The Science of Self Talk: How to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence and Stop Getting in Your Own Way (Master Your Self Discipline Book 5)

by Ian Tuhovsky

Negative self-talk increases that stress by distorting our perception of challenges and our ability to meet them. In other words, it makes routine difficulties look like threats. It makes things seem worse than they really are. Thus, it makes stress even more stressful. It does this in a few ways. We can break them down into a number of broad patterns or cognitive distortions. Catastrophizing – Also known as “making a mountain out of a molehill,” catastrophizing refers to making bad situations seem much worse than they are. You didn’t just make a mistake; you made an utter fool of yourself. You spilled some milk on the carpet. You’ll never get it out; what a disaster! Well, not really. Everyone makes mistakes, and spilled milk can be cleaned up. Personalization – This is also sometimes called personalizing. It means automatically referring everything to yourself, imagining it has something to do with you. Your boss forgot to CC you on an email, so you imagine it’s because they're unhappy with your work. In reality, it could have nothing to do with you at all. Beware the trap of thinking too much and over-analyzing the actions of others. Blaming – You could be blaming yourself or others. If you’re blaming others, consider how you may bear some of the responsibility. If you’re blaming yourself, consider that not all problems are your fault; you’re not in control of everything, so you’re only to blame for the things you could have changed. Be forgiving to both yours...

Types of negative thinking