Mindset spirals

Mindset spirals can be dangerous things! Once you find yourself on a mental downward spiral it can be very damaging.  Consider a silly example….

Your neighbour walks past you in the street one day and doesn’t speak to you. The next thing you know, the mind goes into overdrive. ‘He ignored me’, ‘he doesn’t like me’, ‘I put people off, no-one likes me’, ‘I’m a bad person’, ‘I’m not worth anything…’

Or, was the neighbour just lost in thought and didn’t see you? Pondering his own issues, walking down the street oblivious to those around him?

Too often, the negative downward spiral is the outcome that follows a potentially negative event and the damage it can cause is huge.

So, what can be done?

The first thing is to recognise that you are prone to spirals and to learn to spot the beginning of a spiral. Once you know what the start of a spiral looks like, you can jump on it early.

1. Recognise the spiral
2. Ask yourself if the thoughts you are having are based on evidence or whether you might be over-reacting, catastrophising or drawing conclusions that simply weren’t there!
3. This is the most important of all – replace the thought with another, more positive thought!

It takes practice and sometimes it’s not easy – but it is worth it! It can change, or even save, your life. If you’d like help with the third part, get in touch and see how About Peak Performance can work with you.