Here are 3 questions you can ask yourself when you are tormented by negative thoughts. The strongest prison bars are in your head. Not every thought is yours. Sometimes they just fly in. You don't have to own them.  1. Ask where did it come from? Question the source. It often starts with a feeling that becomes a thought. When you listen to negativity it can make you agitated. Maybe you are tired, hungry or cranky. Maybe you've been scrolling down some unpleasantness on social media.  2. Does it help me or hurt me? Does it encourage you or does it make you feel heavy or hurt and down, anxious and depressed? Is it making you feel angry at someone and you weren't angry before? Chewing over the angry thought only creates more angry thoughts, like a bird that could fly over or you could let it build a nest in your hair. Don't give it the attention that lets it stay.  If it hurts you you can do the exercise we did in another post "How to Answer Your Negative Thought in 2 Minutes Without Feeling Stupid" to reframe how you talk to yourself about it.  3. Do I have to agree with it? NO you don't! Maybe you were "hangry" - hungry and angry. I might feel like it but when I've had food, a drink and a rest, I may feel differently so the thought was not true. You can take that thought captive! Maybe it was a lie!  How you see determines how you succeed.   Trish Jenkins is a motivational speaker who works with organizations that want to help their leaders and teams to unlock resilience, adapt to change and love leadership. More at www.speakertrishjenkins.com