5 Ways Negative Thinking Can Hurt You

We all have bad days; days where we just seem to be in a bad mood, carrying a lot of negativity around with us. There are some of us, however, that struggle with chronic negativity. They feel like they’re always in a bad mood; everything they see or hear is tainted with a negative perspective; everything they do and say is dripping with negativity.  Chronic negativity can be cancerous, it slowly works its way into your life and your heart and thickly coats everything you say and do. It can affect your relationships, your career, and even your health. In this article, we’re going to cover the top five serious consequences of chronic negativity.

1. Relationship Conflict or Lost Relationships

Whether in a familial, friend, or romantic sense, having chronic negativity can negatively affect your relationships with others. People don’t like to be around those who always seem to be negative; they tend to be a drag on the mood.  Chronic negativity can also cause you to be angry or cranky, making it hard for others to want to be around you. It can make you behave poorly, be inconsiderate of others’ feelings, and just make it difficult for others to enjoy themselves around you and time with you.  This can put a strain on your relationships and even lead to them dissipating altogether.

2. Prohibiting You from Going Further in Your Career

Your chronic negativity can actually keep you from furthering your career. It can make you an unappealing candidate for promotion, causing you to stay where you are. It could even lead to a demotion if it causes you to behave poorly enough.  Chronic negativity can also hurt your productivity and ability to be a team player in the workplace. It can cause you to work slower, be negative towards others in the office, and not willing to help others.

3. Depression

It’s pretty obvious that chronic negativity can lead to depression. When you view everything in a negative light, it’s easy to stay down and negative. The other consequences of chronic negativity can also contribute to this feeling of depression.  If you find yourself feeling depressed and realize that you suffer from chronic negativity, you may need to seek out help or guidance from loved ones and/or professionals. There is no shame in asking for help when you need it. Depression is hard to overcome on your own, as is chronic negativity.

4. Decreased Energy

Chronic negativity drains your energy. The longer you’re filled with negativity, the more tired you will feel and the more drained you will feel. The less productive you’ll be and the less pleasant you’ll be to be around.  Decreased energy can then affect your relationships, your career, and, as a result, your happiness. It can cause you to be too tired to be present, decrease your productivity, and make you feel sad that you missed out on important things.

5. Refusing to Try New Things or Seize New Opportunities

Chronic negativity leads to an overall pessimistic and doubtful outlook. This makes you less open to new ideas and new opportunities which can not only stunt your growth and development but also keep you from expanding your success and widening your horizons.  When you’re overly negative, you tend to also be negative and pessimistic about new opportunities. Rather than seize them and act upon them, you’d rather remain skeptical and safe, staying where you are. You psych yourself to either think it’s a joke or gag offer or maybe just think that you’re incapable of handling it.  Not seizing new opportunities can keep you from reaching points you wanted to in life and achieving goals you set for yourself.  Chronic negativity can be cancerous to yourself and your life. It can lead to depression, missed opportunities, regrets, lost or damaged relationships, and even cause you to experience decreased energy. Chronic negativity poisons everything you do in your life as it all is drenched thickly in the negativity you exude.

Chronic negativity affects everything you do and thus can have some pretty serious consequences. We hope this article has helped inspire you to make a change in your life and try to get rid of all your negativity. At least let it serve as a warning to you.