Let me ask you a simple question.
Do you ever feel as though your mind kind of automatically jumps straight to,
Say,
The worst case scenario?
Or that one negative thought can completely ruin a perfectly good day.
Well,
That's because you're brain's main job,
Believe it or not.
Is not to make you happy or successful.
It's simply to keep you alive and to keep you safe.
And well,
In brain language,
Safe means predictable and familiar.
Now,
Psychologists call this the negativity bias.
And your brain is constantly scanning your surroundings,
Your memories and your future plans for threats.
And the thing is it'll happily replay a negative thought a thousand times because.
.
.
Predictable feels safe.
Even though it makes you feel nervous or anxious.
So why does he do that?
Well it does it because it's an old survival mechanism and your brain prefers a predictable negative thought over an uncertain positive outcome every single time.
But the good news is that you could retrain that program with three easy steps.
1.
Catch and label the thought.
Instead of saying I'm a failure or everything is going wrong.
Say to yourself.
.
.
Hmm notice my mind is having the thought that things might go wrong Now this creates distance between you and the thought.
Remember,
You're not the thought,
You are the observer.
2.
Question the distortion Ask yourself,
Is this a fact?
Or is it my mind just predicting a problem that hasn't even happened yet?
Most of the time your brain is simply catastrophizing.
Three,
Reframe with curiosity.
Simply shift your focus by asking What is a more realistic and balanced way to look at this situation?
Replace fear with curiosity and your mind stops seeing threats everywhere and it focuses on possibilities instead.
So when you respond with compassion rather than frustration,
Your nervous system relaxes and it gives your mind permission to focus on what's going well.
And by doing that you actually give it evidence of change.
And that's what makes the difference.
