Everyone gets disheartened and upset from time to time. It’s an unfortunate fact of the human experience that tragedies and hardships do happen, and that it can be difficult to maintain a sense of positivity and hope in light of these experiences.
Ultimately, though, giving in to negativity and allowing your actions to be determined by pessimism, despair, or a sense of despondency, is one of the worst things that you can do — both for your own sense of wellbeing, for your loved ones, and for your ability to achieve your goals and dreams.
It can get in the way of you taking necessary and productive action to maintain your home and living space, such as by contacting DUCTZ. It can undermine your ability to pursue your goals. And it can generate a lot of misery both for you and your loved ones.
If you find yourself increasingly sinking into a state of negativity, here are a number of tips and suggestions that can help you to pivot in a more positive direction instead.
Make decisions and move forward in almost any direction
One of the most insidious things that happens when we get caught in a negative frame of mind, is that inertia can occur — and it can become almost impossible to make any decision, or to move forward in any direction, in a consistent, focused and intentional manner.
If you find yourself sitting in one place — either literally or metaphorically speaking — and feeling like it would be pointless to commit to a decision, or to proactively invest yourself in a given course of action, you can end up losing an incredible amount of energy and hope, while undermining your own potential, too.
Simply force yourself to make decisions and to move forward. It almost doesn’t really matter what direction you’re heading in (as long as you’re not acting immorally, or putting yourself at excessive risk), as long as you’re moving forward.
Challenge your “negative references” and look for positive ones
Negative beliefs about life and the world are naturally supported by negative “references” — in other words, the combination of experiences, perceptions, memories, feelings and imaginings that help to support those beliefs and “give them legs,” so to speak.
Challenging and undermining those negative references as often and as directly as possible can help you to collapse negative beliefs altogether. Simply begin by asking yourself questions like “did that experience really mean what I think it did? Could there be a different explanation? How would someone else interpret it?” And so on.
In addition to challenging negative references, look for positive ones to support positive beliefs, instead. What evidence can you find — if you really look — that backs up more empowered beliefs?
Engage in activities that give you a lift, instead of just trying to think your way out of a funk
While questioning your own negative beliefs and assumptions, and doing some intentional positive thinking, can both be extremely powerful practices — it’s also important to not just rely entirely on trying to think your way out of a funk.
You should also get in the habit of regularly engaging in activities that give you a bit of a lift, regardless of how you might have been feeling to begin with.Many people find, for example, that going for a stroll in nature, or doing some exercise, or calling a loved one, can quickly lead to a shift in mood and perspective for the better.
This is a contributed post.