It’s been said that humans on average can have anywhere from 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day — if not more. Pretty fascinating, right?
Here’s the issue. Some speculate that an astounding 80 percent of our thoughts are negative and you train your brain to have more negative thoughts over positive thoughts.
According to Loretta Breuning, Ph.D., Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, Professor of Management at California State University, East Bay and author of The Science of Positivity and Habits of a Happy Brain, this really isn’t all that shocking.
“Our brain is not designed to create happiness, as much as we wish it were so. Our brain evolved to promote survival. It saves the happy chemicals (dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin) for opportunities to meet a survival need, and only releases them in short spurts which are quickly metabolized. This motivates us to keep taking steps that stimulate our happy chemicals.”
Even worse? “You can end up with a lot of unhappy chemicals in your quest to stimulate the happy ones, especially near the end of a stressful workday,” adds Dr. Breuning.
When our brains go negative that can eat away at our productivity, creativity and decision-making skills. That’s because negative thoughts tend to have a bigger impact than positive thoughts. Again, this goes back to evolution. Survival depended on being able to detect and avoid dangerous situations.
As Dr. Breuning explains, “The bad feeling of cortisol has its own survival purpose. It alerts you to an obstacle on the path to meeting your needs so you can navigate your way to good feelings. But once you do that, your brain finds the next obstacle. You will feel bad a lot if you follow your survival brain wherever it leads.”
The good news is that you can actually train your brain to become more positive through these eight techniques.
1. Observe your thoughts.
The first place to start is by observing your thoughts — even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Since we’re creatures of habit, you may notice that you have the same negative thoughts creeping up in your mind. Are you anxious about an upcoming trip? Are you stressed out at work? Are you upset about a fight you had with your spouse?
Once you know what negative thoughts are bothering you the most, you can start working on a solution to resolve the…