You can get so many compliments, but you will not easily forget a negative comment. It gives you a bad feeling and makes you less productive. In the long term it can seriously affect your mental health. However, getting these thoughts out of your mind is easier said than done. We will help you.

Negative thoughts

Negative thoughts are human, you do not have to ignore them. On the contrary, actively ignoring negative thoughts could backfire, since it will give extra focus to the problem. However, constantly recalling negative thoughts is not healthy and will eventually make you unhappy. Accept the negative thoughts, but do not ignore them. 

“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

Rethink your thoughts

We unnecessary worry about a lot of stuff, however we can deal with different situations much better then we expected. So be conscious of your thought pattern: Write down your feelings and criticize from a different perspectives. How rational are your thoughts? What would you advise a friend?? Will the harm be permanent and can you do anything to prevent or reduce the harm?
Do not think of negative experiences as personal failure. Try to look at it from the bright sight, or think about how it could have been worse. And even if it could not have been worse, then keep in mind that worrying about is not going to solve it. Try to accept what happened, but do not let it determine what is going to happen in the future.

Active repeating

Repeating negative thoughts to reduce them, whut?! It does not sound very appealing, but by repeating the thought actively, it will lose meaning (Ohio State University, 2012). Hereby your thoughts will distance from your feelings. Say your thoughts out loud or write them down. This method is frequently used in psychology and is called cognitive defusion.

Rinse your thoughts

Literary. Take a hot shower, science shows that it will make you feel better (University of California, 2013). This is because physical warmth and social warmth are triggered in the same part of the brains. Not feeling like having a shower? Throwing your thoughts away also helps! Write them down and tear or burn the paper you wrote on. Research of the Ohio State University (2012) shows that students who wrote down their insecurities, tore  it and threw it away, have a better body image than the students who did not.

Visualize

You probably already tried to distract yourself, but did you know that the way you distract yourself can affect the result? Distraction only works when it requires your full attention. Like this you will be able to train your brain. You can achieve this by visualizing (Winch, 2014). For example, visualize yourself in the supermarket and picture all the products. Or visualize the outfits your colleagues were wearing yesterday. This does not have to take a long time, but try to do this every time negative thoughts pop up.

NiceDay: Do you often suffer from negative thoughts? Plan for yourself an activity on your Daily Planner where you write down your thoughts and pronounce this a few times out loud. Are you feeling better?