Follow Your Negative Thoughts to Their Absurd Conclusions
When you have a flood of terrible, negative thoughts, the natural reaction is to try to curb that terrible feeling and think about something positive. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, clinical psychologist Dr. Steve Orma suggests actually embracing these thoughts and following their ridiculous conclusions.
While this all may sound a little absurd, this is the point. The Wall Street Journal explains:
Take your negative thought to its extreme conclusion. Think you’re a loser? Tell yourself that you are the biggest loser in the country. If the Olympics were a loser, you would have won 10 gold medals. Time magazine would put your face on the cover under the headline “The Biggest Loser on Earth.”
“You want to laugh,” says Dr. Orma. This alone will make you feel better. Exaggeration also helps to emphasize the absurdity of your negative thoughts.
Self-doubt is a really tricky thing, but it usually fills your brain with complete nonsense. If you let your brain plunge into these extreme dark places, you will see how silly it is.
Steps to Get Rid of Tormenting Self-doubt | Wall Street Magazine