5 Easy Ways to Overcome Negative Thinking

Negative thoughts often sneak up when people are stressed, anxious, or depressed. And once they take root, they can impede more helpful, critical, and logical thinking.

Here are 5 simple and easy ways to manage negative thoughts when they appear.

1. Help your body relax: breathe deeply 5 times; take a drink of water; loosen up your arms and legs, roll your shoulders. If you have the time, you can even do progressive relaxation. Having a body that is relaxed will make your mind less stressed and encourage new problem solving.
2. Think of the ultimate worst case scenario. I do mean worst case. In my example it would be that the car would run out of gas, my phone wouldn’t work to call for help and no one would stop for us, and we’d spend the night in the car. Extremely unlikely. Coming up with the worst case scenario forces your mind to think outside the box.
3. Ask for help from someone you trust. If you lost a job, ask a close friend for help understanding why. If you struggle with your weight, talk with your doctor. Don’t let shame or embarrassment keep you stuck. The more minds that work at solving a problem, the better.
4. Make a plan. It doesn’t have to be super long or incredibly detailed. The purpose is to give you an outline or a map of what to do next. My plan was to find all the cash I could, to estimate how far my car would go on the gas I had, talk to my husband for his thoughts on the situation, drive slowly to conserve fuel, and to look for a store that would take checks and allow me to get cash back.
5. Replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. Don’t just think them, though. Write them out and put them where you will see them: on your bathroom mirror, your steering wheel, as a screensaver on your computer.

Negative thoughts can bog people down and prevent them from problem solving. The more you can rid yourself of them, the freer your mind will be to problem solve rather than perseverate.

In the end, I was able to clearly think through a plan to deal with the problem. I made it home with the empty gas light on, but I made it home. And I wasn’t bitter or angry or stressed. Well, maybe a touch stressed…

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/your-life/2013/09/5-easy-ways-to-overcome-negative-thinking/

5 Ways To Become A Better Thinker

We're seduced into believing that brilliant thinkers are born that way. We think they magically produce brilliant ideas. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Do you want to come up with more imaginative ideas? Do you stumble with complicated problems? Do you want to find new ways to confront challenges?

Of course you do. So do I.

But when is the last time you thought about how you think?

Do you have a process for making decisions? Are you using mental models and connecting big ideas from multiple disciplines? Are you taking steps to reduce cognitive biases? Have you defined the problem and do you know what success looks like?

Just as with any skill, some of us are better at thinking than others. Why?

We're seduced into believing that brilliant thinkers are born that way. We think they magically produce brilliant ideas.

Nothing could be further from the truth. While there are likely genetic exceptions, the vast majority of the people we consider brilliant use their minds differently.

Often, these geniuses practice learnable habits of thinking that allow them to see the world differently. By doing so, they avoid much of the folly that so often ensnares others. Eliminating stupidity is easier than seeking brilliance.

"It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent." — Charlie Munger

I came across The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, authored by Dr. Edward B. Burger and Dr. Michael Starbird, which presents some practical ways for us to improve our thinking.


They make a pretty bold claim in the introduction.

You can personally choose to become more successful by adopting five learnable habits, which, in this book, we not only explain in detail but also make concrete and practical.

1.Understand deeply
Don't face complex issues head-on; first understand simple ideas deeply. Clear the clutter and expose what is really important. Be brutally honest about what you know and don't know. Then see what's missing, identify the gaps, and fill them in. Let go of bias, prejudice, and preconceived notions. There are degrees to understanding (it's not just a yes-or-no proposition) and you can always heighten yours. Rock-solid understanding is the foundation for success.


2.Make mistakes
Fail to succeed. Intentionally get it wrong to inevitably get it even more right. Mistakes are great teachers — they highlight unforeseen opportunities and holes in your understanding. They also show you which way to turn next, and they ignite your imagination.


3.Raise questions
Constantly create questions to clarify and extend your understanding. What's the real question? Working on the wrong questions can waste a lifetime. Ideas are in the air — the right questions will bring them out and help you see connections that otherwise would have been invisible. 

4.Follow the flow of ideas
Look back to see where ideas came from and then look ahead to discover where those ideas may lead. A new idea is a beginning, not an end. Ideas are rare — milk them. Following the consequences of small ideas can result in big payoffs.

These are the four basic building blocks for effective thinking. The fifth is change.


5.Change
The unchanging element is change — by mastering the first four elements, you can change the way you think and learn. You can always improve, grow, and extract more out of your education, yourself, and the way you live your life. Change is the universal constant that allows you to get the most out of living and learning. 

If you're stuck, need a new idea, or just want to improve your thinking, The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking will help you on your way.

http://theweek.com/article/index/248412/5-ways-to-become-a-better-thinker

Why Bragging Is Not A Bad Thing

I used to think bragging was bad. That it was arrogant and was evidence of an overly-developed ego.

That idea was reinforced growing up. The message I got was that it was better to appear humble and not make a big deal of your achievements. The underlying Greek superstition was that if you talked too much about something good, you were going to give it the evil eye and everything would go to hell in a hand basket.

I've always been such a good student that I carried what I learned through most of my adult life. What that meant in my career was that as good as I was externally promoting my value, I wasn't as good internally in the companies I worked for. In my naïveté, I believed what had been ingrained inside of me from childhood: that I didn't have to. My value would be recognized. I would be rewarded without having to point out why. Plus, I was a woman. Bragging was something men did. Nice girls don't brag.

I can almost LOL reading that line back to myself.

