The Power of Positive Thinking: How To Reframe Negative Thoughts

When I talk about positive thinking, I am not, by any means, referring to fake positivity.

Using the power of positive thinking is about shaping your perspective on your life and yourself in a way that serves you.

Do you see the glass half full or half empty? Are you a person gravitates towards the bright side or the dark side? Do you see all that you have done right or always wrong? Do you look at the possibilities or obstacles? 

What you think and what you feel ultimately defines the quality of your life. Therefore, whether you are habitually focusing on the positive or the negative, that will be your experience of life.

Why do I say habitual?

Because, for the most part, we are either negative thinkers or positive ones.

It all depends on how we think regularly and what neural pathways we have formed over time.

A neural pathway is a connection of neurons in your brain that forms when you think a thought, learn a new skill, or perform a certain behavior. The neural pathway strengthens depending on how many times you think a thought or perform a behavior.

Therefore, if you keep thinking negative thoughts over and over, your neural pathway gets stronger each time and begins to direct the way you think. Since every time you think a negative thought it releases a chemical in the form of neurotransmitter, over time, your mind and body become addicted to these chemicals.

The great news is that in the same way you form negative neural pathways, you can create positive ones by performing the same set of actions consciously.

Here are 3 ways to use the power of positive thinking and learn to reframe negative thoughts.

1. The power of conscious awareness

When you begin changing your mindset, you will experience some form of resistance.

The reason is that you are going against the current. You are working on developing new neural pathways which your mind will naturally resist.

Therefore, being aware and hyper-focused on your thoughts throughout the day is very important. Although it’s impossible to watch all of your thoughts, you can observe your feelings. Since your emotions are a product of your thoughts, ask yourself, ”What am I thinking that makes me feel this way?”

2. Challenge your beliefs and negative thoughts

I am going to break it down into three examples:

Negative thoughts about yourself: Let’s say you have a thought, “I can never do anything right.” Ask yourself, “Is this true, or is there the slightest possibility that sometimes I do things right? Can I think of 1 or 2 examples when I did things right?”

I have no doubts you will find instances when you did things right. By asking yourself these questions, you start breaking down limiting and negative beliefs about yourself.

Challenge yourself by using the power of positive thinking and reframe this statement.

You can say something like, “Although sometimes I make mistakes, I am learning to see the things I do right because I do things right.”

Negative thoughts about others: We judge people who are closest to us the most, don’t we?

Seeing mistakes in others is easy. The problem is that it doesn’t make us feel good but the opposite.

Train your mind to see good in people by observing when you judge them or criticize them for who they are and reframe what you focus on. Commit to observing these thoughts, and when they show up, refocus and find something they did that you loved.

This won’t only open your heart more, but improve your relationships. If you feel that relationships are truly toxic and need to end, then do that. However, don’t stay around spreading and feeling negativity.

Negative thoughts about the future: Many dreams have died because people focused on the worst-case scenario. Here is my take on this. If there is something you really want to accomplish, whether within your personal growth, healing, external goals, or anything else, why not go for it?

Living a “safe” life doesn’t mean life. It means you are living based on your psychological process which is designed to protect you from anything that challenges you.

Here is what you ask yourself:

“What is the absolute BEST that can happen?”

By using this question, you are using the power of positive thinking while creating new neuropathways within your brain. The more you ask yourself this question and then focus with all your attention on the best-case scenario, you are forming new neuropathways while becoming a more positive person.

Remember that feeling joy, happiness, and hope gives you courage.

3. Meditate

Meditation has many mental health benefits. It helps to lower anxiety, treat depression, fight stress and overthinking, and so much more.

You can train your mind by using mindfulness meditation. Sit down, close your eyes, and focus on the natural movement of the breath. When the thoughts enter your mind (which they will), accept them as simple thoughts and let them go.

Remember that the negative thought has only power if you give it one. If you believe the thought, entertain it, and keep thinking it, it will become real.

By practicing mindfulness meditation, you’ll train yourself to become an observer of your thoughts. Instead of entertaining negative thoughts, you can embrace positive thinking by giving attention to good, creative, or uplifting thoughts.

Always keep in mind that the thought you give attention to has power over you. Therefore, choose the good ones.