Shake it off

Practise these simple tricks if you catch yourself in a negative mind set:

• Reframe immediately as a positive statement. Is there a ‘glass half-full’ rather than a ‘glass half-empty’ way to say it?

• Get up from your desk and walk briskly. To the photocopier or the tea room, doesn’t matter where. Just distance yourself from the negative thought, even for a moment or two. If you can schedule a walk around the block to go for lunch or get a coffee, a little fresh air might do the trick.

• Smile - If that sounds corny, just try it, ok? ‘Fake it till you make it’, at least long enough untill you get a grip on your thoughts.

• Wallpaper it. Think of a phrase from your favourite happy song – or whistle or hum, or plug in those ear buds, so as not to get on your colleagues’ nerves. After all, negative thoughts are just a habit; they don’t necessarily have anything to do with anything. If pop psychology fails try pop music.

Legacy Chartered Accountants has offices in Whakatane and Tauranga.