- According to Dr. Fred Luskin,
we have 60,000 thoughts a day,
and 90% of those thoughts,
90% revolve around what we are going to make for dinner
each day.
Okay, he doesn't say that.
What he does say is
that 90% of those thoughts are repetitive.
And according to a study
from the National Science Foundation,
80% of our daily thoughts are negative thoughts.
So I've got some thoughts about thoughts.
Here are 5 ways to rethink your thinking
when you have those negative thoughts.
Number one, rethink through a comedic lens.
Stop the next time you have negative thoughts
and just ask yourself this dirt simple question.
What would carrot top do in this situation?
Okay, maybe not that as an example,
that might get you fired,
but do try to think things through in a comedic lens.
Imagine if that story actually was a comedy,
how would you write it?
Could you exaggerate it?
Could you imagine sitcom characters in the parts
of the people that were involved
in the thing that was stressing you out
and caused you to have those negative thoughts?
According to a study at Stanford, rethinking things,
rethinking negative events
through a comedic lens helps to lower our stress level,
reduce those negative thoughts, and energize us.
Number two, rethink who you are speaking to
when you have those negative thoughts.
Now you're probably thinking,
"Wait a minute, I'm speaking to myself.
They are might internal thoughts, my internal dialogue.
I'm pretty much the only audience who's hearing this."
But I challenge you when you have those
especially repetitive negative thoughts
where you might be beating yourself up
to ask yourself this simple question,
"Would you speak that way to your best friend?
Would you speak that way to your eight year old daughter
or son?"
Of course you wouldn't.
What would you do when you were speaking to them?
You would be supportive.
You'd be encouraging them.
You would ask them what they learned from this experience?
What you could do to offer help
and support and tell them to be patient.
You would be encouraging and nurturing and supportive.
And that's what you have to do
with your own internal dialogue.
So stop and ask yourself.
What if I change who I'm speaking to?
What if the audience wasn't me,
can I speak to myself the same way
I would speak to my best friend?
Number three, rethink the words you are using
when you think to yourself.
A study of bankers
who all experience the same economic challenges,
found that the happier bankers,
as opposed to the less happy bankers,
did one very simple word shift in their thinking.
They viewed the problems they were experiencing
as challenges and not as threats.
Number four, exaggerate how it could be worse,
but here's the key, exaggerate wildly, totally exaggerated
to the point of ridiculousness, how it could be worse.
And the point of doing that is to make you smile,
and maybe even the laugh
because you've exaggerated it so wildly,
that it helps you regain a little perspective
on the situation.
And lastly, number five, rethink from a place of curiosity.
Simply stop and ask yourself, why is this happening?
When we take a moment to pause
and ask why questions and come from a place of curiosity,
it helps a lot of those negative thoughts go away.
It puts us into a more open-minded set
where we look at the opportunity for what we might learn
in this challenging situation
or what we might be able to do
to overcome this challenging situation.
So come from a place of curiosity
and ask why is this happening?
What is the opportunity here?
What is the opportunity for growth?
Is this necessarily a bad thing?
What could possibly be good about the situation
that I haven't yet considered?
And what about you?
What do you do when you have those negative thoughts?
How do you overcome your negative thinking?
What do you do to challenge your negative thoughts
or to reframe them in a creative way?
I'd love to hear your comments.
Please leave a comment in the comment box.
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