Many times in life, when things do not work out in one's favor a person tends to fall into a pattern of negative thinking. The process of thinking is quite a battle in itself as every individual constantly fights to keep thinking positively despite all odds. During tough times, the human brain has a natural propensity to think bleakly. If one isn't watchful of his thoughts, a vicious cycle of negativity may plague their life.

If the nature of one's thoughts is persistently pessimistic, the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies is likely to set in. Basically, the beliefs that a person holds are likely to represent themselves in reality; such beliefs are known as self-fulfilling prophecies. In order to break the self-destructive thinking pattern it is essential that one does not let unfortunate incidents bring them down. The tip is to frequently assess what is going on in your mind so as to be able to identify unfavorable thoughts and fight them off.

Fighting off gloomy thoughts requires strength of mind, which can be developed over time. Pulling oneself out of the quagmire of depression is not so easy because the more one tries not to think about something, the more that thought is likely to come back with even more force. However, it is not impossible to replace undesirable notions with positive ones. The trick is to find a set of things that you like to do and then indulge yourself in either of those activities whenever negative thoughts begin to clutter your mind. Suggested activities are reading, socializing, watching TV, painting, going for a nature walk; the list could be endless but each person is different and would naturally have their own preferences.

Once an individual has successfully diverted their attention from negative things, it would be wise to go a step further in imbedding optimism in one's mind. The next step would be to make positive reaffirmations to oneself by thinking of the good things that can happen. Another good idea to keep up a flow of positive thoughts is to always keep a small diary in one's pocket or bag; a diary of gratitude. For this diary to be effective, one would do well to frequently write down the things in life that he is grateful for; then, at times when he feels low or depressed, reading the diary could help him realize how beautiful life is despite the difficult circumstances he may be facing.

Life is what you make it, and your thoughts define your destiny. This is true mainly because thinking positively attracts positive things. However, just thinking about good things is not enough, it is equally necessary to put in efforts to make one's aspirations materialize.