The negative thinking trap - how to overcome cognitive distortions

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a negative thought pattern preventing you from performing at your best?

Cognitive distortions are patterns of thinking that are biased or distorted. At a basic level, they arise to protect us from adverse outcomes by tending to make us focus on the worst possible scenarios, but this leads to inaccurate perceptions and interpretations of events or situations.

These distortions can negatively impact our emotions, behaviours, and overall well-being. They are often associated with various mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, but even in milder forms, these inaccurate, generally negative perceptions are not particularly helpful when trying to achieve our career goals and ambitions. Therefore overcoming cognitive distortions is a helpful technique to have in your career development toolkit.

Some of the early work on cognitive distortions was by Aaron Beck in the 1960s and 70s in his work on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Since then, the number of identified cognitive distortions has varied between 10 and 50, though many are sub-categories of the originals.

Four of the most common ones are:

1. All-or-nothing or polarised thinking: Seeing things in black and white terms, with no shades of grey. It involves thinking in extremes, such as believing that a mistake makes you a complete failure. An example may be, “I received a B on an exam when I usually receive only A grades. I have failed.”
2. Overgeneralisation: Drawing broad conclusions based on limited evidence.? If something happens once, it is what will happen all the time. An example here could be, “I did a lousy presentation - therefore, I am rubbish at presentations, and the next one will also go badly.”
3. Catastrophising: Exaggerating the negative consequences of a situation and imagining the worst possible outcome. For example, “If I make a mistake at work, I will lose my job and end up homeless.”
4. Personalisation. Taking things personally and assuming the blame for events outside your control. So, for example, you didn’t get invited to a party, and you think it's because the person doesn’t like you rather than the fact they thought you were on holiday.

Each of us will be able to relate to different distortions. If these distortions significantly impact your life and are causing depression or other mental health conditions, then I would recommend discussing them with a therapist (which I am not), perhaps using CBT. But if they are more annoyances that are getting in the way of you making a decision, bringing out your perfectionist tendencies or causing limiting beliefs, then there are some things that you can do to overcome cognitive distortions.

Firstly, be aware that these distortions are happening. Notice when you hear negative messages, and identify the situations that triggered them - what you are saying, doing and thinking. Giving the distortion a name can help identify where the voice is coming from. If you’re uncertain about what’s actually going on, focus on your assumptions - “What might I be assuming that’s stopping me from doing x”? Or “What am I assuming about why that person behaved that way?”

Once you’ve explored the distortions a bit better, try to “catch” the critical voice before it starts having a negative impact on you and before you take action or resort to inaction. You can change it and reframe the message once you’ve caught it. For example, “I did a bad presentation - therefore, I am rubbish at presentations, and the next one will go badly” becomes “This presentation didn’t go particularly well, but I’ve got feedback and know why, and in the past, I’ve had great feedback on my presenting style. I will make some changes and try again.”

Another technique you can try to overcome cognitive distortions is to “put your thoughts on trial”. In this scenario, you first write down the negative or irrational thought. Then make the case for “the defence” with evidence corroborating or supporting the thought. Once you have listed all of the defence’s evidence, do the same for “the prosecution”. Write down all the evidence calling the thought into question or giving doubt to its accuracy. When you have listed all of the evidence you can think of, both for and against the thought, evaluate the evidence and write down the results of your evaluation as “the verdict”. Use this to reframe your thoughts.

By becoming aware of our cognitive distortions, we can challenge and replace these negative thoughts with more realistic and balanced ones.?

If you think these distortions are holding you back from reaching your career goals, get in touch to see how a coaching programme with me can help*

*(Please note that I am not a psychotherapist - if when we meet, I feel you need more specialised help, then I will refer you to another professional)