💭 Reframing Negative Thoughts

Don’t believe everything you think.

Notice Your Thoughts: The first step is to become more aware of your thoughts. Pay attention to what’s running through your mind, especially when you’re feeling down or stressed.

Challenge Your Thoughts: Don’t just accept your thoughts at face value. Ask yourself:

Is this thought really true?

Is there another way to look at this situation?

What would I say to a friend who was thinking this way?

Empathy Reframe: With this technique, treat yourself like someone you love. When your favorite person in the world comes to you and feels like all they do is mess up or that they’re a bad person – think of the things you’d say to them. By using your powers of empathy it helps you see yourself (and the situation) in a slightly different way.

Facts Reframe: Challenge yourself to focus on facts AND thoughts. You don’t want to feel like you’re gaslighting yourself and that your feelings don’t matter but what you do want is to understand why you’re feeling like that and then turn the volume down on those thoughts/feelings if they’re blocking out other important information!

Language Reframe: If you’re familiar with my workbooks then you know I am a huge advocate for paying attention to the way that you talk to yourself and the words that you use. Your inner dialogue matters. Sometimes it helps to add an *at this moment to your inner monologue can remind you that thoughts are not permanent.

(Photo credit: Self-love Rainbow)

Context Reframe: Imagine that this situation is part of a picture titled “Your Life”. Now imagine yourself zooming way way way out so that the current situation is just a tiny speck. Where does it fit in the big scheme of things?

Behavioral Reframe: Challenge negative thoughts by doing things that go against them. For example, a “bad” person wouldn’t apologize or try to make amends. When you look at your behavior and can see the ways your actions contradict your negative thoughts it can help you reshape those distortions.

Challenge the Negative Thoughts: The next time you find yourself being extra critical of yourself - pause - and just dig into that thought. What is the evidence that it's true? What would you say to someone else?

Three Good Things: With the nearest writing implement (or your phone) write down three good things that have happened to you today.

Inner Critic Time-Out: If your inner critic is being extra loud and destructive today, give it a temporary time-out. Imagine putting it in a little box and setting it aside for a while. You can always revisit it later, but for now, give your brain some peace.

Thought Bubbles: Draw thought bubbles on a piece of paper and fill them with positive affirmations or empowering quotes. Hang them up as a visual reminder to focus on the good.

“It is only a thought, and a thought can be changed.”

Source: Self-love Rainbow