What we know from research around the negative bias is that our brains give more psychological weight to the negative than the positive.
This is a product of our evolution. If you didn’t attend to negative risks such as the snake or tiger then your survival was at risk.
Negative things could kill you more than positive things.
Positive emotions are like teflon they tend to slip off and negative emotions are like velcro they stick like glue.
Jay Shetty, helps us with a tool to reframe these negative thoughts:
Spot – notice and recognize the negative thought as it appears (develops awareness)
Stop – what are the environmental cues that triggers these thoughts? Is there a pattern of time, place and people that bring these negative thoughts on?
Swap – once you have spotted the negative thought, stop it and swap it with an empowering and uplifting alternative.
Being positive doesn’t mean you don’t ever have negative thoughts. It just means you don’t let those thoughts control your life.
So much of what we do is exercise and nutrition, but what success always boils down to is your daily thoughts.
Let me know if this is helpful,
Arin
