It IS the Thought that Counts. Having negative thoughts is normal. what really counts is when you can shift that thinking by countering the negative ones with positive ones.
We each have recurring thoughts that are negative. It might be about our bodies (for me it is my hips in particular). It might be about abilities, or about food, about our likes and dislikes, about our personalities…lots of noise taking up valuable real estate in our minds.
The first step in changing our thinking is to recognize when we are on the hamster wheel, spinning and spinning on those same negative thoughts day in and day out.
When you catch yourself on that negative treadmill, say (to yourself if you are not alone!) “STOP! That is not true. The truth is ___” and fill in the blank with something, no matter how small it seems at the time, that is true about you.
The best way to do this is to have some truths written down ahead of time so that you are not caught on the spot without a good thing to say about yourself.
Then at the end of each day, write down 5 things (more is awesome, but at least 5) that you can feel proud of. They can be little things or big. Some may be about health like making healthy food choices or drinking water, others may be about interactions with people, something you did for someone else, a project that was finished…anything at all.
What this does is train your mind to pay attention to things you are doing right–because you know you are going to have to write it down later!
Some days it feels like a stretch…but you can do it! And the more you do it, the easier it will be.
