Top 7 Tips To Feeling Better

What if negative thinking does creep in and you find yourself mired in unpleasant emotions. Then what? Cognitive therapy calls for tackling the problem using the seven easy tips. Seven tips may not sound like many, but simplicity is one of cognitive therapy’s major strengths. It is quick and easy, and once people understand the basic concepts, almost anyone can practice it. Sometimes, though, cognitive therapy’s very simplicity puts people off. They say that it is so simple, it can’t work. In fact, they are jumping to a conclusion – the “fortune-telling” kind – and urges them to try the tips anyway. Give it a try for any given problem and see what happens.

1. Write Everything Down
   
   The act of writing automatically puts some distance between you and your negative thought. Jotting things down provides perspective and helps people detect distorted thinking more easily. If you are in a situation where you just can’t put pen to paper, it is recommended saying things out loud.
   
   
2. Identify The Upsetting Event
   
   What’s really bothering you? Is it simply the fact that you got a flat tire? Or is it that you soiled your outfit while changing it? Or that you knew you needed a new tire but did not replace it? Or that the flat made you late for your daughter’s soccer game?
   
   
3. Identify Your Negative Emotions
   
   You might feel annoyed about the flat, frustrated that replacing it soiled your outfit, angry at yourself for not replacing it in time and guilty for being late for the soccer game.
   
   
4. Identify The Negative Thoughts That Accompany Your Negative Emotions
   
   About failing to replace the tire: “I always procrastinate. I never take care of things in time.” About soiling the outfit, “ I’m a slob. I can’t go anywhere and look okay.” About being late for the game: “My daughter will make a scene. She’ll think I do not love her. And the other adults there will think I am a bad parent.”
   
   
5. Identify Distortions And Substitute Rational Responses
   
   About the tire: “ I don’t always procrastinate. I juggle my job and family and accomplish just about everything that has to get done. I would have replaced that tire in time, but I had to deal with an emergency at work, and the tire just got by me.” About the stained outfit: “ I’m not a slob. I’m usually very careful about my appearance, more so than most people, which is why things like this upset me.” About the tardiness: “ My daughter knows I love her. She knows that if I am late, whatever detained me was beyond my control. She is unlikely to make a scene, but if she does, the other adults there will comfort her. I have done the same for their kids and never thought them to be bad parents. No one will think the worst of me.”
   
   
6. Reconsider Your Upset
   
   Are you still heading for and emotional tailspin? Probably not. But you still feel annoyed about getting the flat.
   
   
7. Plan Corrective Action
   
   “As soon as the game is over, we are getting that tire. That will take the time I have planned to spend cooking dinner, so I have pick up some take-out instead.”

Raymond Lee is one of the foremost experts in the health and fitness industry and is the Founder of Bodyfixes Group specializing in body health, muscle development and dieting. He is currently the author of the latest edition of "Neck Exercises and Workouts." Visit http://www.bodyfixes.com for more information.