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The most important aspect of being the observer is being in the present. Move from a place of being your thoughts, to a place of watching your thoughts.
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You will feel more confident in your decisions, and emboldened by your more accurate and kinder thoughts. Ultimately, you will stop feeling like you are the mercy of your thoughts. Keep doing this until the replacement thought comes as naturally to you as the automatic one. Keep doing this until you don’t feel as affected by your thoughts. Grounding your physical body through deep breathing and observing your thoughts from a distance is a powerful way to release the influence your automatic negative thoughts have on you. Practice mindfulness and noting your thoughts. Say it out loud, you can even write it down! Rephrase or reframe your original thought. Here you are building the skill of “talking back to your inner critic voice”. Replace that thought with a more plausible, rational, kinder thought. Look for the evidence that supports your thought, and the evidence that supports the opposite.Īs yourself: is this helping me or harming me? Once you’ve identified the thoughts, just take a step back and assess if this is helping you get closer to your goal (whatever it is), or is it getting in the way? If it's getting in the way, that’s a sign to move away from that thought. Is it harsh and critical? Is it about you or how other people think about you?Īsk yourself: is this true? This is called “fact-checking”. Is it when you are trying something new or have made a mistake? Does it happen in meetings or when you are out with friends? Also, notice what the tone and content of the thought is. Try to find a pattern for when these negative automatic thoughts come. That’s why it's so important to identify and stop your automatic thoughts.īecome aware of the first thing that comes to your mind. What you think affects how you feel, and eventually how you act.
#Automatic negative thoughts how to#
Reducing the influence of your negative thoughts and learn how to observe your thoughts.