People buy furniture out of necessity and the ladder shelf fits the needs of any home. Storage, or book shelf the ladder shelf will take its place as one of the homes hardest working pieces furniture.

Have a passion for wicker furnishing? The ladder shelf with its three drawers is a lovely way to have extra storage. The open shelf and the enclosed shelf storage make an attractive addition to any room. Keep pens, paper, and Children toys in the pockets of some of the shelving.

What Is Positive Thinking Self Talk?

Self talk is simply the name given to those thoughts that pop into our head throughout the day – our stream of consciousness. It is the way we talk to ourselves about what we’re doing, the way we convey our emotions and the way we think about ourselves.

This self talk can have a huge affect on the way we feel. Some of us are in the habit of talking to ourselves negatively. As a consequence, we look at situations negatively and feel bad about the things that happen in our lives.

There are a few specific types of negative self talk:

•  Catastrophizing – thinking everything is going to be a disaster,
•  Imposing “shoulds” on ourselves – thinking we should be a certain way and we will be “punished” if we aren’t,
•  Mind-reading – negative thoughts that revolve around the idea that we know what others are thinking,
•  Expecting the worst – never imagining what will happen if a situation goes well,
•  Absolute thinking – e.g. you “never” do well in interviews, you “always” mess things up.

If you take some time to really analyze your thoughts one day, perhaps even writing some down, then you’ll probably notice you’re guilty of some of these. All of us are from time to time, but positive thinking means generally learning what our destructive thought patterns are, and taking time to avoid them.

Other Areas That Influence Positive Thinking

Although your self-talk has a huge influence on the way you think, there are a few other things that are crucial when it comes to thinking more positively:

People You Spend Time With: If the people you spend time with are positive and supportive then it’s far easier to think more positively yourself.

Your Lifestyle: Studies have shown that people with an active and healthy lifestyle are more likely to be positive thinkers.

As you can see, the question “what is positive thinking?” has more answers than you may have expected! Positive thinking is a complicated combination of the way we view ourselves, the way we view circumstances and events, the people that surround us, and the way we take care of our bodies. If you want to become a more positive person, then working on each of these areas in turn will get you there one step at a time.

Positive Thinking Helps Beat Stress and Illness

Whether you see the glass as half full or half empty can have a huge impact on the way you deal with life’s problems. Those who are generally more optimistic will often see the silver lining in situations that would otherwise make them stressed. And there is a direct link between our stress levels and the way our immune system works.

Other studies have shown that negative thoughts may also directly affect our immunity to certain conditions. One study suggested that increased brain activity while thinking negative thoughts was related to our body’s response to the seasonal flu vaccination. Negative emotion and self-talk is also a huge factor in those suffering from depression.

A positive outlook has also helped people dealing with serious long term illnesses such as cancer. Those who practice positive thinking – by keeping check on the stream of thoughts that go through their brain throughout the day – were known to reduce some of the negative side effects of their treatment, and help increase the speed of recovery.

The Research Isn’t Yet Clear

The research isn’t yet conclusive when it comes to the many benefits of positive thinking on our health. However, Mayo Clinic states that positive thinking may affect more areas than we realize, including:

• Increasing our life span,
•  Giving us greater resistance to the common cold,
•  Improving physical wellbeing in general,
•  Lowering our chances of becoming depressed,
•  Helping us to cope better with difficulties in life,
•  And reducing the risk of a fatal cardiovascular disease.

There are many theories as to why positive thinkers may experience some or all of these health benefits, but it generally comes down to the fact that positive thinkers are less stressed in general. This, in turn, is a result of what we tell ourselves day-to-day.

We all have a stream of thoughts, and we don’t even notice most of the thoughts that pop into our minds. Studies have shown that there are as many as thousands of negative thoughts going through our minds every day. It’s not difficult to understand why a constant stream of negative thoughts can lead to a negative outlook on life, making it harder to deal with difficult situations!

As you can see, the benefits of positive thinking aren’t limited to happiness. It can affect all areas of our lives if we work on our thoughts properly.

Step 1: Notice Your Worry

The first step in these positive thinking techniques is to notice that you’re worrying. As with negative thinking, worrying about anything and everything can become a habit that you do without thinking. Start by trying to catch your worries before they take hold.

Step 2: Ask Yourself Important Questions

Next, you need to question your worry. Is it something you can do something about right now? Or is it something you have no control over?

If it’s something you can’t do anything about, and that you have no control over, you simply have to tell yourself that fact. There’s nothing you can do, so distract yourself to put the worry out of your mind. Whatever you do, don’t take time to think about the consequences of your worry. There is no point.

