How To Identify Negative Thought Patterns

Being aware of the energy you bring into the world can be achieved through thought observation. Thoughts drive actions in most cases. If you watch your thoughts which shape your mental state, you will realize that your thoughts form patterns that run through your mind throughout the day while applied to a variety of scenarios and situations.

When we find ourselves in a negatively charged situation, the natural and most common thing to do is to assign blame. By embracing "live in self", we can begin to look within and observe self. We own the energy we bring into the world and take responsibility for it.

Own your energy.

Negative thought patterns can be the foundation of unhappiness for ourselves and the people who surround us. Consider whether your attitude towards life is stopping you and others from bringing positive energy to any situation. To change the negative thought patterns most of us apply to life, we must first be aware of what they are:

• The OCD Thought Pattern: YOU are obsessed with perfection and constantly think that everything needs to be improved. Nothing is ever good enough.
  
• The Comparative Thought Pattern: YOU spend a lot of time comparing yourself to other people and as a result you always think you aren't good enough.
  
• The Polarized Thought Pattern: YOU look at life as black or white - an inflexible view of the world. YOU fail to see the shades of grey present in nearly every issue or opinion presented to you.
  
• The Personal Attack Thought Pattern: YOU think that everything that does not go YOUR way is a cut against you personally.
  
• The Find A Problem Thought Pattern: YOU are always looking for problems or faults in any situation.
  
• The All or Nothing Thought Pattern: YOU don't give yourself or others an opportunity to live life in the grey zone. YOU feel that people's actions should always be "all or nothing". Therefore, failure is often inevitable.
  
• The Envy Thought Pattern: When you are in the comparative thought pattern, you are constantly envious of those that are where you want to be in life and as a result, you cannot be happy for them.
  
• The Overthinking Thought Pattern: YOU think too much about things instead of living in the moment. Your thoughts stifle you and prevent you from living.
  
• The Jump to Conclusions Thought Pattern: YOU constantly jump to conclusions without any evidence. YOU don't give people the benefit of the doubt.
  
• The If I Could I Would Thought Pattern: YOU make excuses for why you are not where you want to be instead of outlining the actions you will take to get there. As a result, YOU constantly feel powerless.
  

Now that you have identified what some of your negative thought patterns are, consider how continuing this type of thinking can negatively impact the people you interact with and how your actions might cause them to spiral into their own negative thought patterns or might bring them down.