Thinking Traps and How to Counter Them

The most powerful lesson positive psychology has taught me.

Ph: Prophsee Journals

Your habits of thinking drive the way you interpret your current situations.

It’s not the trigger or the event that determines what we feel and what we do. It’s what we say to ourselves, our beliefs, and our thoughts about the situation that impacts how we feel, what we do, and even our physiology.

The five most common thinking traps

1. Mind reading

• assuming what the other person is thinking, and usually that they’re thinking negatively of you
• expecting another person to know exactly what you’re thinking, which can further lead to even more miscommunication

2. Me

• believing that you’re the sole cause of every problem
  (thinking it’s all your fault will lead to feeling guilt and disappointment, sometimes even feeling down and isolating ourselves)

3. Them

• you believe other people or circumstances are the sole cause of your problems (this leads to a lot of anger and…