How to avoid three common thinking traps

These three thinking traps have held me back more times than I can count.

Here’s what they sound like:

“This will never change.” So I feel like giving up. (Permanent trap)
“Everything is broken.” So I spiral into catastrophising. (Pervasive trap)
“It’s all my fault.” So I jump on the self-blame pity loop. (Personal trap)

But I’ve learned these thoughts aren’t facts. They’re just stories my mind creates. And I don’t have to believe them.

A problem might be sticky, messy, or partly my fault, but I know no problem is forever, its never completely unsalvageable and even if I am the cause, its never the disaster my mind likes to make out.

When we treat problems like immovable facts instead of patterns we can shift, we surrender our ability to create change.

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is this: the stories we tell ourselves shape how we see the world and what we believe is possible. They can reveal options, but they can also hide the potential that’s always there.

When I catch myself thinking these “P” thoughts, I now pause and go for a walk. And I ask: “What if the opposite were true?” And imagine how that would feel.

When my head and body reconnect, it always leads to a step out of the thinking traps my mind has created for me

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