2. Negative Thoughts
Negative thoughts, worries and the fear of the unknown beset everyone at one time or another. The thing to know about negative thoughts is that they are worse than just “not positive” thoughts. They are something else entirely – something far more insidious. When you feel worn down by depression, difficulties may feel like impossible obstacles to you. Problems seem permanent and appear in simple black and white.
Here’s how that happens. Beset by negative thoughts, you feel like you will never get it right. But, if you can’t do this one thing, the whole project is impossible. It might seem obvious that how you feel does not align with reality in the cold light of day, but it feels like reality at the time. Most people can remember this feeling when things felt just impossible.
The first step to climbing out of this funk of failure is to be aware that it is happening. The fog is not going to miraculously disappear. But you can start to take small, dogged steps that will slowly lead to the sunshine again. Just do the next thing on your “to do list,” and the next. This is how hikers climb the tallest mountains.
Mindfulness is a popular concept that involves meditating and emptying your mind. But successful people already possess and use something similar. The passion high achievers feel for their work is because they immerse themselves in the experience of every moment – be it painful, disheartening or happy. They accept those feelings and use them to drive themselves forward.