3 Steps to Being Mindful and Kicking Those Pesky Negative Thoughts to the Curb

We all spend far too much time berating ourselves and beating

ourselves up for everything. The person in the world that you should be the kindest to, is yourself, but how do we start to notice that we are even doing this. So much of the time it's our subconscious mind that has us fooled. It's feeding us information about ourselves that is just not true. 

Step One: Live in the Moment

All day long we hide within ourselves, thinking about what we did the day before, or what we might do tomorrow. When we start to pay attention to what is going on right now, we can also start to notice what we are telling ourselves in the moment. For example, if I'm in a business meeting and I am not fully present in that meeting and am really day dreaming about what else I could be doing. I'm focusing internally, and I'm not really living my life. I'm hiding from it. Focus on the meeting, be present for it. It will not only show the boss that you are with it, but it help you to realize when you are hiding from life and when you are not. 

Step Two: Sit alone at least once per day, and focus on the positive things in your life. 

Write them down on a piece of paper and reflect about how great your life is. Keeping a positive attitude will help you to notice when those negative thoughts start to surface. For example, if I start focusing on how much it sucks that my house is falling apart and I start complaining to myself and others about how much I hate my house, then I'm just attracting more of that negative energy to me. 

Step Three: Decide to choose positive thoughts

Change the way you think by noticing when negative thoughts pop into your head and change them. It will be a struggle because our brains are naturally wired this way. It's a defense mechanism and most of the time we don't even notice that it's happening. 

Be present and keep your thoughts in check. The more you remain positive and calm, the more you will attract the good things that you want into your life. 

Breathe. You got this!