How do you deal with negative thoughts?

[Scientist]

A problem I have regularly is that I have a thought of something that I do not want. As soon as I have a thought like that, I panic and think "AHHH!!! I don't want that! Think about something else! Think about something else.... (American) Football! Go Patriots!"

Similarly, I also have conflicting thoughts when I am trying to manifest something that I want. For example, I am trying to manifest $25,000, but when I am trying to imagine receiving $25,000, the figure of $7,000 keeps popping into my head, as if I were fighting with another person (who happens to live inside my head) over the amount I wish to manifest.

Has anyone else had these issues? What would be a good way to deal with these things?

[Sadhana]

Originally Posted by Scientist

A problem I have regularly is that I have a thought of something that I do not want. As soon as I have a thought like that, I panic and think "AHHH!!! I don't want that! Think about something else! Think about something else.... (American) Football! Go Patriots!"

Similarly, I also have conflicting thoughts when I am trying to manifest something that I want. For example, I am trying to manifest $25,000, but when I am trying to imagine receiving $25,000, the figure of $7,000 keeps popping into my head, as if I were fighting with another person (who happens to live inside my head) over the amount I wish to manifest.

Has anyone else had these issues? What would be a good way to deal with these things?

Of course. I think everyone struggles with these problems. One way to go about it is to focus on improving your self-discipline: try to hold only positive intentions for 10 seconds; then, when you're feeling comfortable with that, move onto 20 seconds, then to 30 seconds, and so on.

[eternomi]

Being able to control your thoughts is a huge deal. It is a very important skill indeed.

As long as you are not dwelling on them though, I wouldn't worry about it. Concentration is key. Picture it like reading a book. While you are reading, you are completely oblivious to what happens in the external world. You are absorbed. That's the kind of concentration you need. A flash of a second worth of thinking won't do anything. In fact, I am not sure how much 15mins of meditation does either (perhaps it is the prolonged exposure over time). You really need to be infatuated with your ideas!

There is another issue here though. You already have the results of being absorbed with your previous thoughts until now... Have you been a worrier? A negative thinker? You gotta break those patterns. What is in charge now, is what you've been absorbed with in the past. Good news is all that can change. Change your focus of infatuation, and the rest will take care of itself.

[Dating Specialist]

If you keep seeiong $7000, perhaps it's your subconscious giving you a message. Why not ride on it and visualise the $7000 coming in by batches.

Imagine it flying towards you and coming into your life, the first $7000, the second $7000 etc until you reach your $25K?

Sometimes the universe may already be giving you hints. Instead of fighting it, why not turn around and work on it to get what you want?

Just a suggestion.

[Scientist]

Sadhana: That sounds like something that will help, I'll give it a try.

outback: Yes, I used to worry frequently. I was also very pessimistic. I was also depressed often. I am still working on getting past my perfectionism.

Dating Specialist: The reason I was intending $25,000 is because it is what I want to get for my year-end bonus. I picked such a large value because if I am successful, I will know that it came as the result of my intention, that it wasn't by chance. I don't want to intend $7,000 because that is roughly the amount I received last year, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary if I received that value again. I think it is most likely that the $7K figure is popping into my head because of some sort of self-doubt or self-sabotage.

[Alarin]

Something that's worked really well for me has been replacing any negative thoughts with a positive alternative. The only way to effectively break a habit is to replace it with something else, so if a negative thought would come into my head, say "Argh, this painting is going to suck!" I immediately replace it with a positive thought about that thing like "Well even if it does suck at least it's good practice!".

It took about a month of doing that constantly for it to become a habit for me, now my head automatically jumps to a positive thought if a negative one pops in, so it's definately worth doing

[Colm OReilly]

Do you believe you can get $25K?

I usen't to believe I could manifest wealth. When I did my affirmations etc, I pictured myself being able to buy expensive couches and TVs. But during my day to day actions I'd gripe about having to pay €25 for a fleece or to get something fixed.

I realised that imagining expensive, luxury items were an escape for me, so my subconscious recognised it as dreaming, and not a serious order.

So I figured out what I thought I could earn, let go of my fears of buying smaller and intermediate items. Now it makes it easier to picture myself buying the luxury items. I can also see myself earning €100K per year now, whereas I couldn't a few months ago, no matter how much I wanted to picture it.

I picked such a large value because if I am successful, I will know that it came as the result of my intention, that it wasn't by chance.

This intention seems like you're trying to test the IM method. Is that your true intention? Just a thought.

Best of luck,
Colm

[ahimel]

Originally Posted by Scientist

outback: Yes, I used to worry frequently. I was also very pessimistic. I was also depressed often. I am still working on getting past my perfectionism.

One thing I've heard recommended in meditation is to not panic about unwanted thoughts, but just ignore them. Thoughts are kind of like little kids -- if they do something you don't like and you freak out, they're actually more likely to do it again, because they like the attention. But if they do something you don't like and you act like that's totally expected and nothing's wrong, they'll stop doing it after a couple of tries.

Dating Specialist: The reason I was intending $25,000 is because it is what I want to get for my year-end bonus. I picked such a large value because if I am successful, I will know that it came as the result of my intention, that it wasn't by chance. I don't want to intend $7,000 because that is roughly the amount I received last year, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary if I received that value again. I think it is most likely that the $7K figure is popping into my head because of some sort of self-doubt or self-sabotage.

So I see basically two options:
1) You have a little voice in your head telling you that you can't possibly triple your bonus from last year, and the best you can realistically hope for is $7K.

2) By choosing to manifest your $25K as a year-end bonus, you've limited your income source. It's perfectly possible to get $25K for a year-end bonus, but the universe is tapping you on the shoulder, trying to get you to turn around and see the 4 opportunities to manifest $7K that are significantly easier and faster.

Hard to say which, but you might explore the 7K idea and see where it goes. If it seems to lead to a dead-end, or makes you feel angry or depressed, then stop exploring it and go back to the 25K number.