We had the pleasure of sitting down with the founder of 2MPower, Anne McKeown recently to talk about all thing’s negative mindset, positive thinking and goal setting.
After working as a Sales Coach at BP Oil, Anne discovered that ultimately it was never about the product that made sales, but about the salesperson’s mindset. Her employees were successful when their beliefs and mindset were aligned and were overall, positive instead of that often debilitating and unproductive negative mindset. This prompted Anne to find out more and dive deeper into why this is the case and how we can all really use this to our advantage. In this blog, we’ll be focussing on a great and simple tool that anyone can use to ‘snap out of’ negative thinking. It really expresses the connection between the mindset and your physical body.
We are driven by the unconscious mind, whether it be eating mindlessly or driving somewhere on autopilot, it guides so much of what we do and how we think. As well as our essential bodily functions such as breathing and digesting. Often, this unconscious mind is full of negative thoughts and drivers, because we are wired to stay safe. It is overall just so important to keeping us alive.
Anne says the ultimate first step in aiming to create a positive mindset for yourself is to simply realise you actually have a negative mindset. The reptilian brain we have is the same as when we lived in caves and were worried about being chased by a tiger, or from someone invading our village. When instances like this occurred, we used the fight, freeze or flight mode! The problem in today’s world is that that same fear and overreaction to being chased by a tiger, we now use when we experience daily mundane problems such as losing our keys or getting stuck in traffic. In the grand scheme of things these aren’t a huge deal, right?
It is crucial also to remember that you are not alone. We are human and thinking negatively is just innate. But it doesn’t have to keep you down! Anne says, “It is about awareness and learning and thinking to yourself ‘is the way I’m behaving an overreaction?’”
Awareness leads to positive thoughts, which leads to positive language, feelings and actions and then positive outcomes. If you aren’t aware, you won’t reach the positive outcomes, and get stuck in a spiral. Speaking about this awareness with others is so important too, because chances are, they have also experienced thoughts and behaviours similar to yours. Anne says, “We can then heal together. We can all rise together!” Ensuring loved ones around you know when you are struggling with something is always a good idea!
What can we do to overcome negative thinking?
Accept that it is a part of human nature. We are going to think negatively – it is in our DNA. Anne says, “neuroplasticity says for every negative thing we say or someone else says to us, we need about 5 positives to balance it out.” If you want to actually move forward, you need about 7 positives! This may seem like a lot, but trust us when we say it really isn’t hard. There is so much to be thankful for and positive towards.
Snap out of it!
The connection between the mind and the body is extremely strong and influential upon one another. We live on the subconscious level a lot such as unmindful eating or driving without even knowing where we are going.
One way to stop it is by using body cues. Anne showed us how she always wears a thin hair tie on her wrist. She explained when she has a negative thought, she flicks the hair tie against the sensitive area of her wrist instead of doing the stereotypical ‘slapping yourself’ on the cheek or hand when you are thinking bad thoughts or are angry, which you might have heard of before. It uses the body to stop the mind.
“Stop telling yourself you’re not good enough and stop telling yourself everything is sad, bad, and miserable.” When you get out of that state you can think ‘how I can reframe this and think differently’. Then follow this up by thinking or saying positives to yourself. This can often be made easy by thinking to yourself and even writing down, ‘what am I grateful for?’
Doing this simple trick to get your mindset on a positive track can really assist in your mental health and creating a more positive outlook overall.
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