Five Mind Tricks to Help Stop Negativity

Recently I ran across a statement from author Wayne Dyer about how negativity is easier to deal with if you imagine it as being external, as if you were witnessing it from the outside, rather than experiencing it from the inside. I began to imagine how to make this exercise a reality in my own life, since I was raised by depression-era parents who always expected the worst ("He who expecteth nothing shall not be deceived" was our motto.)

The effect is quite helpful! Here's how it works: when you catch yourself thinking a negative, pessimistic, self-defeating thought, you imagine that it is coming from someone else--not you. Using that idea as I springboard, I have developed five techniques that I hope will help you as well.

1. The Sideline Cynic

When I am driving and thinking and planning and imagining, sometimes a self-defeating, uncreative, negative thought will pop up and try to tell me why something won't work. I immediately catch myself and imagine that those "bad" words are being shouted at me by some lunatic on the shoulder of the highway. I then shout back something like "Hey--shut up!" or even "Get your own car!" I then say "POOF!" and blow him over the fence into the weeds and out of sight. I immediately feel better and can continue practicing being positive.

2. The Laughable Prophet

This can be used anytime I'm thinking or meditating. When I am making an effort to focus and be positive and creative, many times a voice will arise telling me the many, seemingly logical, reasons it will be hindered or fail altogether. I then imagine these words being spoken as a wannabe prophet, sitting cross-legged in the midst of a group of possibility thinkers like me. One by one we begin to snicker at the prophet and finally begin to laugh loudly at his limited view of the world. He gets angry and picks up his rug and stomps out as we continue to deride him and his negativity.

3. Rifle Range

This is sometimes the easiest and fastest. No matter what I'm doing, when a negative thought pops up, I imagine that the words are appearing on one of those pop-up targets that are used on a target practice range. As soon as I see the words I use my quick-draw skills and shoot it down--just like a carnival game! (I even imagine hearing the tell-tale "ping" of success!)

4. Force Field

You don't have to be a Star Trek ™ fan to use this next one but it helps. Sometimes a negative sneaks up on you, from behind you as it were, and you don't see it coming. When I need a really quick-fix, I close my eyes tightly and think BOOM! In my mind I see an irresistible force field exploding away from me sweeping every negative feeling idea and feeling out of my universe. If you can actually see some of the sci-fi style special effects in your mind it really enhances the experience!

This last one is actually my mind's reward for brushing away the negative. I call it the "Thank You Hug."

5. Thank You Hug

When I'm thinking, planning, and imagining, and I begin to feel really good about an idea, and my better trained subconscious agrees, and I know that feeling of affirmation, I treat that affirmation like family. I actually see myself greeting the idea in my mind like a loved family member. I embrace it and say "Thanks for showing up! I am so glad to have you here!" That positive image, combined with the love I already genuinely feel for my family, helps reward, and I believe reprogram, my thinking. That little burst of joy helps me continue, knowing that other positive thoughts will be likewise rewarded.

Give it a try! It takes practice and a bit of determination, but I have found it to be a wonderful mood elevator. Many times these little tools are what give me the energy to get up and go on. I hope that it will be a positive experience for you as well.