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How many times have you found yourself up against a deadline or staring at your computer on Monday morning, completely unfocused, or even anxious or annoyed? These types of feelings are a common part of professional life, and it’s never easy to accomplish everything, all the time, with a bright and shining perspective. Everyone has their good days and their bad days. However, if you feel like a negative or scattered mindset is affecting your career goals and productivity in unfortunate ways, or if you constantly feel plagued by discontent, then it could be time to think about changing the way you think. Because thoughts can have such a huge impact on our emotional health, they can really change the way we spend out days and our professional lives. Next time you feel yourself getting down about your job or feeling overwhelmed by professional stress, try out some of these steps to re-train your mind and become a much better and more productive version of you:

Recognize Your Thoughts

The first step to changing the way you think is by recognizing every thought that passes through your head. Impossible, you say? That may be because your mind has gotten completely out of control. In fact, in many instances, stress and anxiety can so easily persist because you have given up control of your mind. It may seem that you cannot control your thoughts, but you can at least recognize them and assess what those thoughts are actually doing to you in your daily life. If one thought can send you into an emotional tangent or change the course of your day in a negative manner, then isn’t it true that changing the way you think may be in order?

Assess Your Thoughts

Once you are able to catch your own thoughts, you have a chance to assess their benefit to you. Instead of simply letting your thoughts escalate further and further, it is much better to at least catch one negative thought and take a look at how it affects the way you feel. If you find yourself thinking “I will never get this done. I hate my life,” try taking a moment to seriously consider what you just said to yourself. Do you truly think you will not get a particular project done? And, do you truly hate your life? Instead of allowing your inner mind to go on in that manner, try to change the conversation. Instead, think about what you love about your life. Do this every time you catch a self-deprecating thought.

Shake It Off

Now, once you have had the opportunity to catch a negative thought, you have a chance for a moment’s rest. Even that slight instance where your mind was still enough to watch and listen to itself is one moment during which you are not a slave to those negative thoughts. Take that opportunity and shake it off..

Find a Mantra

Any time you catch yourself thinking something that is negative or causes you to feel anxiety, try to re-condition your thoughts and feelings with a mantra. No matter what it is, try to think of something that reminds you of what you truly love and why you actually want to keep working to reach your goals. Find something to say to yourself that acknowledges the work you have already done and makes you feel inspired to keep working to get where you want to go.

Re-center

As you continue to recognize your thoughts and re-train your mind to think in a positive way, keep using those moments as opportunities to re-center and re-focus. Try to take a deep breath or a moment away from the task at hand. As soon as you feel centered again, dive back in.

Doing these exercises repeatedly, and staying consistent, can help any modern professional go about their day with less anger, less anxiety and more dedication to what they do. Being able to calm your mind and re-focus is the first step along the path of becoming a more productive and happier professional.

Today’s post is written by Angelita Williams who offers life long learning tips in her articles on college education, lifestyle, and wellness management.