Emotions are complex, aren’t they?
In the past, we’ve sometimes categorized them as “good” emotions and “bad” emotions.
Before I began my career as a Toronto life coach, I bought into this as well.
Anger is bad, joy is good.
Fear is bad, love is good.
That’s what society teaches us, right?
This is a little too simple, though.
Manifestation isn’t about just feeling happy and joyful all the time – that’s not how life works.
It’s about manifesting a confident mindset to help you through those times.
Part of the confident mindset coaching work I do involves helping people recognize how negative thought patterns can take over.
Because while we can’t do anything about life’s inherent certainties but accept them, we can also learn to recognize the negative thought spirals that can make things seem worse than they are.
Let’s take a look.
How Do Negative Thought Patterns Work?
Negative thought patterns can be overwhelming, particularly because they seem so real.
Your inner monologue is isolated, which means it’s just a single voice.
Consider the snooze button on your alarm, for example.
You set your intention to wake up early the night before – perhaps you’re working on establishing some new healthy habits as part of what your healthier lifestyle coach suggested, or even on your own.
When you sleep by yourself, you can hit it as many times as you like.
“Ten more minutes,” you think, which becomes twenty more minutes, then thirty, then an hour, or even more.
But if you hit it once too many when your partner is sleeping beside you, you’ll get a much ruder awakening than whatever sound your alarm makes.
Why? Because your partner can break the “ten more minutes” feedback loop.
That’s a bit of a silly example, I know.
And of course, habits are a different thing than negative thought patterns.
But there’s still a parallel here.
The point is that when our minds are in isolation, it can be easy for us to convince ourselves that things are true, or right, or a good idea, or good for us, when they might not actually be.
So, what happens when we don’t have somebody else to break our negative feedback loops?
We have to do it ourselves.
Recognizing Negative Thought Patterns
There are a number of different types of negative thought patterns, and before you learn how to break free of them, it helps to understand which one you feel stuck in.
A number of different psychologists and mental health researchers have outlined the different ways negative thought patterns can take control.
Let’s take a closer look at some of them, and how to break their cycle.
Today, we’re going to explore two of them – overgeneralization, and catastrophizing.
As usual, the subjects on this blog are just too big to do justice to in one article!
As a wealth and abundance coach, I practice what I preach, but sometimes abundance can come to you in ways you don’t expect.
In this case, abundance comes in the form of topics for this manifestation blog!
Without further ado, let’s take a look at overgeneralization and catastrophizing – what they are, how they work, and how to break the cycle of these negative thought patterns.
Overgeneralization
We all tend to make generalizations.
It’s how we make sense of the world.
After all, it takes a tremendous amount of brain power to work your way through new scenarios, so instead we draw upon our past experiences to understand how to react here.
That can be beneficial, in some situations.
After all, you learn from a young age that walking out into traffic without looking both ways can get you hurt.
You don’t need to think about that every time you’re near traffic – you just know to look before you cross.
That’s a generalization.
But when we overgeneralize, we can end up assuming that every negative experience we have says something about the universality of experiences we’re going to have.
It’s what happens when you make statements based around the words “always” or “never”.
I always hit red lights when I’m late!
You never clean up after yourself!
My relationships are nothing but disasters!
I’m never going to find a job I love!
How To Break The Cycle Of Overgeneralizing
Overgeneralizations are based on emotion, not logic, so even though it may seem incorrect, absurd even, that doesn’t mean it feels any less real in your mind.
That’s why it’s important to take a closer look at the reality of your statement.
Is it really true that your spouse never cleans up after themselves?
It may be – and if that’s the case, you have every right to be frustrated!
But it’s usually not – in fact, it’s usually an exaggeration designed to outline how frustrated you are with the situation.
This can be trickier, however, when you’re dealing with things like relationships or careers.
After all, there’s no clear and specific evidence you can point to that says yes, you will find the relationship of your dreams, because of course you’ve not found it yet.
That’s where an abundance mindset comes into play.
A scarcity mindset will assume that whatever you want is difficult if not impossible to come by.
On the other hand, an abundance mindset assumes that there are plenty of opportunities for you to manifest the life of your dreams, in every area.
Of course, just telling you to “stop living in a scarcity mindset” isn’t very helpful.
After all, if it were that simple, you’d have already done it!
The process of understanding the difference between a scarcity mindset vs an abundance mindset, recognizing which one you’re in, and learning how to break out of scarcity and live in a mindset of abundance is a process, like so many parts of manifestation are.
But overgeneralizing often has its roots in a scarcity mindset, and manifesting greater abundance in your life can help you break the cycle and establish more positive thought patterns.
Catastrophizing
We talked about breaking the cycle of catastrophizing in relationships before, but we can catastrophize about anything.
When you catastrophize, you exaggerate all the perceived negative aspects of an event, focus on them, and assume what the consequences will be.
For example, imagine you’re interviewing for a new job.
But not just any job – this is the job of your dreams.
You’re anxious, nervous, you want to make a good first impression.
But then you accidentally trip over the door frame when you walk into the interviewer’s office.
Oh my god, you may think, I can’t believe I did that. I’m such a fool, I probably look like the biggest klutz in the world. I’m so embarrassed, they must think I’m the dumbest person ever. They’re never going to hire me, nobody is ever going to hire me, I’m going to lose my apartment, I’m going to be homeless, nobody will ever want anything to do with me, I’m going to die poor and lonely…
In the world of philosophy, they call this a “slippery slope fallacy”.
It’s what happens when you think about a series of events that lead to some sort of catastrophe.
It often starts off fairly reasonable, as well – going from “I tripped over the door frame” to “I feel embarrassed” makes sense.
However, going from “I tripped over the door frame” to “I’m going to die poor and lonely” is a pretty big leap, isn’t it?
But this is your mind playing tricks on you – dragging you down a cycle of catastrophizing about events that make no sense.
How To Break Out Of Catastrophizing
It’s important to remember that not every thought you have is based in reality.
However, that doesn’t mean the feelings that come along with them aren’t real.
That might be difficult to understand at first, but think of it this way – imagine hearing a big crash in your house in the middle of the night.
If you’re like many people, this might spark feelings of fear that somebody’s trying to break into your home and rob you.
So you grab the baseball bat near your bed and creep toward the source of the sound, only to find it was just your cat that knocked a water pitcher off the counter.
Now, in reality, there was nothing to be afraid of – but that doesn’t mean the fear you felt was any less real.
The same is true with catastrophizing.
Consider the pattern of your thoughts as you catastrophize.
Spend some time meditating or journaling on it, and try to understand the root cause of these feelings.
Then, consider whether they’re genuinely based in reality.
You might be surprised at what you discover.
Book Your FREE Connection Call With Evelina Hovich Today
The universe is full of endless possibilities just waiting to be explored, manifested, actualized, and if you hold that to be true, you can break free of any negative thought spirals.
But sometimes, it takes more.
Sometimes, you need some extra help, some guidance.
This thing we call life is a wild ride that can take you in so many different directions, sometimes at once.
Have you found your journey?
How can you navigate this plane of existence, this miracle of living?
It can be difficult to know where to begin.
You might feel stuck, anxious, unsure where your path even lies, let alone the steps to take along it.
I’m Evelina Hovich, and I can help.
Book your appointment with me today, and let’s take your first steps toward manifesting the life you’ve always dreamed of.