Ini
seri keduanya….
by Abu Productive
ANT: Automatic Negative Thoughts
These
are negative thoughts that come to our mind during our daily life, which we
experience regularly. The level of these thoughts defines our emotional state
and balance. Let’s quickly discuss the 9
categories of ANT:
1) Overgeneralization: Thinking that one negative life experience is part
of a never-ending cycle of events, and/or blowing a situation out of
proportion.
2) Black-and-white thinking: Seeing the world
as good or bad, right or wrong. The tendency for those who use this thinking
pattern is to view one mistake as a total
failure. For example, if a friend does not call you back once when they said
they would, you write them off as untrustworthy and unreliable.
3) Future-telling: Predicting something bad
will happen, even though you have no
evidence for the prediction.
4) Reading people: Believing you know what
others are thinking without any evidence.
5) Labeling: Saying something bad about
yourself or others.
6) Mental filter: Focusing on the negative in a
situation and neglecting the positive.
7) ‘Should’ Statements: Telling yourself that
you should or must act a certain way in a situation. For example, telling
yourself “I shouldn’t be crying about this” when faced with a difficult
situation.
8) Personalizing: Taking responsibility for
something that’s not your fault. Thinking that what people say or do is some
kind of reaction to you, or is in some way related to you. For instance: Ahmed is in a terrible mood. It must have been
something I did. It’s obvious he doesn’t like me, otherwise he would’ve said
hello.
9) Emotional reasoning: Believing that what you
feel about a situation determines how the situation actually is. For example,
if you feel anxious on a plane, you believe that, “if I am feeling anxious it
must mean that it not safe to fly.”
Which
of the above thoughts affects you?
Pattern Interruption to Handle ANT
The
good news is these unhelpful thoughts can be changed. Now that you
learned about ANT, let’s learn 3 strategies
we can apply to interrupt the pattern, so you become free (or less immune) to
these challenging thoughts:
Technique 1 – “Immediate Reply”
Immediately
ask yourself back: “Is this true?” Asking
this question really puts you in a thinking position and immediately interrupts
the pattern. Look for the answer you get internally. Asking this question from
the mind makes it think for a moment. It sets doubt for the ANT statement you
just said. During this time, the pattern would have already been interrupted.
Technique 2 – “Opposition Statement”
Say
the opposite: Go from “I am stuck” to “I am not stuck.” Just tell yourself the opposite and see the magic
that happens. If your mind tells you – “I am bad,” reply back “I am good.”
The
mind just believes what we say to it. Responding to an ANT thought with an
opposite thought immediately negates the effect of the thought. Not only that,
it also makes the mind start believing
the new thought you are feeding to it. You will be surprised how
powerful this technique is.
Technique 3 - “Look-Around Strategy”
When
you get an ANT thought, immediately look around and find an object – it could
be a book, or a car, or a person – and ask a question specific to that. If you
see a blue car, you can think – “How will that car if it was painted red?” If
you see a book, you can ask “What would I ask if I had a chance to meet its
author?” These are pattern-interruption
questions.
When
we apply the pattern-interruption technique, our
mind shifts its focus to the new object/person/event and it takes time
for the mind to return back. And slowly, you will see the ANT pattern itself
cease to come in.
ANT Thoughts Summary
In
this part we discussed and categorized negative thoughts and learned 3
techniques to handle it. Try the strategies yourself, and see how it works for
you.
In the
next and final part, we will discuss forgiveness. Stay tuned!
Pasted
from <http://www.productivemuslim.com/ramadan-series-master-your-emotions-for-greater-productivity-part-2/>
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