How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 402
Watch: Notice your thoughts, which are sometimes called “self-talk.”
Some people do not pay much attention to what they tell themselves.
If they happen to notice that they have just told themselves they are
lazy or have no will power, they just accept that discouraging
thought as fact.
Check: Look at your thoughts, and ask if they are completely true.
Ask yourself if these thoughts are untrue or exaggerated. Maybe you
are ignoring something positive.
Correct: Replace the negative thoughts with positive, helpful
thoughts. This is the step where you can change the way you feel.
Check your thoughts.
According to Flagg, several kinds of irrational thoughts exist, including:
Focusing on the negative:
Example: “I ruined my eating plan this week by having so much pizza
tonight.”
Reality: Did you stick to your eating plan most of the week? If you
did, then you are not giving yourself credit for all the positive things
you did that week.
Should: People sometimes have set ideas about how they should act.
If you hear yourself saying that you or other people should, ought to,
or have to do something, then you are possibly setting yourself up to
feel bad.
Example: “I should never have pizza or dessert.”
Reality: If you really never want to have pizza or dessert again, that
is fine. However, many people find a way to work these foods into
their eating plan and stay at a healthy weight. They try to have a
flexible eating plan.
Overgeneralizing:
This is taking one example and saying it is true for everything. Look for
words such as “never” and “always.”
Example: “I can never stick with an exercise plan.”
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