Step 3: Take Action

If the worry concerns something that you can do something about, then take action and do something about it! You may be able to do something about it right now, in which case you should. Doing it now will mean you can simply forget about it for the rest of the day, and can feel comforted by the fact that you have taken action.

If you can’t do something about the worry right now then there is one thing you can do to ease your mind – schedule a time to address your worry later in the day or week and leave your worry to rest.

Step 4: Switch Your Focus

Whether you realize that you can’t do anything about your worry, or you take action now or schedule it later, the next step is to put the worry out of your mind. By following all of the steps above, you know that you’ve done everything in your power to take control of your circumstances. There is nothing left to worry about.

In some cases, simply recognizing the above fact may be enough to stop you worrying. In others, however, you may need to distract your focus onto something else. For example, if you’re searching on Google about the things you’re worrying about, you may need to stop and get away from the computer to stop your worrying. Or you may want to go out and take a walk to get a change of scenery.

These positive thinking techniques may seem simple, but they can make a huge difference between worry that can actually be productive, and worry that takes up your whole day. Learning to control what you can and to forget about what you can’t control really is one of the most important steps to becoming a more positive person.

Why Are Negative Thoughts Important?

The reason why negative thoughts are important is because most of us are used to thinking of them habitually. Like any other habit, we barely notice we’re doing it, and we don’t realize just how destructive those thoughts can be on our lives. In fact, you may even be sitting here thinking that you’re not that negative!

If you stop and think about it carefully, you’ll probably find that you’re being more negative than you realize. These negative thoughts, both big and small, will help to explain the difficulties you may be having in your life.

How Can You Catch Out Negative Thoughts?

First, remember that even small negative thoughts can be destructive. Here are a few examples of thoughts that show you may be looking at things negatively:

•  ”I am unlucky”
•  ”It’s definitely going to rain today now that I’ve made plans”
•  ”I am bound to make a mistake on this project”
•  ”I shouldn’t be thinking this way”
•  ”I need to spend less money”

Although this is a very small sample, it gives some idea of the wide range of thoughts that come into the negative thinking spectrum. Positive thinking exercises should be designed to reduce these kinds of thoughts before replacing them with more realistic and positive alternatives.

Start Small

Starting small means learning to recognize these thoughts in the beginning. For now, don’t try to change them or stop yourself doing them. Simply become more in tune to your thoughts so that you’re aware that you’re thinking negatively.

For many, recognizing negative thoughts is half the battle. As I mentioned earlier, they are part of a habit, so recognizing the way you’re thinking is the first step towards breaking this habit. If it helps, you can even write down the kinds of thoughts you’re noticing – big or small. This can help you to recognize the ones you tend to think more frequently, and will give you more material to focus on as you progress through more positive thinking exercises.

Positive thinking exercises such as catching your negative thoughts may not sound important at first, but they are more useful than you may realize. It’s only when you truly understand the patterns of your brain that you can start to reroute them towards something more positive.

It Takes Evidence To Challenge Your Negative Thoughts

You may know by now that your negative thoughts aren’t rational at all. But no matter how much you, or others, tell yourself that fact, it’s still near impossible to stop yourself from thinking them. This is why you need to go one step further and start gathering evidence that’ll convince you that your negative thoughts aren’t true.

Step By Step Guide To Challenging Your Thoughts

Step 1 – The first step is to take a broad category of negative thought. For example, you may choose to work on your negative body image, or you could choose the thought “I am unlucky”. Whatever you do, don’t work on every single one of your negative thoughts at once. It takes time to learn how to stop negative thoughts, so work on them gradually.

Step 2 – Now that you’ve got your broad category, you can start to think about all the thoughts that come under that heading. Take the negative body image example, some of your regular thoughts may be “I can’t wear tight dresses as they show off my big butt” or “everyone pays attention to my pretty best friend and not me” or “I’ll always be alone. Nobody finds me attractive”. Make a list of these thoughts on one side of a table.

Step 3 – Now it’s time to look for the evidence to support your thoughts. On the other side of the table, write down the evidence in real life that will boost that thought. For example, for the thought  “I’ll always be alone. Nobody finds me attractive”, you might write that nobody has ever, in fact, told you that you were unattractive, and that there’s no logical reason for you to believe you’ll always be alone. Or that school bullies may have picked on you, but nobody who cares has mentioned anything. You can also write evidence such as “I personally don’t judge people solely on looks, so why would people judge me solely on looks?”

