Last updated on May 16th, 2013 at 03:21 pm
Your dream journey will require that you go for it with your every being. You should be warned. My advice: It’s not for the fiant of heart.
Your dream will push you to your very limits and may leave you wallowing in a negative space more often then you’d like to admit, which is generally the catalyst to giving up on your dream. Sometimes you don’t feel strong enough to carry on and you feel that you can’t deal with one more rejection. You feel drained when your dream journey becomes stagnant.
You feel stupid for ever trying.
Does this sound familiar?
You are not alone.
I have had firsthand experience at all of this on my dreamer’s journey. One moment you are thriving in your dream field, the next you can’t get out of bed because everything is not going your way. It takes someone very strong to turn the negatives into positives. You must overcome your negative thoughts to stay on your dream journey and make your dreams come true.
Here is my advice on what negative thinking is and how you can pursue to overcome it —
What is negative thinking, anyway?
Negative thinking or Pessimism is describes by Wikipedia as:
A state of mind in which one anticipates undesirable outcomes or believes that the evil or hardships in life outweigh the good or luxuries
What that means is :
A person who thinks negative (a pessimist) is always expecting the worst, always doubting, always speaking down and has no hope for himself/herself or the future.
What a sad picture, isn’t it?
Why would anyone want to be around someone like that? We ask ourselves this question, yet we do it so unknowingly and we are not aware that we practice pessimism on a daily level.
So how do you know if you are thinking negative?
Attributes of a Negative Thinker
- Always fearing the worst
- Tend to always be a cynic, always focuses on the negative aspects of a situation
- Uses Sarcasm to get a point across by making snide remarks under the cover of being funny
- A bit overcautious and suspicious most of the time
- Grumpy and moody, hardly wears a smile
- Holding grudges for a long time
- Gossips and always tries to magnify the negative aspects of people rather than the good.
We are all guilty of the above mentioned attributes, yes we all gossip, we don’t wake up thinking positive 24/7, but becoming a positive thinking takes time and practice.When thinking negative we just boost our fears, anxieties and depression.
Being depressed then leads to more negative thoughts and before we know it, we are drowning in the sea of negtivity and we do not see why we should Pursue our dreams. This kind of thinking is indeed Toxic!
Examples of Negative thoughts
- I can’t do it
- My situation will never get better
- Lets just cancel everything, the plans are all messed up
- I can’t trust anyone
- My heart has been broken too many times to fall in-love again
- My Ex said I’m not good enough, So I guess it’s the truth
- I am not worthy of anything good
- I’m not a good mom
- I will never forgive you
- I cant do it because in 1999 you did (Insert action here), therefore I cannot help you (Holding grudges)
- I care of what they think of me so I cant be myself
- It’s too late, I give up
- I’ll go for my dream, one day
- I will never be able to afford that
6 Ways to help you start eliminating negative thoughts on your dream journey
We think all day, everyday. Thinking cannot be avoided, but we can definitely choose which way we think. To over come negative thoughts we need to Silence the Inner “Negative Voice”
1. Acceptance
Once you accept that your thoughts are negative and make peace with the fact that you are aware of being in a negative space, then only can you pursue to start working on the problem. that is the first step to pursuing a positive mindset. You need to let all pride out the door and be willing to let go and move on.
2. Express Gratitude
Just being Thankful is something that helps me through my down days. When you feel you have nothing valuable in your life, I advise you to take a note pad and write down 5 things you are grateful for. Once you’ve done that.
Affirm them, read them over and over and start believing that you are in a better space. You’ll better instantly.
3. Smile
This is a little trick I learned from watching a sitcom a few years ago. The Forceful smile:
Stand in front of a mirror, force your biggest white smile and hold it for a minute. You end up looking so silly that you start laughing at yourself. Laughter is good for you as it releases good endorphin’s that eliminate negative feelings. So smile away!
4. Surround yourself with someone positive
I love doing this as I feel being around people who make you happy is such a breath of fresh air when you are covered by your cloud of negative darkness. Take a walk to a good friend, or just go visit your grandmother or mother. I have learned that grandparents always love us unconditionally.
Even a phone call to a positive person could help you snap out of that negative head space.
5. Give yourself achievable goals
When you feel negative about your dream and you feel that it cant be achieved over night. Set yourself achievable goals. It can be simple as :
Planning your next talk, Planning your next blogpost or just doing simple research. Work does not have to be dreadful or mind boggling. We should give ourselves credit for the little things too. With that completed, you’ll feel productive and have meaning to your day. It’s much better than sulking in bed.
6. Do a good deed
This is an old time favorite: When you feel bad, do something good.
So you find yourself overwhelmed and everything is just bad around you. Start doing simple things to make other people smile. Share your meal with someone who has no food, give your friend a call to encourage her or simply write an email to someone you haven’t seen in years.
Good deeds reap good results. More importantly, they reap good positive feelings!
When you feeling those negative feelings arise start repeating this positive affirmation until you start believing it:
I am worthy of everything good in my life, I am worthy of love and I give myself permission to say yes to positivity
Just Pursue It!
– Sue
Sue Levy is the founder of the South African Just Pursue It Blog and Inspirational Women Initiative. She’s a motivational writer and media designer, who is obsessed with everything inspirational with a hint of geek. She thrives on teaching women how to be brave and take big chances on themselves. You can find Sue on her Twitter page @Sue_Levy.
Note: Articles by Sue may contain affiliate links and may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link.