My opinion about bragging changed 10 years ago when I met Regena Thomashauer. Bragging, in her book, is a celebration of who you are and what you create. It's owning those milestones, big and small, and allowing yourself to physically feel the full effect of what you've accomplished.

The Internet is full of so many people touting and promoting themselves that its easy to see why bragging is still seen as a bad thing to so many.

But when you brag from a place of truth and not made-up hype and gobbledygook jargon, it lands differently.

You get to feel your worth.

You're reminded that you actually have accomplished an awful lot -- even though you were not taking the time to notice.

You get ready for more.

It's not easy to do in the beginning, but like so many exercises, the more you practice, the better you get.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-tombrakos/why-bragging-is-not-a-bad-thing_b_3784732.html

How To Boost Your Confidence Easily

Do you want to boost your confidence?

Confidence is a skill that many folks want to master, but have a hard time acquiring. Have you ever wondered why? Let me inform you that you were born confident, you just allowed external sources such as your parents, friends, relatives, society, and media affect your level of self-esteem and self-worth.

Perhaps you were talked to negatively as a child or maybe you were rejected many times. Whatever the case is, know you can change all of that and you can begin to improve your self esteem and build confidence today.
How to boost your confidence?

1. Act as ifBegin to act as if you are confident. Act as the person you would want to be like. This requires you to know how a confident person looks like. Surround yourself with people who you think are confident and have high value. Begin to think and behave like them. You will learn so much from observing other confident folks.

2. Improve your positive self talkOne of the most areas that you need to pay attention to is your self-talk. Your thoughts about your capabilities and self-worth need to be positive and encouraging. When you start to program your mind with uplifting words and start believing you are a worthy human being, your confidence in yourself will become stronger.

Whenever you notice that you start thinking to yourself negatively, pause and take a moment, and shift your focus to something that can help you feel better about yourself.

             http://tiny.cc/iejiyw

3. Be optimisticLet me ask you, whenever you encounter an undesirable situation in life, do you start lamenting and beating yourself or do you trust that everything will be ok? Do you stay focusing on the problem or do you shift your focus to the various solutions you have available to you?

Optimism is an important aspect in boosting your confidence and it must be cultivated. Train yourself to trust that everything will be all right whenever you encounter an undesirable issue in life. This positive outlook on life helps you not only to improve your self esteem, but also to succeed in all areas of your life.

4. Go after your goalsIf you are really serious about building self confidence, you need to identify your goals and go after them. The more you add to your accomplishments, the more confident you will feel about your abilities and skills.

When you begin to achieve goals that you are passionate about, you begin to trust your inner self more and you begin to appreciate yourself more.

By using these four steps to boost your confidence, you will be on the path to enhancing your self esteem and self-worth.

http://www.2achieveyourgoals.com/how-to-boost-your-confidence-easily/

How Optimism Moves The World Forward

Life is not simple. However, we are often told that it is. Modern consumerism offers a quick solution for every inconvenience. An increasing stream of gurus have profited from the claim that life can be, and should be, an effortless affair.

The misconception that life is simple seems to have made us less of a match for life. Our ancestors trekked across the steppes and savannas. They knew they were constantly in danger.They didn’t know life could be anything but challenging. 



Optimism turns out to be the most promising and fulfilling strategy, because the optimist accepts reality and then does something about it.Powerlessness is the root of pessimism. We are all born optimists. Who has ever met a pessimistic 4-year-old? A child who fell on the playground and, after having her tears dried and the scratch on her knee bandaged, decided never to run again? Those children don’t exist. Children get up, try again and keep laughing, even through their tears. Every child has the instinctive intelligence to keep trying. Young children don’t feel powerless.But for adults, optimism and persistence go hand in hand. You can’t find answers or solutions if you aren’t prepared to keep searching and digging. At the same time, you can’t find them if you don’t first accept the truth at the deepest level. That’s often a painful process. Optimism isn’t always fun and happy, and it has nothing to do with rose-colored glasses. 


55 Reasons to Be Optimistic

Optimists live longer. * In fact, we’re all living longer. * Optimists experience more and more fully. * Optimists travel more often and more widely. * The world keeps getting richer. * More and more children are attending school. * We’re getting smarter. * Optimists do better in school. * Optimists are better at sports. * Optimists more often make the right decisions. * Optimists are better at business. * There’s more democracy. * There’s less slavery. * There’s less racism. * There’s less gender discrimination. * Optimists are healthier. * They have better immune systems. * They’re less likely to catch colds. * They suffer less from depression. * They have a lower risk of heart disease. * They breathe more easily. * Sick optimists get better faster. * Optimism has a positive effect on overall health. * For that matter, we’re all becoming healthier, all around the world. * We’re growing more and more food on less and less land. * We have more food at our disposal than ever before. * And our food is healthier, too. * Optimists bring out the best in themselves. * And the best in others. * Optimists are more social. * Optimists maintain better relationships. * Optimists make other people feel worthwhile. * Optimists inspire others. * The number of optimists on our planet keeps growing. * Optimists are less fearful. * Optimists are open to new experiences. * Optimists are more stress-resistant. * Optimists are more resilient. * Optimists are more successful. * Optimists have an awesome favorite magazine. * Innovation keeps growing. * We have more access to information. * We’re giving more to charitable causes. * Housing keeps getting cheaper. * And more spacious. * Cars keep getting cleaner. * We have more free time. * There’s less crime. * And less war. * And less violence. * Optimists are surrounded by happy people more often. * Optimists enjoy life more. * Optimists are happier. * Optimism moves you forward. * Optimism moves the world forward.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-optimism-moves-the-world-forward.html