Correcting Negative Thinking Patterns

Negative thinking affects everyone from time to time.  For many it is the reason for low self-esteem, unhappiness and unrealised potential.  People can feel socially crippled, afraid to be in public situations, apply for jobs, date or take the necessary measures to improve aspects of their lives.  Their thoughts work against them, time and again.

Negative thinking patterns can be powerful enough to control your whole life.  In fact, it has been proven that in certain situations they can actually cost you your life.

An American cosmetic surgeon called Dr Maxwell Maltz carried out a lot of research into people's thinking patterns.  He noticed that some of his patients became immediately more confident after their surgery, whilst others became disheartened.  He wanted to find out why certain people were more prone to negative thinking patterns than others.

As part of his research he hypnotised a patient so that he could communicate only with her subconscious mind.  Once he had done this he placed a pen on her forehead and told the woman it was a piece of hot metal.  In less than twenty seconds, a red mark appeared on the patient's forehead.  Her subconscious mind had told her the pen was hot metal and her body had reacted accordingly, hence the red marking.

Dr Maltz discovered that certain patients continued to view themselves as unattractive or ugly even after surgery to correct their supposed physical faults.  The surgery had done nothing to correct their self image.  He believed that the self image is the basis of all the changes that take place within a person - if someone has a faulty or unhealthy self image then no amount of cosmetic surgery will correct their view of themselves.  Only those with a positive self image can achieve positive change.  This, of course, applies to negative thinking patterns.

An example of fatal negative thinking occurred many years ago in the US.  A man had been accidentally trapped overnight in a large storage freezer on a train.  When he was found there was writing on the wall:

"3.20 am - Getting cold now. 4.32 am - Shivering. Finding it hard to write and concentrate.  5.47 am - Too cold. I can feel my heart slowing down."

Sadly, the man was dead.  However, the freezer was not even switched on.  The man's negative thinking patterns had literally killed him.  His subconscious mind had told him he wouldn't survive and his body had reacted as if this were true.  For him, it was a terrible self-fulfilling prophecy.

As you can see, our thinking patterns are crucial to our existence.  They have the power to harm, hinder or help us.  It's important to be aware of your inner voice and what it is telling you. You may be surprised to find that your inner voice is stuck in a negative thinking pattern - it's essential to be consciously aware of this because it is the first stage of changing those negative patterns to positive ones.

There are many ways to do this, but a new and effective method is now available.  It quickly helps you to establish a healthy inner voice, changing negative talk into positive talk.  It takes a little practice to develop the habit, but once you do, your life will never be the same.