Why your brain defaults to negativity. And what to do about it.

🧠 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙖𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙨 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 - 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁
I'm a strengths evangelist.
I believe in positive psychology.

But even I have to remind myself of this truth:
👉 Every human being has a built-in 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴.

It’s not a flaw.
It’s survival.

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors didn’t need to be optimistic —
They needed to 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

⚠️ Every snap of a twig? Could be a predator.
⚠️ Every shadow or rustle? A potential threat.

The people who survived… were the ones who paid attention to the 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵-𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰.
We are their descendants.

🔁 That ancient risk-aversion still lives in us.
It’s part of our limbic brain — the fight, flight, or freeze centre.
It once kept us from becoming someone else’s dinner.

🏙️ But in today’s world?

That same negativity bias can limit us.
It can distort reality. It can hold us back.

So what do we do?
1️⃣ 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘁. Awareness is everything.
2️⃣ 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁. “That’s just my old, inherited brain talking.”
3️⃣ 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗶𝘁.  Reframe the story. Look again. Choose a better lens.

🌀 Survival got us here.
But it’s 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 that takes us forward.

Written by Jonathan Stern
ICF Certified Coach | Gallup CliftonStrengths Certified | Former MuleSoft ANZ Leader
I coach high-potential leaders and high-potential scale-ups.
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