It is because I deal with brain damage, autism and sensory overload that I continue to struggle with anxiety and negative thoughts. I don’t have the luxury of being able to switch my focus, so I tend to have to look for other ways to get rid of any negative thoughts.
These would be my pointers:
Negative Thoughts are part of the Human Condition
Negative thoughts will always come as they are part of the human condition. Living in a negative environment for so long, kept my negative thoughts fixed. But the problem is not the negative thoughts, it's us believing those thoughts are true. It’s easy to fixate, overthink and talk ourselves into things.
Conclusion
When we can step back so that we’re not connecting our thoughts together, it becomes easier to let go of those thoughts. No longer being entangled in our thoughts means they should lose their grip on us. That in turn means they will no longer generate unpleasant emotions.
We both grew up in very negative environments so it's not surprising that we have to deal with negative thoughts that just don't seem to want to go away.
Both of my parents were negative people who gave us the impression that our lives were going to suck no matter what we did. Eventually I came to believe it was the truth and there wasn't much that I could do about it, or to get those thoughts out of my head.
The pointers that you mention sound a lot like the DBT skills that I have been learning about for the past few years that have been helping me.
The hardest part is trying to find someone to talk to about these thoughts, seeing as most people don't know what it's like to have to deal with them.
When habits are applied for so long and they become the norm, applied thinking becomes the norm.
I have always applied those techniques ever since I was a small child. The more we work on ourselves the better things will get.
Any form of technique or work we do on ourselves is a process. Getting rid of negative thoughts is part of that process. I also find keeping myself busy helps. The more I take myself out of a situation, the better I feel.
The key is to keep our mind occupied and to make sure we're in a positive physical and mental place.