The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth
if you lost all your money. –Unknown
Negative emotions and thinking are something that plagues many individuals. Our thoughts typically guide our emotions, feelings, and our thoughts. This is particularly the case where money is a concern So when our priorities become unclear or are out of sync, the tendency is to blame our financial situation and hold negative emotions about money.
6 Warning Signs of Negative Thinking
By working towards financial freedom, it is possible for couples and individuals alike to cope with and overcome any negative emotions they are having about their financial situation. To do this, it is important that you understand these six factors and how they apply when you are thinking about finances and money:
- Cynicism – you tend to focus on the negative aspects of people with money and find fault in everything they do, even if what you think is unfounded.
- Destructive internal chatter – when we have negative emotions, we tend to engage in internal chatter that can be very destructive in the long run.
- Fear of the worst – you tend to imagine things or play out situations in your mind about what you would be doing like other individuals who have money.
- Gossiping – you may share negative stories about others and their money because you are envious of what they have and have grown spiteful as a result of your feelings.
- Sarcasm – you make personal attacks or snide remarks about how your partner or other people handle their money.
- Suspicion – you are suspicious of certain individuals because they have more assets than you and suspect that they have a secret agenda behind what they say or do.
Just be careful. Even when things are going well financially, we still might be hanging onto those negative emotions about money.
7 Common Mistakes Regarding Negative Thinking
Keep in mind that negative emotions and feelings have a way of distorting reality and our perception of it. Individuals make some mistakes regarding negative thinking. Here are the seven most common ones.
- Believing what you make up – although imagination can be a wonderful thing, it can be destructive if we use it to scare ourselves.
- Forcing life’s rules on ourselves – individuals make up their rules for reality and how it must or should be; these rules are usually inflexible and unreasonable.
- Minimizing the positive – if something positive happens in your life, negative thinking stops you from seeing the good that results.
- Over- generalizing the negative – when something bad happens to us, we over-generalize things and apply it to everything rather than relegating it to a single place and time.
- Taking full responsibility – those who fall prey to negative thinking internalize fault and take all the blame for certain wrongs that have nothing to do with them.
- Thinking in terms of extremes – life is not all or nothing, black or white, etc. When we think negatively, we tend to view everything in extremes.
- Trying to be a mind reader – we tend to relax with our uncertainties when we think negatively. This leads to mind reading or thinking about the other person so you attempt to assign a meaning to something before you can prove that it is true.
We are what we think. While thinking is a natural process that operates from the moment we awaken until we fall asleep, many of our thoughts can be harmful and utterly useless. But it is our thoughts that negatively or positively impact the quality of our health and lives.
How to Stop Negative Thoughts and Feelings
Negative emotions can be incredibly powerful, especially when we are thinking about our financial situation. If you use the following anti-negative thinking tips, it will enable you to restore order in your mental house and overcome your negative emotions about money:
- Acceptance – it is imperative that we accept who we are today and understand that this is the result of our actions and the choices (good or bad) that we have made. After all, those actions and decisions began as our thoughts. There is always going to be something that you cannot change or control as well as those that you can. Focus on what you can change.
- Analysis – analyze your thoughts about money thoroughly. Whenever you have a negative thought, ask yourself if it’s imaginary or real and whether it is based on assumption or reality. If a thought has no basis, in fact, get rid of it. If the thought is factual, you need to determine whether it is healthy or toxic.
- Attitude – your attitude, when you wake up often, indicates how your day will go. When you wake up every morning, the first thing you should do is make a mental note about the state of your attitude and feelings, particularly when money is a concern. Think about the quality of your thoughts and how these can affect your attitude.
- Be grateful for what you have – you should be practicing gratitude in everyday life already. You can accomplish this in one of the two ways. First, be grateful for the things you have, the things your money has bought you and second, be grateful for all the discomfort and pain that you have not suffered as a result of what your money hasn’t bought you.
- Counter your negative actions, thoughts, and words – when our minds become disturbed because of negative emotions and feelings about money, restore your peace of mind using different, positive thoughts. Counter anger with happiness, hatred with love, misery with compassion, and vice with indifference.
- Give purpose to your mind and thinking – pursue a hobby or interest that you have always been passionate about but, for one reason or another, have been putting off. Remember, sometimes life gets in the way. Your mind will have a purpose as a result of this, and you will be able to keep your negative emotions and feelings about money at bay.
- Live for the moment – learn to enjoy life regardless of your financial status. However, do not misconstrue residing in the moment as an excuse for adopting a lifestyle that is irresponsible, overindulgent or unhealthy. If you want to eliminate your anger and disappointment about money, you cannot live in the past.
- Meditate – you can purify your mind by using meditation. Meditation encourages deep relaxation, good health and well-being, happiness, peace, and tranquility. By itself, meditation can be a very powerful tool and enable your mind to have a purpose. Additionally, it will help you keep your mind from thinking negatively.
- Resolve your past issues involving money – resentment for money is often attributed to not speaking and suppressing your emotions about it. If an event triggers those negative memories or thoughts, they will eventually surface and could be even more destructive than before. Whenever possible, try to resolve your past money issues.
- Seek out the positive in everything – to transform negativity to positivity; you should start by surrounding yourself with positive individuals. Don’t take things seriously that you hear from negative people. This will hinder your positive thoughts and even diminish them.
Remember the goal here is to overcome your negative emotions about money. To do that, you have to consider the tips we have listed above. Although, one or two may help you accomplish this, the combination of all of them will ensure that you succeed in your mission.
Good luck!