Resilience 101: Reframing Negative Thoughts

One of the key pillars of resilience is building that positive mindset. However, having everything you think as positive is not only unnatural, but can also be a hinderance. So what do we do when those negative thoughts creep in?

Here's 4 steps to help reframe those negative thoughts:

1. Awareness. If a negative thought creeps in to your mind telling you "I'm not good enough" or "I cannot do this", STOP. Recognise the thought has happened and give it some space. Quite often we zoom past this step and allow the thought to take place without realising how much it affects us. 

2. Challenge the thought. Now we've processed the thought we can ask, is it really true? If you're thinking I'm not good enough, remind yourself of time you've succeeded before or how much time you've put in to preparing. 

3. Reframing. Potentially the hardest step but the most important. Change the wording. Instead of saying "I can't do this" say "This is challenging but I can try". If you nail this part you'll start to see more and more setbacks as opportunities. 

4. Positive Self-talk. This is still hard for me to do even after practicing for the past few years. However, telling yourself "I can do this" or sometimes just "I'm strong" can help you through the most difficult situations. It really makes a difference. By doing this daily it helps to train your brain to focus on your strengths. 

Resilience is about adapting and thriving in adversity. Reframing those negative thoughts is a crucial way to build that positive mindset and ultimately cultivate your own resilience. 

Give these tips a try and let me know how you get on!