The 3 Most Powerful Positive Psychology Tools

Photo by Drew Colins on Unsplash

If I reflect on the three most powerful coaching tools that have dramatically changed my life they are without a doubt gratitude journaling, savoring what is good in life, and intentional futuristic dreaming. I often share these tid bits with strangers, clients, and friends who are interested in combatting negative automatic thoughts to rewire the neuroplasticity of their brain to think more positively so they can ultimately live their most joyful best lives.

So what is a negativity bias? What are automatic thoughts? A quick google search would tell you that a negativity bias is “is a cognitive bias that results in adverse events having a more significant impact on our psychological state than positive events. Negativity bias occurs even when adverse events and positive events are of the same magnitude, meaning we feel negative events more intensely.” — the decision lab. What are automatic thoughts? “Automatic thoughts are the kind of negative self-talk that appears immediately, without us even being aware of forming a thought, in response to a certain stimulus. They’re often irrational and negative for our mental well-being.” — thebetterup.com A negative automatic thought can take the form of the nasty inner critic. A prior partner, parent, or boss that was particularly critical of you. It may sound like the voice that tells you “you’re not capable, speaks in absolutes such as ‘you always do this, you never do this, etc.’” It can take the form of a limiting belief or a cognitive distortion. Almost, always these nasty little buggers are rooted in fear, shame, guilt, and all of the lowest vibrational emotional states.

So how do we combat them? Luckily, there are many tools to help rewire the infinite neural plasticity of your brain, so you can embody a landscape that re-routes your thoughts to shift from negative to positive. This work is intentional. Mindful. And consistency is key. One of the simplest ways to incorporate this practice into your daily habitual routine is by gratitude journaling 3–5 things you are grateful for, daily. The content is less important than the practice of strengthening this muscle and creating a new pathway. Say you’re walking down he road and you are triggered by an external stimuli that produces a negative fear based and critical automatic thought; strengthening this muscle gives you the…