Time to Ditch Positive Thinking. Here’s How You Can Change Your Mindset Instead
Also, you don’t have to love yourself.
Every day, I’m feeling better and better.
I’m good enough.
I love my body.
I’ve been given endless talents which I begin to utilize today.
A river of compassion washes away my anger and replaces it with love.
Ugh, I don’t know about you but just reading these makes me feel worse.
Nevertheless, we’re taught we need a positive outlook in life.
Turns out, it isn’t just my intuition that struggles with the notion of positive affirmations. As I learned from Oliver Burkeman’s refreshing book The Antidote: Happiness For People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, there’s a study that tested its effectiveness.
They’re cheesy but they’re sure harmless, right? Wrong. The problem isn’t with you and your cynicism. You’re using the wrong method to achieve an impossible goal: to remain positive and shun away from negative thoughts. You’re trying too hard to be happy. This is toxic and harmful.
As Burke writes,
Much as we like to hear positive messages about ourselves, […], we crave even more strongly the sense…
