No. It’s not actually your competitor.

Not those people who hate you.

Not those people who envy you.

It’s the version of you who doubts yourself and thinks negatively.

Negative thinking is draining.

It kills your hopes and dreams.

It closes your mind, locking you into a single perspective.

Allow it to consume you, and you become angry, anxious, and paranoid.

It makes you indecisive. It makes you a complainer, a victim. Or worse, toxic.

Eventually you become a pessimist.

You become someone that people avoid. Nobody wants to be around a pessimist. Because they suck the joy out of everything good in life.

Wonder why you’re not living the life you dreamed of? Not doing the things you truly love? Not having the support you need?

Because you’re not taking action. In your mind, you’re afraid to fail, you’re afraid to lose, you’re afraid that you’ll let down all the people you love.

You’re always expecting the worst.

While those are all valid thoughts, they’re not helpful. If anything, they’re just making your life miserable.

So here’s my question: Why are you choosing a miserable life over a happy, fulfilling one?

You have a choice to get out of it.

And it’s highly possible.

No. I’m not making you feel good. This is real. This is as real as it gets.

It starts with acknowledging that negative thoughts are just happening in your mind.

They’re not real. You’re the only one making them real.

To acknowledge a thought means you don’t resist what it is. Instead, you let it enter your mind without any judgment.

And this might surprise you (although not really a secret): A thought — every thought, every single one — is just temporary.

A thought drifts inside, then glides back outside. That is what’s happening.

A negative thought enters, then out. Sometimes it lingers for a while. Sometimes it fizzles out quickly.

Give this a try: Take a deep breath. Then one more time. Then another. Keep going.

Soon, you’ll find yourself in an unexplained state of tranquility.

Once there, it’s time to turn your attention inward: Look closer. Magnify your situation. Unpack your emotions. Why are you being negative?

There’s a reason for every emotion that you feel… And for every thought, every point of view, every reaction, every situation…

But the only person who can figure it out is you.

You don’t have to solve it right away.

You only need a starting point.

Self-awareness. Start there.