How To Stop Bad Thinking Habits: 7 Negative Thinking Habits

how to stop bad thinking habits

We all suffer from negative thinking and it’s not a problem unless it becomes persistent and turns into bad thinking habits that would stop you from taking action or living your life

I wrote this post to share the ones that affected me the most and how I overcame them in hopes it helps you too

What’ll learn:

• 7 negative thinking habits
• What and why does each hinder you
• How to overcome each one

Disclaimer: these can be serious mental disorders so, consult with your therapist or physician before doing anything here especially if you know you have an already mental disorder 

 

how to stop bad thinking habits

7 negative thinking habits to stop

1-overthinking habit

It’s when you take too long to make a decision, to act, to start something or end something

Overthinking comes from the need of wanting to find and do “the right thing”,

being afraid of being judged,

and wanting to be perfect and not make mistakes, so as to avoid shame and disappointment.

Perfectionists fall into that a lot to learn more about perfectionism and its signs click here

It delays our actions and hinders our results which leads us to be stuck, confused, and away from our goals

here is how To overcome it:

1-become aware of yourself doing that’s important for all these negative thinking habits

because when you’re aware you’ll understand yourself and have the power to act

2-start by reducing the time to act, make decisions, etc through scheduling time to get it over with

3-develop a growth mindset to help learn that nothing stays the same and

you won’t change in the blink of an eye it will take time but it will happen

4-do mind work to change your thoughts and how you feel thus your actions

understand the thoughts that lead you to do it (that’s when awareness comes in)

mostly I found it comes from wanting to have the right answers, actions,

and steps to start acting on something, wanting to avoid mistakes,

and from being afraid of people’s judgment thus avoiding feeling shame

2-” should, shouldn’t” thinking

We all fall into it for many reasons as such we are conditioned in school to think that

there are right or wrong answers only and are rewarded for that and in our houses too

Also, perfectionism leads to this way of thinking since we want things to be perfect

so, it should be right or wrong answers 

living with these beliefs and unrealistic demands harms you and leads you further away

from your goals and the life you want to live

“I should eat healthy all the times

“i should be further ahead by now”

“i should stop wasting my time”…

It creates pressure, stress, and anxiety which lead us to prpcraintion,

last-minute work, distractions..etc, and those lead us away from our goals 

how to overcome it:

1-start by changing your shoulds into wants and would likes”I want to… I’d like to..”

2-work them out on paper ie. write these thoughts and shift them

3-Look at the facts and truth and ask yourself:

is it true? how do i know if this thought is accurate? what is the evidence for it?

change those thoughts into truth and fact statements using what you’ve learned

not all of your thoughts are true and most often they are exaggerated that’s why

peeling the layers to the truth and facts

4-know that most of the shoulds and shouldsn’t are made up by us and society which means they are changeable 

3-all or nothing thinking/good or bad thinking ie. polarized thinking

things either good or bad that include your actions, feelings, decisions, plans…etc

either you can or can’t but nothing in between. either the world is awful or wonderful

it’s rigid thinking you only look at things in the extreme which makes things harder and

stops you more often than not in your track

how to overcome it:

I will share a few mindsets and practical tips that will help you

1-develop and live by the growth mindset which entails that your abilities,

and talents can be developed and changed with effort and time

2-know that the growth mindset can apply to life ie. Feelings are not good or bad

some may be more desirable than others, and decisions can either lead closer or away

but they are in the end the best options you can make at the time you’re making them

3-every mistake and failure is a lesson and an experience that leads you closer to

where you want and who you want to be even in itself is not

4-everything is neutral until you make it otherwise there’s no good or bad but facts without labels

5-find evidence that helps you make the case to your brain about the neutrality and grey options in life

especially for the thing that they’re having thoughts like that about

4-obsessive thinking 

It’s the fixation on something that causes you to harm,

it’s the repeated thoughts and urges that are unwanted and

in some cases are wanted like obsessing over your goal can be good but not always

the thought itself causes harm and anxiety and I experienced it firsthand

the cost is great it will cost you your growth, action taking thus your goals

“Obsessions are repeated thoughts, urges, or mental images that are intrusive, unwanted, and make most people anxious.” according to national institute of mental health

