The most common negative thoughts adults have each day

By Fran Tuckey, 72Point via SWNS

Some of the most common negative thoughts adults have on a daily basis include "I’m not good enough," "I’m overweight," and "I’m not good-looking."

A poll of 2,000 UK adults found they will think of things 11 times a day that will hinder their progress towards achieving their goals, with 37 percent feeling like they are their own worst enemy.

But while 34 percent feel they are letting themselves down, 32 percent worry more about disappointing others.

And 34 percent feel their own thoughts have stopped them from achieving certain aims, including finding new work (40 percent), expressing their true feelings (38 percent) and achieving their health goals (35 percent).

However, maintaining a busy lifestyle, practicing mindfulness, and repeating positive affirmations were the top ways people use to stay on track with their goals and combat negative thoughts.

Andreas Michaelides, Ph.D., chief of psychology at Noom, the psychology-backed behavior change program which commissioned the research, said: “Negative or intrusive thoughts, otherwise known as thought distortions, will be experienced by most of the population at some point in their lives.

“They are usually biased, exaggerated and inaccurate, and they can cause us to reach conclusions about ourselves that are not based in reality.

“The good news, however, is that it is possible to combat them.

"Learning to recognize thought distortions is the first step to unpacking their content and reframing your approach.”

Some of the most popular positive affirmations that help people combat thought distortions include ‘I am grateful for everything I have in my life,' ‘I can do this,' and ‘I am making progress.'

But other goals often left unachieved due to negative thinking include improving fitness (29 percent), traveling somewhere new (30 percent) and making the leap to self-employment or starting a business (24 percent).

When confronted with negative thoughts about themselves, only 12 percent believe them to be true all of the time while 66 percent only think they are true some of the time.

Recent events, such as the pandemic, the unstable political climate, and the cost-of-living crisis, have led 32 percent to experience more negative thoughts than normal.

These leave them feeling sad (34 percent), unmotivated (34 percent) and frustrated (33 percent).

However, 43 percent have attempted to stop or correct negative thought patterns when they arise by changing their lifestyle or speaking with family and friends about how they’re feeling.

The study, conducted by OnePoll, found 58 percent believed it was likely more positive thinking in their lives would help them to reach more of their personal goals.

And 56 percent connect maintaining a healthy diet and leading a healthy lifestyle with experiencing an increase in positive thoughts.

Exercising more often (28 percent), eating healthily (28 percent) and maintaining a positive mindset (23 percent) were the most common new year’s resolutions.

Andreas Michaelides added: “We all have the occasional crisis of confidence, especially after facing setbacks or a stressful day.

"However, it’s important not to have an all-or-nothing reaction.

"Psychology has shown that we are much more likely to achieve our goals if we think positively, and it’s encouraging to see that almost two-thirds of Brits recognize this.

"Psychological techniques as seen in Noom’s inaugural book, The Noom Mindset: Learn the Science, Lose the Weight, can help you combat negative thoughts to help you reach your goals.”

TOP 20 NEGATIVE THOUGHTS:

1. I don't earn enough money
2. I'm overweight
3. I'm not good looking
4. I wish I’d never done that
5. I’m not good enough
6. I’ll never lose the weight I want to
7. I'm not interesting
8. I look at my phone too much
9. I’m too old to try new things
10. I can’t do this (task, job, workout, etc.)
11. I'm not muscly/toned enough
12. I’m not smart enough
13. Nobody cares about me
14. I’m terrible at exercising / I’ll never get fit
15. I don't know what I'm doing
16. I can’t do it as well as them
17. Nothing good ever happens to me
18. Other people have it so much better than me
19. I’m lazy/useless
20. I'm a failure

TOP 10 AFFIRMATIONS:

1. I am grateful for everything I have in my life
2. I can do this
3. I am capable
4. I am confident
5. I am strong
6. I am taking care of myself
7. I tried my hardest
8. I am intelligent
9. I am making progress
10. I deserve it

ANDREAS MICHAELIDES' TIPS TO COMBAT NEGATIVE THOUGHTS:

1. Walk It Back
When you recognize a negative thought entering your mind, take a moment to walk yourself back through the chain of events that led to that thought. Are you able to identify the initial trigger?

Examining this chain of events can help you uncover patterns of behavior that you may not have noticed before.

Once you’ve identified these triggers, you can begin to work on developing a new response that won’t lead to negative thoughts.

2. Separate Feelings from Facts
Remember: thoughts are not necessarily facts. It’s important we learn to separate our thoughts and feelings from facts and ask ourselves, is this true?

For example, you may say to yourself, “I’m too stressed to exercise today.” If you spend some time examining your thoughts you may come to realize that you don’t want to exercise that day (which is OK!), or you may recognize that you are feeling stressed and that exercise is a proven and effective stress reliever, helping you re-evaluate your feelings from facts.

If you recognize that your thought isn’t a fact, you suddenly have more clarity on what you want to do.

3. Reframe Your Thoughts
Reframing your thoughts is the process of changing the context around a thought, so we can look at it differently.

This works by helping you recognize common unhelpful thoughts (‘“I haven’t exercised today, I’m useless’”) and replace them with new ideas (‘I haven’t exercised today; it’s been a tough day and that’s OK.’)

Evaluating your thoughts and ideas like this can be challenging and at times uncomfortable, but it’s an important part of establishing positive thought patterns.

4. Sometimes, It Is What It Is
Radical acceptance is totally accepting your current reality as your current reality in a non-judgmental way. Ditching the critical voice in your head and not letting your emotions call the shots.

Radically accepting your current situation and how you feel about it doesn’t mean you can’t change, grow, evolve, or even reframe your feelings in the future. It simply means that what exists now is OK.