Artfully Mindful

Errors in Thinking

• D. R. Thompson • Season 2 • Episode 44

Share episode

Can recognizing and combating common cognitive distortions really transform your life? Join me, Don Thompson, as we explore this intriguing question by diving into the teachings of acclaimed psychologists Aaron Beck and Dr. David Burns. Drawing from Dr. Burns' seminal work, "The Feeling Good Handbook," we'll break down the most pervasive cognitive distortions that can sabotage our well-being and happiness. From all-or-nothing thinking to mental filtering, we'll uncover practical strategies to identify and overcome these mental pitfalls, paving the way for a more positive and fulfilling life.

This episode is packed with actionable insights, offering you the tools to challenge negative thought patterns and embrace a more optimistic outlook. We'll discuss how errors in thinking can cloud your judgment and share tips on fostering a mindset rooted in love, compassion, and gratitude. If you've ever felt weighed down by negative thoughts or simply want to make better choices for your mental health, this episode is a must-listen. Get ready to harness the power of positive psychology and step confidently into a brighter future!

Music: Kooma - 'Mistakes'

  • Website: www.nextpixprods.com
  • PLEASE READ - Terms of Use: https://www.nextpixprods.com/terms-of-use.html

Note that Don Thompson is now available as a coach or mentor on an individual basis. To find out more, please go to his website www.nextpixprods.com, and use the 'contact' form to request additional information.

Speaker 1:

Hi, don Thompson, with another fabulous podcast for you today. All of the podcasts until the end of the year will be fabulous, I promise. If they are not, you can get your money back. But since I'm not charging anything for the podcast, you'll have to wait until you pay for the podcast at some point. But I don't think you will because I don't anticipate charging for the podcast, unless you email me and insist that I charge for the podcast. I probably won't do that, but anyway, I'm just joking around.

Speaker 1:

It's heading towards the end of the year. I'm feeling a little giddy. I guess you know we made it another year. We're not gone, we're still here. We made it through the election.

Speaker 1:

I'm recording this before the election, so I don't even know who won, but hopefully it was the right person. If not, then we're all doomed. But hopefully not. No, we're not, we'll do okay, I'm sure It'll be fine. It'll be fine. Why will it be fine? Because I'm an optimist.

Speaker 1:

I'm an optimist. I believe that the human beings will, you know, end up in a good place for the most part, I mean for the all part, for the whole part. I think that human beings will end up in a good place for the most part I mean for the all part, for the whole part I think that human beings will end up in a good place, because I believe that the infinite mind, or God, or universal wisdom, or whatever you want to call it, is generally a good thing, a positive thing. It isn't really out to get us. You know, some people might feel that the universe is out to get us, that it's Darwinwinism, that it's survival of the fittest, that you know it's winner takes all, or loser gets annihilated or whatever survivor. I guess that's a belief system. I don't choose to believe that. I believe in a more positive way of looking at things, which is that all people are of value and that there's this thing called love and compassion and joy and gratitude, which is impactful and meaningful and can be generated, can be selected and chosen if we have, you know, our thinking in line.

Speaker 1:

So in this podcast is really going to be about common errors and thinking, and common errors and thinking, believe it or not, there's, you know, as always, there's always people out there, these beautiful people doing studies about this stuff. The great thing about academics and this is why I got involved back in academics, because of all the useful information that comes out of research and studying and looking at questions and you know, it just increases the body of knowledge for human beings to work with so they can make better choices, so they can live a better life. And this particular dot process, this particular list, came out of some studies, some work done by a psychologist named Aaron Beck and also Dr David Burns, specifically in a book that was called the Feeling Good Handbook. That was called the Feeling Good Handbook, and most of what I'm going to talk about here in terms of, let's call them, errors in thinking were presented in Dr Burns' book. So let's just step through these errors of thinking. And if you think about these errors of thinking and try not to fall prey to them, it can be a good thing. Let's just step through some of these errors in thinking All or nothing thinking, in other words, thinking things are black and white, that if something isn't perfect, that it's either a failure or it's a failure.

Speaker 1:

If it's not perfect, it has to be completely, 100% perfect, or it's a failure. It's not really a good way to think. It's an example of negative thinking or an error in thinking. Applying a mental filter is another common error in thinking. So this involves picking out and dwelling on a single negative event or aspect and focusing on it to the exclusivity of the whole picture. In other words, applying a mental filter to something In what you might call tunnel vision and we all have heard this term, tunnel vision and tunnel vision is not the way to go. It's an error in thinking. You want to try to avoid it.

