Most people who know me are aware of my negative tendencies. I will say the things I say with humor, but they are still rooted in the negative.

I have been working on this for a long time and I have gotten much better at it than I ever have been before. When I get nervous, I tend to resort back to the negativity.

My sophomore year of college, a professor called me out for the negative monologue in my head when it spilled out of my mouth. She told me that thinking this way would not help me in my career and that I needed to start making a conscious effort to reverse it.

I have always been the type of person who says what I'm thinking without much filter, so it was a challenge to really focus on what I was about to say and use a filter.

As someone who was diagnosed with depression, this proved to be relatively hard for me at first. I had to really try to stop the negative tornado of thoughts in my head from coming out. But doing this has helped me more than I thought it could.

Through the process of self-reflecting, I got to know myself very well. I have been able to accurately critique myself in a professional setting, which impresses supervisors. It has been more of a blessing than I thought.

I always thought that I was never going to be able to think positively about myself, since being diagnosed with this. I have not only proved myself wrong, but I have added a new skill to my toolbox that I can rely on throughout my professional life.

It is OK to have off days, but when you force yourself to be positive, it can really change your outlook.