Try on some Faulty Thinking today - free trial

Read the following:

1. I see a Tiger
2. I think I’m in danger
3. I feel afraid
4. I run.

Consider this - statement 3 (and 4) is actually derived from statement 2, not from statement 1 as many would initially believe.

They way you feel does not come from your surroundings or even your direct perceptions. It comes from your thinking.

Epictitus said “Man is not disturbed by events, but by the view he takes of them”

As a leader, your thinking can be an enabler or an inhibitor to your success and to the success of your team and organisation.

So how about trying on a few faulty thinking styles to see which ones you tend to, unconsciously, use most? See the list below!

Personally, I seem to like a mix of #4 Mind Reading and #6 Personalisation – and of course they bring out the worst in me (anger, hurt, avoidance, withdrawal). All derailers to me being impactful and effective (not to mention to being fun to be around)

But here is the cool bit – by naming my faulty thinking I make them conscious and therefore I now have the ability to choose to use them or not!

What about you? Do you recognise yourself in any of the 15 styles below? Do you also recognise the often ineffective consequences of these styles in terms of your behaviour and feelings?


Styles of Faulty Thinking

1.Filtering: you take the negative and magnify them while filtering out all of the positives

2. Polarized Thinking: Things are black or white, good or bad. You have to be perfect or you’re a failure. There is no middle ground. Things are either awful or terrific. Useful for judging self or others.

3. Overgeneralization: You come to a general conclusion based on a single incident or piece of evidence. If some bad happens one, you expect it to happen over and over again. If someone lets you down once, you assume they are incompetent or can never be trusted.

4. Mind Reading: Without their saying so, you know what people are feeling and why they act the way they do, especially in terms of how they feel towards you.

5. Catastrophising: You expect disaster. You notice or head something about a problem and you assume the worst possible outcomes.

6. Personalization: You think that everything that people do or say is some kind of reaction to you. You constantly compare yourself to others.

7.Control Fallacy: If you feel externally controlled, you see yourself as a totally helpless victim of fate. You don’t believe that you can influence the important outcomes. Or conversely, you feel excessively responsible. Everything depends on you, and if things don’t go well, it is all your fault. You feel responsible for the pain and happiness of those around you. This is a huge burden.

8. Fallacy of Fairness: Fairness is a big standard. You feel resentful because you think you know what’s fair, but other people won’t agree with you. When things go wrong, you are liable to say “That’s not fair. Its just not fair”

9.Emotional Reasoning: You believe that what you feel must be true…automaticlally. If you feel stupid and boring then you MUST BE stupid and boring.

10. Fallacy of Change: You expect other people will change to suit you if you just pressure or cajole them enough. Some of your relationships are based on the premise that you can change the other person.

11. Global Labelling: You generalise one or two qualities into a negative global judgement. If you have one bad interaction with someone in a department, you will tell others that that whole department is full of idiots.

12. Blaming: You hold other people responsible for your pain or conversely, blame yourself for every problem.

13.Shoulds: You have a list of ironclad rules about how you and other people SHOULD act. People who break these rules make you angry and you feel guilty if you violate those rules. Your SHOULDS are perfectionist.

14. Being Right: You are continually on trial to prove that your opinions and actions are correct. Being wrong is unthinkable and this makes you defensive.

15. Heaven’s Reward Fallacy: You expect all your sacrifice and self denial to pay off, as if there is someone keeping score. You feel bitter when your reward does not come . Often it doesn’t and this upsets you.

(sourced from Bruce Peltier “The Psychology of Executive Coaching”)