinking? That could be a good starting point to work on. For me, it was work and that’s where I focused my efforts.

Step 3: Reframe your thoughts

There are three main techniques you can use here:

(a) Positive reframing: Finding the upside in your situation.

(b) Examining the evidence: You look for hard facts to corroborate or reject your thinking.

(c) Worst-case analysis: You think through the worst possible outcome of the negative scenario. This helps you prepare and accept, even if it is less likely to happen.

I’d love your feedback

What was your favourite prompt of the day? Is there a specific challenge you want prompts for? How can I improve the content of the newsletter? Reply this mail and let me know!