Knowing how to stop negative thoughts really isn’t easy, and it will take practice. This is because you’ll be effectively re-training your brain to think different kinds of thoughts. In order to do this, you need to convince your subconscious that those negative thoughts you’ve been thinking just aren’t true. And you can do this by writing down the evidence.

Why Do You Need Evidence?

It may seem silly to think of gathering evidence against your negative thoughts, especially if you rationally know you shouldn’t be thinking what you do. However, it takes a lot more than that to change your subconscious, which is why this exercise is so important. Eventually your subconscious mind will start to catch on to your rational mind.

How To Stop Negative Thoughts Step By Step

Step 1 – The first thing you need to do is think of one type of negative thought you’re having. Don’t try to gather evidence for them all in one go: you really need to focus here. So a broad category could be something like the negative thoughts you’ve been having about the way you look. Create a table with two columns and use this main thought as the title.

Step 2 – Next you need to list all the “sub-thoughts” under your main one. For the body image example, these could be thoughts related to what you can and cannot wear, or perhaps you’ve been thinking that you always put people off on dates. Whatever it is, list it in the left hand side of your table.

Step 3 – Now it’s time to gather the evidence. In the right hand column of the table, list concrete evidence you know that supports – or doesn’t, as it may be – each thought you’ve listed. For example, against the idea that you can’t wear dresses because your legs look bad, you could write that nobody has ever said your legs look bad, and that you may even have received compliments about them. Against the thought that you’ll never find a partner, write down the fact that people don’t judge each other completely on looks and that you have no reason to think you’ll be alone forever.

You may notice that these don’t take into account your feelings. After all, your feelings are not facts, and your feelings are irrational. You’re only going on real facts here, and you’ll soon realize that there are barely any facts to support all these negative things you’ve been telling yourself! You can even put yourself in other people’s shoes – for example a friend – and imagine what they’d say in response to your thought. They’d probably tell you that you’re wrong!

What’s Next?

You need to repeat this for every broad category of thought that you have, and may want to do it a number of times for each one. This is because it’s going to take a while to change the way your subconscious mind thinks. But keep at it! The more you present your mind with solid evidence, the more you’ll know how to stop negative thoughts and become a more positive person.

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