When you’re having a stream of horrible, negative thoughts, the natural reaction is to try to curb that terrible feeling and think of something positive. Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, clinical psychologist Dr Steve Orma suggests actually embracing those thoughts and following them to their ridiculous conclusions.
Photo by Nattu.
While this all might sound a little absurd, that’s kind of the point. The Wall Street Journal explains:
Follow your negative thought to its extreme conclusion. You think you’re a loser? Tell yourself you are the biggest loser in the country. If there was a loser Olympics, you’d win 10 gold medals. Time magazine would put your face on the cover, under the headline: “Biggest Loser on Earth.”
“You’re going for the laughter,” says Dr. Orma. That alone will help you feel better. The exaggeration also helps underscore the absurdity of your negative thoughts.
Self-doubt is a truly difficult thing to deal with, but it’s usually filling your brain complete nonsense. Letting your brain go to those extreme, dark places lets you see just how stupid it is.
Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt In Your Head [The Wall Street Journal]
Comments
One response to “Follow Your Negative Thoughts To Their Absurd Conclusions ”
So WSJ employs five year olds now? Stupid advice. If you’re having negative thoughts listen to them. If you think you’re a loser, there’s a reason for thinking that and you owe it to yourself to find out why.