Using negative bias to understand your brain and to flip your negative thoughts to positive ones. 

So, I don’t know if you are aware…but you think a lot, and most of what you think about is negative. 

Yes, negative. I am not saying you are negative by choice, it’s just how your brain is built. 

We will talk about the brain and negative bias and how to stop it from mucking up your life.

You think about 60,000 thoughts a day…and around 80% of them are repeats or negative thoughts from the days before or worries about the future. However, this is mostly normal. 

Except for the overthinking of course. If you are an overthinker, you probably think about 80,000 a day. I know this seems high but our thinking is continuous and mostly out of our control. 

Our brains are geared towards the negative…to protect you and to keep you from doing stupid shit to get yourself killed, like petting a tiger or putting your hand in something you shouldn’t. Yea, like that. 

The best definition of negative bias is from Wikipedia which states… 

“Things that are of ……equal intensity, things of a more negative nature (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater effect on one’s psychological state and processes than neutral or positive things…”

Our bias towards negativity first is hardwired in our primitive brain.

Example of negative bias. You get your evaluation at work. It is awesome except for one thing. Yes, that one thing will take your focus. 

Another example is news. They know how our brains work, so that is why you can watch the news and for the first 20 minutes, it is negative. Then they toss in a positive puppy at the end. Nice huh?

In the book, hardwiring happiness, Rick Handson Ph.D. says …

“We have two types of memory-explicit and implicit. Explicit is the memory that has all of your personal collections from when you were a child to now. These tend to be positive …Your implicit memory is what is called “procedural knowledge” and it helps you do things like riding a bike to navigating a difficult conversation. Unfortunately, these memories are negatively biased.” 

Why? We learn faster by negativity. Your brain is built for avoiding rather than moving toward situations. We learn that we can get hurt by people and things we do, so we learn to be careful, to judge, and to avoid if necessary. 

This negative bias is also rooted in our fight, flight, or freeze …..Again, being negative keeps us safe.

“Your brain is like velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive even though most of your experiences are probably neutral or positive.” 

-Rich Hanson -Buddha Brain

If you know me by now, you may realize that I love a good murder mystery. I even wrote a mystery book a year ago.

Anyhoo, when you start watching as much ID as I do you tend to become more vigilant. You tend to be more aware and not as trusting as you should. I like to say that by watching these shows I am being more aware and safer because I am on alert.

However, the flip side of this is I can be a tad “too alert” which means less trusting at first. These shows have taught me that life is scary and I need to be careful. Now, to give a disclaimer. My dad was a cop and I have had a few situations in my past that would validate my concern. So, we will leave it there. 

How do we become less negative?

Recognize your negative bias

Realize that you may be getting sensitized to this negative bias thinking. Once you get past the first or initial negative thought you need to ask if it is true.

Is it really true?

You need to question your thinking. I am not talking about going down the rabbit hole of thinking, but being okay to ask if your thinking is true or if are you basing your judgment on a past situation or an unknown situation. 

Appreciate your negative bias.  

Appreciate your brain and thank it for taking care of you. Now, in certain situations you can tell it to back off, you got this. 

Anything that is hard, uncomfortable, or creates great change, your lazy brain wants to talk you out of it. Don’t let it. It is protecting you from that nasty C word… yes, that horrible word that the brain hates.

The word Change. 

Flipping the negative to the positive

• Appreciate the positive things in your life. Settle into them more often so they can continue to make a bigger impact in your life. This includes practicing mindfulness as it pulls you out of that negative thinking. 
• Start to use your intuition more. The mind may be judging you, but the heart knows. Learn to trust it and it will always take care of you. 

Negative bias will be there- it’s wired in your thinking. But, now that you know this, you can recognize it and adapt.

 Remember, you have a powerful mind and it can be changed to support the life you want to live. In the meantime, enjoy your day, one minute at a time.

Hugs, Cheryl 

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Rick Hanson PhD Books mentioned– Buddha Brain, Hardwiring happiness
• Stop Anxiety FAST -try this technique. Watch the video
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias
• Work with Cheryl