4 Ways to Create a More Positive Reality

When you see a negative reality, it’s your choice to be positive or let it stay negative. Positivity is a choice. You can choose to look at any situation and find the positive, or you can choose to focus on the negative and see it as something permanent and unchangeable. Cognitive distortion is when your thinking has an element of distorted thinking. This means that you are viewing things negatively when in reality, the facts do not support this view. There are many cognitive distortions, but here we look at 4 ways you can create a more positive reality by recognizing these distortions and changing your thought process to one which is more realistic and optimistic.

Recognize the distorted thinking and change it

The first step to changing negative thoughts is to recognize them. This can be hard as you may be so used to certain ways of thinking that you don’t even realize you’re doing it. But if you can recognize when you’re falling into negative thought patterns, you can start to change them. The first step is to be aware of the different types of distorted thinking. - Thinking with all-or-nothing labels - This is when you view something as black and white and there is no middle ground. This can be seeing your self worth as either amazing or terrible, or seeing an event as a total failure or a total success with no other outcome possible. - Focusing on the negative - This is when you only focus on the negatives and don’t acknowledge what is going well. This can be with your self esteem or relationships with other people. - Jumping to conclusions - This is when you assume something is true about a situation, person or yourself and then don’t let that idea go even when you have evidence to the contrary. - Magnification and minimization - This is when you make something out to be more important or less important than it really is. For example, taking an event and making it seem a lot bigger than it is, or taking something that is small and making it seem a lot more important than it really is.

Stop the negatives before they start

Instead of letting the negative thoughts spiral out of control, you can try to stop them before they start. We are all humans, and humans make mistakes. It’s impossible to be perfect all the time. But when you’re in the middle of a negative thought process, you can’t see that the mistake is not a big deal, or that you are human and will make mistakes. When you’re in the negative thought process, it seems like the mistake is total and you are a total failure. But when you stop yourself before the negative thoughts start, you can see the mistake is not as big a deal and you are human. You can take a deep breath and say to yourself, “I am just being human, I am not a total failure, I can still be successful.” This is a lot harder to do than it sounds. But with practice, you can break the negative thought process and stop it before it starts.

Be grateful for what you do have

This sounds strange to a lot of people, but gratitude is a great way to break the negative thought process and start looking at the positives. When you are feeling negative and are falling into a negative thought process, try to focus your thoughts on what you are grateful for in your life. This can be gratitude for your life in general, gratitude for your friends and family, or gratitude for the things in your life that you do have. This can be something as simple as being grateful that you have a roof over your head. It may sound strange, but practicing gratitude can help you change your thought process and focus on the positives in any situation.

Ask yourself better questions

Negative thoughts often come from questions you ask yourself. If you ask yourself, “Why am I so worthless?” you are likely to end up in a negative thought process. Instead, if you ask yourself, “What can I do better next time?” you are more likely to find a positive solution. Questioning yourself is a good way to change your thought process and be more positive. Here are some examples of questions you could ask yourself to be more positive. - What is good about this situation? - What is good about this person? - What do I have to be grateful for? - How can I change this situation? - Can I change this person? - How can I make this situation better?

Conclusion

You can create a positive reality by recognizing the distorted thinking and changing your thought process. Start by being aware of the different types of distorted thinking, and then make a choice to stop the negatives before they start. Be grateful for what you do have and make sure to ask yourself better questions when you find yourself in a negative thought process.