Getting Caught in a Negative Feedback Loop

Challenging Negativity

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Getting Caught in a Negative Feedback Loop

“Never give a negative thought an inch or it will take a mile.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo

Have you ever heard of a negative feedback loop?

It is where your negative attitude will cause others to be negative towards you. Then, you continue to be negative towards them because they were negative towards you. It’s a phenomenon that feeds upon itself. But, it’s worse than you think because the people you were negative towards will alert others to your attitude.

This negative feedback carries over to your family.

When you give people a negative attitude at work, they will give it back to you, which puts you in a bad mood. You go home in this bad mood and take your situation out on your family. They do all they can to either steer clear of you or they will confront you. Thus, the negative feedback loop continues at home.

When you get to work the next day, colleagues will automatically label you as being negative, just based on the way you acted the previous day. And so the stage is set for people to be negative towards you without you doing anything to them. Of course, your reaction is likely to be negative towards them once again. And so the cycle continues putting you in another bad mood that you will take with you when you get home.

Only you can break this loop, at least for the people that deal with you.

Bad days at work can happen for any number of reasons.

But, if you have them frequently, it’s time to do some soul-searching. Think back over the last month and try to remember the number of days you were in a bad mood because of work. If there are more than five or six, you need to take some action.

Make a conscious effort to have a good attitude towards everyone you know. Do it even if you aren’t feeling it inside.

You want to see if these people’s attitude changes towards you. If people are approaching you more readily and they smile when they do so, you may be doing something right.

Even if you force yourself to have the right attitude, this can help you alter your brain so that in the future you will have a better attitude. Do this often enough, and you will break the negative feedback loop.

If you have been negative for a while, people will be cautious of your motives when you first start turning yourself into a positive attitude.

That’s okay. Eventually, they will accept this positivity.

“If you let negative people define you,
you yourself will become negative.
If you let mediocre people influence you,
you yourself will become mediocre.
If you let wretched people inspire you,
you yourself will become wretched.

If you let positive people help you,
you yourself will become positive.
If you let exceptional people support you,
you yourself will become exceptional.
If you let enlightened people advise you,
you yourself will become enlightened.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo

Alan /|\