WORKSHEET: Identify Unhelpful Thinking Styles & Challenge Unhelpful Thoughts

Managing Thoughts

It is important to recognise that as human beings our feelings are affected by our thoughts, so depending on how you are thinking will dictate how you feel.
Here are some common thoughts people have that can have a knock-on effect to how we feel – you may recognise some of them!

• Typical – It wasn’t raining till I got here!
• The bus is ALWAYS late
• I’ll be late for work
• They will all be talking about me when I get in
• The boss won’t be happy
• I’ll get into trouble
• I’ll get pulled into the office
• I’ll get fired

As our thoughts become more and more extreme our level of stress/anxiety increases. Recognising what we say to ourselves and changing it to more positive self-talk can be very powerful and significantly improve how we feel.