This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Manifest" by Roxie Nafousi. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Do you struggle with negative thoughts? How can you avoid going down the rabbit hole of negative thinking?
We all succumb to negative thinking from time to time. When negative thoughts take over, resist entertaining them and take steps to counteract them right away.
Here’s how to overcome negative thoughts when they invade your mind.
Technique #1: Quell Negative Thoughts and Emotions With Positive Affirmations
In her book Manifest, self-development coach Roxie Nafousi explains how to overcome negative thoughts and emotions using positive affirmations—statements that encourage positive beliefs.
To create positive affirmations, listen to the limiting beliefs of your inner voice and craft affirmations that state the opposite. For example, if your inner voice is telling you that you’re not good enough, your positive affirmation can be something like “I’m worthy and capable of achieving anything that I dedicate myself to.”
When you notice your inner voice reciting negative thoughts, choose to actively drown them out by reciting positive affirmations in your mind. Nafousi notes that this will override your negative inner voice and stop it from bringing down your vibration.
Further, Nafousi recommends reciting positive affirmations aloud and integrating this practice into your daily routine. For example, every morning on the way to work, you could recite your list of affirmations: “Today is going to be an amazing day where I maximize my productivity,” “I’m a beautiful and unique person inside and out,” “I’m capable of achieving anything I dedicate myself to,” and so on.
These positive affirmations don’t only have to combat your negative inner voice: They can pertain to any area in which you want to improve your confidence. Reciting these affirmations regularly will start to alter your beliefs little by little until the positive statements become personal truths and entirely replace your more negative beliefs.
Technique #2: Turn Jealousy Into Motivation
A second way to overcome negativity is to combat jealousy. Nafousi argues that jealousy is one of the lowest-vibration emotions that people commonly experience. When we see that another person has something that we want, we develop negative feelings toward them and ourselves. We feel resentment toward them because we think they’re better than us, and we feel bad about ourselves because we believe that we’re unworthy or undeserving of gaining what the other person has.
While these responses are natural, they push us farther away from gaining the object of our desire because they cause us to emit low vibrations and attract negativity. To overcome the corrupting effect of jealousy, Nafousi argues that we should channel the emotion into positive motivation—feel happy that another person is experiencing joy and reaching their goals, and channel this emotion into a desire to improve yourself and achieve your goals.
For example, if you see someone on social media posting about their lovely trip, rather than feeling jealous of them and angry at yourself for not being on vacation, be happy that they’re having a great experience and start working toward your own dream trip.
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Here's what you'll find in our full Manifest summary:
- How to create your dream life through the power of thought
- Why manifestation is not just about picturing something you desire
- How to effectively manifest by altering your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions
