Why Less Negative Thinking Can Be the Most Positive Move

 

Let’s start with a thought-provoking question:
Which matters more — thinking more positively or thinking less negatively?

Most people instinctively reach for positive thinking. It sounds uplifting, energetic, empowering. But if you truly want to move forward faster and feel lighter, the answer isn’t more positive thinking — it’s less negative thinking.

Positive thinking has its place. Hope, optimism, and vision are essential to growth.
But what weighs us down isn’t usually the lack of positivity — it’s the quiet undercurrent of negativity we allow to run unchecked.

It creeps in silently.
The inner voice that criticizes, complains, or worries slips into our day before we even take our first sip of coffee.

Leadership and performance coach Price Pritchett described how our engagement with negativity often takes shape through what he called “the attack of the five C’s”:

• Complaining – focusing on the problem more than the possibility.

• Criticizing – seeing flaws instead of effort or progress.

• Concern – worrying excessively about things we can’t control.

• Commiserating – bonding over shared negativity instead of shared solutions.

• Catastrophizing – inflating one setback into a full-blown disaster.

Each of these drains focus, creativity, and confidence. The good news? The moment we start recognizing them, we begin to regain control over them.

So the next time you notice one of these patterns sneaking in, pause.
Take a breath.
Ask yourself: Is this thought helping me move forward — or holding me back?

“Less negative thinking” doesn’t mean ignoring reality or pretending everything is fine.
It means noticing negativity — and choosing not to feed it.

Sometimes the fastest way to bring more light into your life isn’t by adding brightness — it’s by removing the shadows that have been dimming it.

Take a moment to reflect:
Which of the five C’s — complaining, criticizing, concern, commiserating, or catastrophizing — tends to show up most in your thoughts?
And how might your day feel lighter if you simply released your hold on one of them?

🌿 Read. Reflect. Rejoice.