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Human beings have negativity bias, which means that we are all more sensitive to negative information than positive news. What this means, in practice, is that, for example, we will focus more on a single piece of criticism than we do on several compliments.

Negativity tends to command our attention more and stick with us for longer.

Focusing on negativity, flaws, threats, and risks is our brain’s way of keeping us safe. It helped our ancestors survive potential dangers, but it can be exhausting for us in our day-to-day lives. If you chronically ruminate on just negative thoughts, you will hurt your mental health and strain your relationships.

This is why you need to put in deliberate effort to remind yourself that the world is not, in fact, just doom, gloom, selfishness, and evil. There’s a lot of altruism, love, and beauty out there, mixed in with the rest.

The main things that you can do to combat negativity bias in your daily routine are to:

1. Reduce negative self-talk;
2. Reframe the situation differently;
3. Establish new behavior patterns;
4. Distract yourself;
5. Savor positive moments.

Just keep in mind that behavioral changes and positive habits don’t appear overnight. These processes take time. You will face challenges and setbacks. You will (probably) be frustrated with yourself at some point. But with enough patience and focused effort, you’ll get there.

So, for instance, it is not unnatural to beat yourself up a little bit over making a dumb mistake. However, instead of fixating on those mistakes (you can’t change them), try to hone in on the lessons that you can learn (think about what you will do differently in the future).

Try to stop negative self-talk as soon as it begins. Cut off the overly negative train of thought before it can even leave the metaphorical station.

Reframing the events that have happened to you essentially means that you try to interpret things differently than you normally would. Specifically, you can try to focus on reframing your experiences in a more negative light.

That being said—and we can’t stress this enough—this does not mean living naively or ignoring potential dangers. You are simply trying to see things through a more objective lens, keeping in mind that human beings are hard-wired to hyperfocus on negativity.

You can try to consciously redirect your attention elsewhere when you notice yourself getting mired in negativity. For instance, you could distract yourself with a good book, some positive music, a funny video, a list of wholesome pics (hey!), or some pleasant activity that you enjoy.

When in doubt, go on a long walk, preferably in nature. Or reach out to a trusted friend or family member to distract yourself with some positive socializing.

Furthermore, it really helps to intentionally focus on savoring those positive moments as they pop up in your life. Later, replay those joyful moments in your mind.

“Because it takes more for positive experiences to be remembered, it is important to give extra attention to good things that happen. Where negative things might be quickly transferred and stored in your long-term memory, you need to make more of an effort to get the same effect from happy moments,” Verywell Mind stresses.