Speaker 1:

Discounting the positive is another error in thinking. This means you reject all positive aspects of an experience and you generate reasons why they don't count or are not important. In other words, you're discounting the positive aspects of a particular experience in such a way as to discount those aspects and to belittle them or to devalue them. Another error in thinking Yet another is emotional reasoning. This has to do with the fact that we're thinking that because a certain feeling is present, it must be true and a direct reflection of reality, regardless of any contrary evidence. Something doesn't mean it's true. You know the facts may eventually contradict what you're feeling and you should listen to the facts and be open to the fact that your feelings might change over time. Another error of thinking is overgeneralization, and overgeneralization is a process of taking a negative outcome or event and applying it to all areas of your life, and some of the phrases that could be associated with this are such as this thing always happens to me or I'll never feel better. This, people, is an error in thinking. Don't do it. It's an error in thinking.

Speaker 1:

Jumping to conclusions is yet another error. This includes mind reading and fortune telling. So mind reading happens when we attribute attentions, attitudes, beliefs and other mental activity to another person and simply assume they're the case. We think we're reading their mind. We might not be reading their mind. We just might be reading our own subconscious. Don't assume that you're reading anybody's mind. Don't assume that. So fortune-telling is another negative pattern. You don't want to get involved with fortune-telling. Fortune-telling is not a good thing. It's useless really, in many ways. You want to take responsibility for your actions and you know, base your actions on reason and base your actions on, you know, sussing out what the best path is, based upon your own decision-making process.

Speaker 1:

Yet another error in thinking is personalization and blame. Personalization occurs when somebody thinks they're solely responsible for the outcome of an event and ignores other contributing factors. This is a useless way to look at stuff. Don't blame yourself for everything or don't blame somebody else for everything. You know one thing I have to say about our recent election. You know we tend to like lump everything on Trump, trump this, trump that, or Kamala, kamala Harris this or Kamala Harris that. You know, this is not the way it is. We're all responsible, you know. Let's take responsibility for the situation in the country. It isn't Trump's fault, it isn't Kamala's fault, it's our fault. We have to, you know, get the leader in line with our thinking, and I'm, you know. I guess the election has just happened, so we've made a decision. I don't know yet what that is, so I'm sorry if I'm publishing this podcast after the fact, but we'll see how it goes. Whoever won, support them, get behind them, try to see if you can see something good in it. And if you don't agree with what they do, then get out there and protest and try to make a change for the next election. Do than get out there and protest and try to make a change for the next election.

Speaker 1:

Labeling is another error in thinking. Labeling is applying a fixed and broad label to oneself or others that shapes our experience of a view or reality. Getting back to politics conservative and liberal, left and right Sometimes, you know, this is not the way to look at things. It's a label. You know you might have some things that you are more conservative on, some things that you're more liberal on. You know everybody's a mix. Everybody doesn't fit into some neat little category just because we want to be able to, you know, see it in a poll in a very clean fashion. Blue and red. These labels we're all Americans. You know all Americans, we're all people.

Speaker 1:

Denial of change is yet another error in thinking. Denial of change occurs when we become upset, indignant or deny the reality that our lives are in a constant state of flux. This is the state of reality. Reality is in a constant state of flux and a constant state of flux. This is the state of reality. Reality is in a constant state of flux and a constant state of change.

Speaker 1:

This is the beauty of mindfulness and Buddhist thinking. It teaches us that everything changes, everything is transient, everything is in a flux. You can't hang on to any of it. Don't try to. It won't work. The idea is that if you can let go and loosen up a little bit, you can go with the flow and be a heck of a lot happier. You won't get so upset about everything.

Speaker 1:

I'm not saying not to have beliefs and not to accept injustice or anything like that. But I think you know what I'm talking about. I think you know that when you're being inflexible or you're hanging on to something that maybe you should let go of, if you let go of it you'll feel a lot better. You'll accept the change rather than deny the change. This is a good thing. So you know we have to again thank Dr David Burns.

Speaker 1:

A lot of this comes from his book, the Feeling Good Handbook, and also from psychologist Aaron Beck. And you know I have to, you know, put a little caveat here. You want to recognize that you, you know everybody has errors in thinking. I do all the time. So you know, be careful not to judge yourself or beat up on yourself or be hard on yourself when you notice these errors in thinking. Just forgive yourself, be kind to yourself and try to improve. You know I do. That's what I try to do. Just, you know, note it mindfully and try to improve yourself, try to become less so and, as a result, I think we can improve the overall situation in society, which could be a good thing. If we're headed towards more conflict in society, it might be a good thing to try to be more mindfully tolerant of other people's points of view, for example. So I will leave the podcast at that. As always, I really appreciate your time. Thank you very much and I look forward to the next one. Talk to you soon. Bye-bye, thank you, thank you, thank you.