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At some point in life, all of us have experienced negative thoughts coming up our minds from time to time. But what is important is to learn to manage these negative attitudes and behavior at the right time.
There is a huge difference between confidence vs fear, hope vs despair and victory vs defeat. According to several studies conducted on human behaviors, it is not unusual to believe that a negative attitude in life or at work can affect one’s health, happiness and well-being.
People with a positive attitude are influenced by what goes on within them. People with a negative attitude are influenced by what goes on around them.
~ Keith Harrell
Here is a list of Negative Attitudes and Behaviors of chronically unhappy people in life and at work, so check it out.
List of Negative Attitudes & Behaviors
1# Negative Comparisons
One of the most common ways to feel negative about yourself is when you start comparing yourself to others. We might believe that others are doing better than us, or are achieving more goals in life or might be more physically attractive and richer than you, however, all these traits do not represent anyone’s happiness.
Having a feeling of jealousy, inferiority or wishing to have something that other have, is when you start developing negative social comparison behavior. According to several researches, habitual negative social comparisons in life and at workplace increases the chances of stress, anxiety, depression and self-defeating choices.
2# Self-Destructive Thoughts
Thoughts like these tend to reduce our confidence, diminish our performance, lower our potential and eventually sabotage our success. Self-destructive talks could start from something as simple as “I can’t”, “I don’t feel confident”, or “I’m not good enough”.
You wouldn’t want to surround yourself with people who continually talk negative about you moving forward in life such as someone telling you that you lack confidence or you cannot succeed in life. If you don’t wish to surround yourself with such negative friends, why would you think the same about yourself?
Defeating self-destructive thoughts which is like a fake friend who tries to put you down, and is your worst enemy, begins your journey towards positivity.
3# Assuming Situations
Having a negative attitude is also indicated by how you handle a situation or an interaction. Many people might look at the glass half-empty, which becomes a habitual and automatic reaction to any situation.
Whether you are annoyed by the traffic, or the bills, it is your choice to relate these situations as a positive or negative experience. This important choice can make one stronger or weaker. If rather than looking at the glass half-empty, one starts to look at the glass half-full, and choose to relate to the situation positively is how they can avoid feeling victimized and gloomier and not assume things negatively.
4# Blame Game
Holding others responsible for your mistakes is where the blame game begins. While some people blame such negative attitude to their past, such as, having a dysfunctional family, failed relationships, socio-economic problems or health challenges as the reason for their unhappiness and failures in life.
Pointing fingers at others might be an easy choice to make and to justify for your life’s unsatisfactory conditions or work problems, but it also disturbs one’s well-being and causes over time bitterness, resentment and feeling of powerlessness. Blaming others reflect negatively on yourself as it makes yourself a prisoner of your own bitterness and resentment refraining you from achieving happiness and success in life.
5# Negative Throwbacks
It is believed that one should the past in the past and not cling on it for too long. The situations and hardships you have faced in the past, might come back to haunt you and prevent you from seeing your full-potential and stop you from recognizing new opportunities coming your way.
It is better to accept the fact that one cannot change their past, but can shape and influence their future. Do not judge yourself or feel defeated by the mistakes you made in the past, but try to look at the bright side of today and tomorrow. As it is famously said, “Nothing is more important than this day.” So, do not keep dwelling on the past, make better choices today and keep moving forward.
6# Wallowing in Guilt
Making past mistakes is a part of everyone’s life, but feeling bad about those mistakes and regretting the actions you made 5 years ago, is a portrayal of a negative attitude and behavior. It is important to understand that you might have cause harm and pain to others in the past, but it is not a reason to start self-blaming.
Once you start dwelling on the past and feel you are a bad or a flawed person, that is when you start to wallow in guilt. Being self-aware can only take you out of this self-blame attitude and being compassionate towards yourself is the only way out to make a positive difference and to avoid making the same mistakes again.
7# Giving Power to Troubled People
In your whole life, you will meet hundreds of difficult people who will make you go through several challenges in life, making you the victim and holding themselves above you with power. Such attitudes and behaviors make you weakened.
The key to changing your disempowering beliefs about troubled people is to shift your approach from being reactive to proactive. It is not important, whether you are dealing with a narcissist, a passive-aggressive, manipulator or someone who is intimidating and controlling, you should learn to strategize your skills in order to come above the situation and to neglect such negative behaviors.
8# Fear of Not Being Perfect
Some people are afraid to make mistakes and believe there is no rising above from failure. They want to be a perfectionist in whatever they do. This increases the feeling of not being good enough, thereby, putting immense pressure on yourself to succeed and not face failure in life or at work.
Even though setting benchmarks and high standards might feel like the right way to do for effective motivation, expecting yourself to lose all the joy in life and criticize yourself for not doing something up to the mark or the greatest potential, show the co-relation between perfectionism and unhappiness. Humans are not perfect!
Conclusion
With adopting such negative attitudes and behaviors, one can never combat the difficult situations in life, and neither can they rise above the failures of life. Whether at home, at work or with your friends, if you do not learn to self-reflect and self-appreciate yourself, you will never lead a healthy and happy life.
So, let go and enjoy every moment, till it lasts!
