only two extreme categories. There are no middle grounds or shades of grey. If your performance, situation, or relationship is not perfect or completely successful, you immediately view it as a total failure or a complete catastrophe.
Workplace example: " If I don ' t win this pitch, my career is over."
Consequence: Risk Aversion / Burnout- Leads to paralyzing fear or chronic overworking.
Overgeneralization: This involves seeing a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat. You apply the results of one negative situation across all future or unrelated situations.
Workplace example: " My last three marketing campaigns underperformed, so I ' m clearly a bad marketer."
Consequence: Loss of Confidence- Kills motivation to try new strategies.
Mental Filter: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively, so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, ignoring all the positive context.
Workplace example: Focusing only on the one critical comment in an otherwise positive performance review.
Consequence: Misplaced Focus- Obscures true strengths and successful contributions.
Disqualifying the Positive: You reject positive experiences by insisting they " don ' t count " for some reason or other, thereby maintaining a negative belief contradicted by everyday experiences.
Workplace example: Attributing a major project success to " pure luck " or a " fluke."
Consequence: Self-Sabotage- Prevents the internal recognition necessary for growth and promotion.
Jumping to Conclusions: You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion. This includes: Mind Reading: Thinking you know what others are feeling or why they act as they do, particularly negatively.
Workplace example: " My boss didn ' t reply to my email instantly, so she must be planning to fire me."
Consequence: Unnecessary Anxiety- Strains professional relationships and creates selffulfilling prophecies.
Fortune Telling: Anticipating that things will turn out badly and feeling convinced that your prediction is an alreadyestablished fact.
Workplace example: " I know this new product launch will fail before we even start."
Consequence: Lack of Initiative- Undermines team enthusiasm and preemptively dooms efforts.
Magnification( Catastrophizing) and Minimization: You either exaggerate the importance of things( such as your goof-up) or inappropriately shrink things until they appear tiny( such as your own desirable qualities).
Magnification: Workplace example: Exaggerating a minor spreadsheet error into a " catastrophe."
Consequence: Emotional Overreaction- Disrupts workflow and consumes excessive mental resources.
Minimization: Workplace example: Downplaying the importance of a major personal achievement or milestone.
Consequence: Low Self-Worth- Results in hesitancy to ask for raises or promotions.
Should Statements: You try to motivate yourself with " should " and " shouldn ' t," as if you had to be punished before you could be expected to do anything. This leads to guilt when directed inward, and anger / resentment when directed toward others.
Workplace example: " I should be able to manage this entire workload without ever needing to ask for help."
Consequence: Guilt / Resentment- Sets unrealistic standards, leading to chronic stress and anger toward others who don ' t meet them.
Labelling: This is an extreme form of overgeneralization where you attach a negative label to yourself or others, instead of describing a specific error.
Workplace example: After a project failure, saying, " I ' m a fraud / impostor."
Consequence: Identity Fixation- Locks the professional into a negative identity rather than allowing them to learn from a specific mistake.
Personalization: You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event, for which in fact you were not primarily responsible, taking on undue blame.
Workplace example: Believing the entire department ' s missed deadline is your fault alone.
Consequence: Excessive Blame / Guilt- Takes on unnecessary stress and overlooks systemic issues.
Case Study: The Catalyst for Career Change
Understanding these distortions is the foundation for developing cognitive agility- the ability to swiftly pivot your thinking in the face of pressure.
The Story of Alex, the Project Manager
Alex, a high-achieving project manager, recently received an unexpected promotion. However, rather than celebrating, he fell into an immediate negative spiral, convinced he was unqualified. His core distortion was Labelling(" I ' m a fraud ") fuelled by Allor-Nothing Thinking(" If I make one mistake as a Director, I ' ll be exposed as a fake ").
This fear led him to engage in classic selfsabotaging behaviour: he micro-managed his new team( fearing that delegating meant failure) and worked 14-hour days( Magnifying the importance of every tiny task). He was spiralling into a negative headspace, not because of the job ' s demands, but because of his distorted interpretation of them.
His coach helped him to reframe his situation using the following challenge:
Identify the Distortion: " I am an impostor "- Labelling.
Challenge the Evidence: What evidence does the company have that I’ m competent?( Answer: They just gave me a significant promotion based on the successful projects he was minimizing.)
Reframing the Thought( Compassionate Self-Talk): Instead of " I am a fraud," he practiced: " I was promoted because of my track record. This is a new challenge, and like any new role, I will have a learning curve. My value is in my ability to learn, not in instant perfection."
This cognitive shift allowed Alex to loosen his grip, trust his team( Minimization of their skills was a part of the problem), and approach the new role with curiosity rather than catastrophic fear. He reframed the pressure as a sign of value,
36 MAL69 / 25 ISSUE