Sources Of Negative Thoughts

Well, for us to be able to overcome negative thoughts in our life, it's very important we understand the sources and how they come into play in our everyday life.

Why do we become suddenly hyper-focused on the negative rather than positive in our life.. when something negative happens?

First of all, let it be all known that negative events have a greater impact on everyone's brain than positive events do. By this I mean everyone not just yours.



The brain gives more attention to negative experiences over positive ones because negative events pose a chance of DANGER to our lives. As a result of this, the brain by default alerts itself to potential threats in the environment.  Then the awareness of positive aspect, suddenly takes a lot more deliberate effort.

We become completely focused on the negative, so it becomes difficult for us to see anything positive. It is this naturally "occurring start of negative"  and then "constant negative" feedback loop at play, if not deliberately countered that lead to significant psychological distress.

Four Basic Activities That Lead To Negative Thoughts And Eventually Create A Negative Belief System

There are many things that can lead to negativity. Basically, most of them result from our reactions to situations that occur in our everyday life.  Some of them include:

• Discouragement from people: This source of negativity mostly come from people outside our homes and from people we hold in high esteem. Although it can also come from people in our home but the true harm lies in our reaction to the situation. For example, if you are contemplating of setting up a particular business or introducing a new product into your business but everyone you share the idea with has something negative to say about it, sooner or later your thoughts may start to change. You may even withdraw your original idea. Meanwhile this could have been an idea that would have turned your business or your entire life around.

• Fear of being rejected: Almost everyone to some degrees likes being accepted. This feeling is very natural because when you feel accepted, you feel valued and cherished. However this need for acceptance can become a source of negative internal belief. This usually occur when you feel this need so greatly that you may not want to jeopardize your chances of being accepted. The fear of rejection can force any individual to make bad decisions. This mostly occur in business, especially when you are afraid to lose the acceptance of a partner, superior or client. You may be too willing to go along with a bad idea instead of risking their rejection. You may then just become suited to stay quiet even though you see the error of their approach.

• Fear of making a mistake: The way you react to making a mistake can either strengthen your belief in problem solving skills or increase your negative views about yourself. The difference comes from how we react to those mistakes. Let's say you make a mistake, do you admit to it or turn from it? Do you view it as a learning experience or see it as a reason to feel worthless? Most of the time how you handle mistakes is based on your past experiences. If your prior experience with mistakes resulted in shame, then you naturally harbour the fear of making a mistake. While you may use this fear as a way to protect yourself, it can actually be a form of negative self talk that keeps you from advancement and achievement.

• Fear of not being able to change: Only few people realize the reason behind their negative thoughts. However, some of them realize that these reasons can be changed but they are too scared of making the effort. They make statements like:

"I have never been good at this kind of thing"
"That's just the way I am"

These self limiting statements stem from being unable to change. It afford people excuse for their behaviour. These statements can really limit people from achieving their true potential.


Read Also : How to handle negative thoughts in-order to live a positive life