Do you understand how this is working? Writing out the evidence is forcing you to go through your life to see whether your thoughts actually come from something solid. A “feeling” that people think you’re unattractive isn’t enough. This is the place for cold, hard evidence. Sure, we’ve all had some negative comments or things that made us feel less than great. But when you start to write out the facts, you’ll probably realize that your thoughts are even more irrational than you first thought!

Now What?

You should repeat this for every kind of negative thought that you think. You may even need to repeat it a number of time for different sets of negative thoughts, as it takes a while for your emotions to catch up with your rational brain! Over time, however, you’ll find that it is possible to know how to stop negative thoughts, and that your negative thinking “habit” actually turns into far more rational thinking.

1) Take Action

Many of us worry about all the bad things that can happen to us instead of taking control to make good things happen. If there’s something you’re worrying about, take action now to change it. If it’s beyond your control, take action by concentrating on other areas of your life that you can change for the better.

2) Practice Gratitude

If you’re the kind of person who always sees the glass as half empty, then take 5 minutes out of each day to list the things you’re grateful for. You’ll probably notice there is a lot more good in your life then you thought, which will help to create that positive mental attitude.

3) Think Good Things About Others

Our society has been accustomed to judging others and expecting the worst in people. However, thinking negative thoughts about other people is only keeping you in the habit of being a negative thinker! Instead, try to go for a whole day only thinking positively about other people. Extend this for as long as you can and notice the results.

4) Have A Sense Of Humor

Having a sense of humor and making sure you laugh each day is a simple but effective way to help you become a much more positive thinker.

5) Distract Yourself From Negative Thoughts

Have a trigger in your mind that’ll help you avoid negative thoughts. If you find yourself thinking anything negative, bring this trigger to mind. It could mean saying “STOP!” out loud, pinching yourself, or imagining a red stop sign in your head. Anything is useful as long as it reminds you to put your focus on something more productive and positive!

6) Consciously Feed Yourself Positive Thoughts

Most of us let our thoughts go automatically, without consciously deciding what to think. Start getting into the habit of forcing yourself to think positive thoughts (some people call these affirmations). It may feel silly at first, but it’ll soon get you into the habit of thinking more positively.

7) Congratulate Yourself

Negative thinkers tend to notice all their mistakes without recognizing when they do well. To help get out of this destructive habit and boost your positive mental attitude, keep a journal and note down everything you did that made you proud. You’ll soon realize that you do more things well than you thought!

Relax Your Mind

It’s much easier to develop a positive mental attitude when you have a clean slate to work with. Many of us are used to being constantly bombarded with thoughts and ideas from the media and our home entertainment. Try to take time out of the day to get rid of these thoughts, such as through meditation or walking in nature each day.

If you find this list overwhelming, start with just one thing – right now! Developing a positive mental attitude does take time, but it’s more than worth the effort you put in.

1) Start Exercising

Of all the positive thinking tips, this is probably the most important. If you don’t already get enough exercise then you aren’t taking care of your body OR your mind. In fact, exercise has been shown as an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. It works to help combat negative thinking, too. Start incorporating exercise into your daily routine and you’ll see things more clearly and rationally.

2) Hypnosis

Some people may debate whether hypnosis works, but one thing’s for sure: it will leave you far more relaxed at the end of it. Many people liken a professional hypnosis session to having the best sleep of their life. If you can’t afford to see a hypnosis practitioner then there are a number of hypnosis MP3s to download from the internet. Listen to these while you’re comfortable, such as lying in bed, and they can help you to forget the stresses of the day.

3) Spend Time With Animals

Spending time with animals has been known to relieve stress in many people. If you have a dog or cat, sit down and spend time stroking them or playing with them. This can result in instant effects, such as a reduction in blood pressure. You should also take some time to get outdoors and enjoy nature. Focusing on a different environment can greatly change your outlook.

4) Practice Yoga and Meditation

The practice of yoga itself advocates positive thinking as essential to both physical and mental wellbeing, though it can also help if you’ve never tried it before and are struggling with negative thoughts. Yoga and meditation both involve sitting with our thoughts for periods of time. In Western society, most of us are used to being stimulated all day every day. We find it difficult to free our mind from racing thoughts, and many find it impossible to meditate at first.

However, the best positive thinking tips involve learning to take control of your thoughts. When you practice yoga and meditation, you’ll learn how to block out thoughts that don’t serve you, and to be content with your own stillness. Not to mention the fact that yoga can also help with your physical health!

These positive thinking tips aren’t difficult to incorporate into your every day routine. You may think you have no time to spend meditating or exercising, but the truth is that it’ll help you improve your concentration and become more productive through the rest of the day.