“Compulsions are repetitive behaviors a person feels the urge to do, often in response to an obsession.” according the national insituite of mental health

I heard many gurus’ advice about such a thing( ie. becoming obsessed with your goals)

but that won’t work for all, in fact, it can be a hindrance and a setback to the thought itself

especially those who are prone to stress and anxiety, who are perfectionists, who are diagnosed with OCD

how do you overcome it:

1-consult a doctor if it’s severe or you’ve already been diagnosed OCD or other mental disorders

2-let go of this obsession idea and shift your thinking to want and desire 

(I want to reach my goal instead of being obsessed with my goal) it makes a huge difference

3-don’t listen to or consume any content that exasperates your thoughts that applies to people and anything else

4-identify the thoughts clearly so, you can notice them when they occur

5-use mind work to combat that thought and train your brain differently or use CBT

more resources are provided in the reference section

5-overgeneralizing

Is when you generalize a thought about someone (including yourself) or something.

when you assume something about someone or something based on scarce experience

Example: you tried selling something or searching for a job but you got none and

after a few times, you conclude that there’s no job to be found

“Overgeneralization is a cognitive distortion that refers to making a broad assumption about something from limited experience. An example is thinking, after a single rejection from a job interview, “I’m always going to fail at everything.” Overgeneralization is often implicated in clinical depression, anxiety disorders, and anger management problems. “According to

here is how To overcome it:

1-identify the thought

2-challenge and show yourself the contradiction the opposite of this thought and why it’s not true

3-switch it to a new thought

4-learn to catch yourself when you do that for anything and immediately switch it

the previous steps will help you with

6-labeling

Is the act in which we make one characteristic about ourselves who we are

if you’re always late you assume you’re lazy and irresponsible

we generalize a characteristic about ourselves and make it mean that it applies to us as a whole

it is something not only we do to ourselves but to others too

“Labeling is a cognitive distortion in which we generalize by taking one characteristic of a person and applying it to the whole person. Because I failed a test, I am a failure. Because she is frequently late to work, she is irresponsible. According to cognitive behavior thereby los angles”

here is how To overcome it for yourself

1-start by noticing and identifying what sort of label do you have for yourself and others

2-find supporting evidence

3-find the opposite evidence to prove to yourself that it’s not true

4-argue with yourself and challenge these labels with your evidence and logic and 

5-ask yourself if everyone sees them that way or has the same meaning and label as you do

7-catastrophizing

Complicating, oversizing, making things bigger, more fearful, and worse than they are

This can be without enough information, no information, or reason

which leads to unnecessary worry, anxiety, and stress

and that will hinder your progress toward your goals and impact your life as a whole

since it will reduce the actions you’ll take

“Catastrophizing is a cognitive distortion that prompts people to jump to the worst possible conclusion, usually with very limited information or objective reason to despair. When a situation is upsetting but not necessarily catastrophic, they still feel like they are in the midst of a crisis.” according to Psychology today

how to overcome it:

1-be on to yourself and learn to identify these exaggerated conclusions

2-reframe these conclusions to reality and facts

instead of making them worse than what they really are

3-draw different conclusions and define a new thought

if you want more resources to help you with this look into the resources section at the end

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In the end,

it’s important to pay attention to our thinking as it influences our behavior and 

Our mental health is crucial for us to be able to function and build the life we want

So, start working on breaking the habit of negative thinking today

I have a few resources in the reference to help you get deep on these from trusted sources

Now that you’ve read how to stop bad thinking habits. I urge you to start working on the negative thinking that you have as soon as possible

do you suffer from any of these and what do you do about it?

Extra resources to help you work more on each unhealthy thinking habit (reference)

1-Cognitive Distortions: Faulty Ways of Thinking – Part One

2-Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: When Unwanted Thoughts or Repetitive Behaviors Take Over

3-Cognitive Distortions: Overgeneralizing

4-Cognitive Distortions: Labeling

5-Catastrophizing

To your success 

wafaa