Our Interpretation System Cognitive therapy is built on the following model of human emotions: We perceive an event or situation with our senses; we encounter We evaluate that event or situation; we interpret Our emotions align with that interpretation; we experience life as we’ve interpreted it. Let’s call this our event-interpretation-emotion system. Here are some examples of how it can play out: Your boss sends you an email saying they… Read More »Interpreting Reality
A little while back, we discussed the problem of ANTs – automatic negative thoughts – and what we can do about them. Let’s add another tool to our ANT-defense toolkit: thought bouncers. Imagine that your mind is an exclusive night club. There is a bouncer guarding the front door. Lots of thoughts want to get in. But many of these thoughts are unwelcome guests; they are irrational, unfounded, unpleasant, or… Read More »Thought Bouncers
Let’s continue our quest to develop better thoughts. Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve covered so far: If you develop more control over your thoughts, it will improve both your emotions and your behaviors because thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are connected to one another in a bi-directional feedback loop. Many of your thoughts are either wrong or unhelpful, so you shouldn’t believe everything you think. Many of your thoughts… Read More »Got ANTs?
About a month ago, I published an article about the power of effort-tracking, which explained how to use an effort-tracking spreadsheet to increase your productivity and exercise more. The thing is, my personal productivity has been excellent, and my exercise is on autopilot, so I hadn’t been using an effort tracker for over a year. But at the time I published that article, I was struggling with burnout. I had… Read More »Recovery-Tracking