We are such busy creatures focused on success so much of the time. While this may help us set and reach goals, sometimes it can manifest as focusing on the negative in order to strive to do better. We so often ask ourselves or automatically think, “what’s wrong?” or “what can I do better?” Think about it: when we seem sad or upset, what do people ask us? “What’s going well?” (spoiler alert!) or “what’s wrong?”
One tip that seems easy but can be downright revolutionary to shift our way of thinking is to that of gratitude. To reference an idea one of my heroes talks about, counselor and author Brené Brown, we can benefit greatly from changing our perspective from one of scarcity to abundance (for more, I highly recommend her book Daring Greatly). There are oodles of cool charts, journals and ideas out there for bringing gratitude into our daily lives, but I want to start simple in this blog post.
Here is the simple tip: when you are feeling trapped or stuck in your negative thoughts, especially if these feel cyclical, ask yourself:
“What’s going well?”
Like most things, this is not as easy as it sounds. When we are upset, our ability to use logic or do things to regulate our emotions becomes infinitely harder (look out for a future blog post on me nerding out on the neuroscience on this). So this is a practice, not a quick fix.
Want more help with managing anxiety and negative thoughts?:
Be well,
Caitlin
Authentic You Counseling 