Is anxiety getting the best of you? You might not even be aware, how much it affects you. Becoming aware of distortions in thinking is the first step. When we have fear, our brains are phenomenal at trying to protect us, even if they means distorted thinking as a defense against perceiv
ed threat. These inaccurate thoughts keep the cycle of negative thinking going. Awareness will allow you to take charge of the anxiety and create healthier thoughts Here are four common thought distortions:
Catastrophizing. When you assume and think the worst possible outcome in even small situations.
Solution: You owe it to yourself to think 50/50. There is a possibility that there could be a fabulous outcome as well. Spend time dwelling in the good possibilities. If you are in the positive thinking “space” , you are not in the negative.
All or nothing thinking. Seeing everything as one way or another, without any in between.
Solution: Remember most aspects in life are on a continuum. Like 0-100. Instead of: “ I had a horrible day”, try “My day was a 50 on a scale of a 100.” It was not a 0.
Personalizing. Assuming you are to blame for anything that goes wrong, like thinking someone did not smile at you because you did something to upset her. (It's more likely that person is having a hard day and her mood had nothing to do with you.)
Solution: Remember to expand thinking about all the possible perspectives, get curious and creative thinking of all the ways a thought, situation, interaction, could be perceived (positively).
Narrow focused thinking: An inability to think from different points of view, or to gain insight that there are infinite perspectives.
Solution: Get curious, truly explore positive possibilities.
Positive thinking takes practice. Keep at it, in weeks, months or year, you will be able to make the shift and your brain will default the positive thoughts first. Stick with it!
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