Negative Words Reframed

A while ago I wrote a post about reclaiming the original meaning of powerful words — like Amateur and Courage — which seems to have resonated well with readers, so ever since I have been planning a similar post but this time about words that perhaps have a negative connotation to them, and how it might help to try and reframe them and associate them with a positive meaning.

Where shall we start?

Procrastination of course!

Procrastination

The current association might be missed deadlines, or a sense of being disappointed in oneself for wasting time or energy, and for not putting our best effort into getting something done.

How might we reframe procrastination?

if we remind ourselves that the reason we procrastinate is usually because we are worried about the outcome of our effort, then procrastination can be reframed as a desire to do the task especially well. It is a signal from our brains that the task matters to us which just went a little overboard.

The next time you’re about to blame yourself for procrastinating, just reframe it as “ I just feel that the task is important and I want to do it right.”

Boredom

It’s usually viewed negatively to be bored, and we sometimes go out of our way to avoid that feeling. I remember when I was a kid — In the era before smartphones and Kindles — I used to lug around a huge backpack full of books and CDs to avoid getting bored, the fear of boredom sometimes even got me to agree to things that were probably worse than feeling bored.

How can boredom be reframed?

As freedom of course!

Boredom means you have nothing to do, no tasks, no chores, nothing to worry or preoccupy your mind, shouldn’t that be its own kind of wonderful?

The next time you start thinking that you’re bored, just reframe it as being carefree, with no urgent tasks that you need to attend to, and nothing to worry about. It might not completely alleviate the sense of boredom but it could help change your relationship with it into something more positive.

Indecision

The reason it might be viewed negatively is that we are associating it with having to sacrifice something in order to choose something else, this frame of mind just places too much emphasis on what is being lost or sacrificed, rather than what is being chosen, therefore, coupled with the worry that we might be making the wrong choice, it can elicit a lot of negative feelings.

How can Indecision be reframed?

Here, we need a reminder that actually having choices is not the default scenario, there are many cases where we don’t have any, or at least we don’t have any good ones, therefore, we the mindset shift of acknowledging that we are lucky that we get to make choices can have the power to lift our mood and make us feel positive about choosing regardless of the choice we end up making.

Nervousness

Sometimes, certain social situations such as public speaking or going out on a date, can trigger feelings of nervousness, this heightened sense of awareness, while possibly meant to channel more attention and resources to help us get what we want, sometimes ends up getting in the way and causing our steps to falter even when we are well-prepared.

How can nervousness be reframed?

As Excitement! In a sense, they are similar, not only do they have similar physiological effects, deep down on some level, the represent the same thing, that we believe that this interaction that we are about to have is meaningful and we need to pay attention.

So next time you’re nervous, reframe the meaning of the emotion as excitement, the benefit you will get is not necessarily that it will eliminate your symptoms but by reframing them this way, you will no longer be worried that the nervousness will negatively affect your behavior.

As you can see, it is not about changing how we feel, because in reality, that rarely works. In fact fighting how we feel usually exacerbates the negative feelings, so instead we need to focus on changing our relationship with how we feel.

If we consciously create a positive association with these typically negative thoughts or emotions, it will act as a counterbalance to stabilize our mood. This is never intended to deny the reality of hardship or difficult moments, it is only intended to provide some tools to help us maintain a sense of well-being or contentment, regardless of how we feel in the moment.

Related posts:

I wrote this article during summer 2018 while working in a small NYC lobbying firm called Beaudoin and Company. One day at work, my boss Heather told me to sit down and write about an issue I was…

Kalau kita mau coba ingat-ingat apa yang biasanya terjadi pada 14 Februari tiap tahunnya — terlepas dari polemik soal apakah hari kasih sayang budaya kita atau bukan, tampaknya budaya melepas rilisan…

Retailing is one of the important concepts under the foray of management. It includes workers’ work profile which includes from food processing to retail to manufacturing to service and healthcare…