Discovering Optimism

I've been studying a workbook related to Anxiety for the past few days. It has really opened my eyes to how I really am as a person. It can be a hard pill to swallow at times but I am fortunate to have figured some of these things out. One very important idea to keep in mind while doing this sort of self help study is to be honest with yourself. Understand that no person is perfect and we all struggle with personal demons in some way.

So what could you learn about yourself as an anxious or depressed individual? You are full of self defeating talk with a big fear of failure with continuous negative thoughts. To think of myself as a negative individual was difficult at first. But I am starting to understand that throughout my life I have been talking down to myself. A continuous bombardment of "you're not good enough." It's a slow process to learn that I am not perfect and mistakes will be made. It's part of life.

So what do I need to work on now? Replacing those negative thoughts with positive thoughts. How do you recognize it? Well it's a process and takes weeks and even a lifetime of practice to master. For someone who has been like this for more than 20 years it's going to be a difficult habit to break. It takes some courage and guts to change and get better.

1. You must learn to have compassion for yourself

2. You must learn to talk yourself out of being afraid

3. You must praise yourself and mean it

4. You must learn to talk to yourself in a relaxing, soothing and comfortable manner

5. You must learn to use positive dialogue instead of negative when you feel you have failed

6. You must learn how to stop negative thoughts and comments and replace them with positive ones