Removing toxic, negative thoughts, people, and habits.

I am not sure how I figured it out, whether it was epiphany like a bolt of lightening or a slow realization like water wearing away at a rock, but I realized that I was overly negative about everything in the world. And being that negative was keeping me from getting what I wanted.

How negative was I? I would use self deprecation as way to connect with people. My favorite saying to the question, "How are you?" was "Fat and Ugly, but I get by." It would get a laugh, but I felt myself dying a little bit each time.

Really? Why would one do that? Probably lack of confidence, and self-esteem. I don't say that anymore. Why? Because it was extremely negative to myself. I don't want to be negative. So why do it? I decided that I wouldn't any more. However habits and behaviors are hard to break.

Breaking a behavior is incredibly hard. Especially once you realize you are doing, you start to have this meta-cognitive thing going (thinking about your thinking). You start to see where you do it and when other people do it. If you "slip" and fall into the habit, you feel a bit bad. If it's being negative that's the bad habit, it can become a self fulfilling prophecy. And once you get yourself better at not being negative, then the harderst part is dealing with your emotions when you see or hear people you associate with being negative, or dwelling.

So what do you do? You remove the toxic, negative elements out of your life. I work on myself first. And I work on myself last. After all, you cannot change other people. All you can do is suggest, be the "guide by side".

Do know, your friends and family may not like the suggestion they are being negative. So work on yourself. As for people that won't change from being overly negative, remove them from your life. They become misery vampires. You can only work on yourself.

Sounds simple, right? It is really. Its got trials and tribulations, and you just need to deal with them in a productive fashion. Try to set a positive system for each negative habit you have. Set a positive system of counter suggestions to other people's negative habits (or remove or limit your interaction with them).

Some things that help are mindfulness, meditation, self development, and Emotional Intelligence (written before here).

Good luck.

Jeffreystune