6 Ways to Overcome Negative Thoughts by Identifying the Negativity Bias

The Sonya Looney Show

Picture this- you just gave a presentation on a topic you're proud of... the hours of preparation and practice that went into creating the presentation, the nerves you had to overcome to stand up and actually give the presentation, and the relief of having it done. In some cases, maybe you felt that generally it well overall. If you tend to be more self-critical, maybe you're focused on the one thing that didn't go well instead of the hundreds of things that did go well. Let's take it a step further- let's say you are receiving feedback on the presentation. You heard a lot of positive feedback, but that one negative piece stands out in your mind and you can't stop focusing on it.

Why is it so easy to focus on the ONE negative thing you thought about yourself or the one negative thing that was said to you? Why does that seem to overpower hundreds of positive inputs and why do we sometimes even believe the negative things someone said or that we thought even if they aren't true?

It's called the negativity bias. It's a built-in mechanism that is pre-programmed to focus on what didn't go well, focus on the thing that we lost, focus on negative headlines, and all the things going wrong instead of all the things going right.

Some of us are wired to be more positive and happy than others. According to research by Dr. Sonya Lyubomirksy, 50 percent of our happiness is determined by our genes, 40 percent by our activities, and 10 percent by our life circumstances.

You may have heard the phrase, "neurons that wire together, fire together." Neurons are brain cells that build circuits for just about everything we do. Neuroplasticity refers to being able to mold those pathways. And when it comes to thinking positive? Turns out you can rewire your brain to trend towards the positive and work towards overcoming the negativity bias.