Automatic Thoughts: Seven Common Cognitive Biases

Welcome to the Topic “Automatic Thoughts: Seven Common Cognitive Biases”

Cognitive biases are ways of thinking about and experiencing the environment that may or may not be accurate. We may believe we have complete impartiality when we observe the world around us, but this is seldom (if ever) the case. Each perceives things differently depending on our assumptions, prior experiences, and environmental or societal variables, but this does not always imply that the way we think or feel about something is accurate.

Our imaginations can occasionally play tricks on us depending on how we perceive circumstances. They can persuade us of things that aren’t true, even though they seem sensible.

When these false ideas influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, we may feel nervous, agitated, angry, or unhappy about ourselves (or the world around us).

The seven most common cognitive biases are shown below.

Negative self-talk

Negative self-talk is defined as any inner conversation you have with yourself that may inhibit your capacity to believe in yourself and your skills and realize your full potential. It is an idea that undermines your capacity to make good changes in your life or the belief in your ability to do so. Negative self-talk may not only be unpleasant, but it can also be detrimental to your achievement.

Automatic Thoughts
Automatic Thoughts

Catastrophizing

Catastrophizing, also known as catastrophic thinking, occurs when a person anticipates the worst-case scenario or feels that things are even far worse than they seem to be. It’s a kind of faulty thinking, also known as a cognitive distortion. Catastrophic thinking can occur in both children and adults, but you can learn ways to adjust your way of thinking and prevent spiraling into negative ideas.

Fortune Telling

Fortune telling is a cognitive error in which you foresee a bad result without considering the true probabilities of that happening. It is associated with anxiety and sadness, and it is one of the most prevalent cognitive distortions that emerge during cognitive restructuring.

Labeling/Mislabeling

It is the process of affixing a label on yourself or others, which may be negative or good. When you apply a label to yourself or another person, that label becomes what is used to characterize you or the other person. It assumes that this name represents that person’s essence rather than who they are at that time.

Discounting Positive

Finding reasons why your pleasant experiences are insignificant or do not count is discounting positives. When you have a default thinking habit of discounting the positives, you develop a bias toward the unpleasant experiences you encounter, not because you don’t perceive the good, but because you believe the negative ones are more essential and relevant to your identity.

Emotional Reasoning

As a cognitive distortion, emotional reasoning involves incorrectly judging yourself and your environment, including individuals you interact with, depending on the feelings you are experiencing. For example, if you are anxious, you may mistakenly assume that a harmful occurrence is likely to occur or that you will be unable to deal with a future result.

Personalization

If you are often told to “stop taking everything so personally,” you are most certainly experiencing personalization. You blame yourself for circumstances beyond your control. You mistakenly feel that everything someone says or does is in direct response to you. Personalization might lead you to believe that you are being targeted or excluded. It might also lead to you comparing yourself to others.

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest

What is on your mind?
Please contact me through the form below

Submit your questions or concerns regarding the offering below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can - looking forward to the opportunity to support you in living out your goals and dreams.

Hi there Change-Agent

I’m Ngan Nguyen, I work as an Intuitive Strategist that is committed to empowering you to create your best life and bring your unique vision to the world. Originally a Portlandian now turned Bostonian, I love personal development, spending time reading, writing, and learning. What I enjoy most is helping passionate and committed people like yourself to transform their lives, revolutionize their work, and create greater impact in the world.

I do this by bringing together over a decade of business strategy experience and spiritual principles of success in a cohesive way to create immediate results, meaningful impact, and fast-paced amplified success.

My passion for the knowledge and principles that I now share with clients came as a need that later became a passion. Growing up in post-war Vietnam, I suffered from every possible form of abuse. At 16 years old, was homeless after leaving home to avoid a challenging situation.

When we are pushed to our limits, we find out what we’re made of. I quickly realized that if I wanted to stop being a victim of my circumstances, I needed to create a new reality for myself. I decided to transform my experiences into wisdom, resilience, and bravery, and that decision changed my life.

At that time, I had a longing for more. More meaning, growth, and purpose. Eventually, this longing drove me to enroll in night school, eventually graduating, and build several successful start-ups in renewable energy while working on my MBA. This journey led me to a rewarding and exciting career in strategy advisory. Through this, I worked with business leaders of Fortune 100 companies and at McKinsey & Company.

Over 10 years in an advisory role with major companies allowed me to develop an expertise in strategy. Combining this with my love for personal development and people coming together to create something beautiful that inspires and benefits others, I now work as an intuitive strategist that empower my clients to step into their truth in order to create what they desire most in their lives, and in the world.

When we believe in ourselves, we grow. Growth and personal development go hand in hand with success. That’s why I help people who dare to question their realities step back into their power and create the extraordinary results they’ve longed to experience.

We need more people to bring their passion, humanity, wisdom, and mastery into the world. Are you ready to discover your purpose and create your best life? I would love to learn more about you and support you creating your own unique expression in the world.