How to identify problematic thoughts, it would be easy to catch our negative thought patterns of they
announced themselves, hey, here is an overly negative thought.
Don't take it too seriously.
Unfortunately, we tend to assume our thoughts reflect an impartial take on reality.
Ideas like I'm such a disappointment seem as objective as the Earth is round.
For this reason, we have to be smarter than our thoughts.
Thankfully, our minds don't just produce thoughts.
They also have the ability to notice and evaluate them.
But which thoughts from our continuous stream of them should we give attention to?
There are several clues that problematic thoughts may be present.
You feel a sudden shift toward negative emotion.
Maybe you suddenly felt dispirited or experienced a jolt of anxiety.
Perhaps you sensed a surge of resentment.
If we pay attention at these times, we will likely discover those that are driving the emotional shift.
You cannot seem to shake a negative feeling.
Being stuck in an emotional state suggests that there are patterns maintaining it.
For example, you might notice you've been irritable all morning or have been carrying a sense of dread
for a lot of the day.
Most likely, there are thoughts feeding those feelings.
They're struggling to act in line with your goals.
Maybe you can get yourself to follow through on the plans you've made or you keep finding reason not
to face your fears.
For example, a student might keep putting off writing a paper driven by the thought it's not going
to be any good.
In contrast, the right thoughts can propel us to action.