How to stop being so negative

Do you always see what people do wrong, and rarely see what people do right?

Do me a favor, and try something for me:

Write a list of what you physically did today, as if you observed from above. The list should be simple, short, and devoid of any emotions, judgement, or detailed descriptions.

For example, today I:

If I did this experiment wrong (not from the perspective of someone watching dispassionately from above), this is what my list would look like:

The objective of the experiment is just to state the facts in as little words as possible, with no judgement on what is good or bad about the actions.

When you are done, look at your list.

If you’re anything like me, you have thoughts about this list of actions. You can’t help but make judgments about them.

Go with it. Think whatever you want.

What do you feel about the list items?

Yes, some are boring and easy to ignore. But what about the not-boring ones?

Look at your list some more before reading on.

When I observed my day from this perspective, my first thought was, “Cool! Journaling is an awesome thing to do. I’m spending time on introspection to improve my life…that’s great!”

The waking up and getting ready (extreeemely grumpily, might I add) were ignored. If I made “enough” mental health progress or journalled “properly”…that was ignored.

Is this the trick to start seeing the good in people? Yourself and others?

To look at dispassionate lists of what they have done today? Not lists of what they haven’t done, or haven’t done properly, or haven’t done “with the right attitude?”

If this experiment didn’t work, try the experiment as you observing another person’s day (someone you tend to judge negatively). Some people are more forgiving to others than they are to themselves…whereas my experiment assumed the opposite.

What were your findings with this experiment? Please let me know in the comments below. I’m very curious.

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