Being free of negativity has been on my mind a lot of late. As someone who is a bit of an empath, I find that other folks’ negative moods or negative news reports can really affect not just my own mood, but also my productivity and behaviour – and I’m sure that I’m not alone.
Friction in the household? It can be easy to find yourself over-eating or drinking as a means of compensating for the negativity. Stress in the workplace? Again, you may find yourself indulging in those behaviours or instead spending hours aimlessly surfing Facebook rather than focussing on the task at hand.
Being surrounded by negativity impacts you on so many levels – spiritually, emotionally AND physically and you can find yourself so immersed in it that you end up becoming stuck in your own life.
You DON’T have to stay there however gorgeous!
Of course, every situation is different, but here are three general steps that you can apply that will help you break free of the negativity that surrounds you, so that you can get back to living YOUR life to the fullest and IMPACTING your world.
1. Walk away. Sounds so obvious doesn’t it? In my years as an educator and as a personal trainer however, I’ve had conversations over and over and over with people who knew that there was a negative situation that they were living with – yet they would not walk away from it.
When we are talking family, the first option would always be to attempt to talk things through and build relationship, but when we are speaking about so called “friends” who bring you down or work colleagues who make your day hell – what are you hanging around for sister?
Life is too short. If you cannot get through to the person being nasty towards you – walk away. Delete them off Facebook and simply get on with your life. Don’t be negative back towards them – there is no need for you to lower your behaviour. Simply walk away and feel the weight slip off your shoulders.
2. Change the channel. I used to be such a news junkie. I’d listen to the radio in the car, watch the TV news every day and read up the latest headlines online. Then I realised that I was becoming more and more fearful about the state of the world, which in turn was hindering my own creativity and flow.
I’ve learned now to turn the TV off. I rarely watch or listen to the news these days, and stay informed with a limit of 10 minutes of reading my favourite online news sites. Again, not rocket science, but a practical act that has made a huge difference to my own outlook – and one that I would encourage you to try.
3. Replace the negative voice with a positive one. If you are turning off the radio and TV – what DO you listen to other than music? I am always listening to podcasts of various positive speakers and find that they challenge me to grow and develop in contrast to feeling negative and fearful about life.
Likewise, I never use the cardio equipment at the gym without reading a motivating book on my Kindle. I am learning and reprogramming my brain at every opportunity and would encourage you to do likewise.
The more that you input positive truths into your subconscious, the less that you will be affected by the negativity that surrounds you – and the better your outlook, your moods, your relationships and your output will be.
Determine to lose the negativity today and embrace the life you have with gratitude and a positive outlook – I guarantee that you will be so glad that you did!
Cat xx
