Hope

To Y

ours

elf…

.

The Way

Finding several workable routes to the goal or hope.

A hopeful person will find other options if one of the pathways is blocked.

The Will

Thoughts, or “The Will”, represented as: ‘I can do this’, ‘I won’t be stopped’. ANTS or Automatic Negative Thoughts are major stumbling block to ‘The Will’.

PATHWAY THINKING:

Unless you think about your thoughts, they are "automatic" or "just happen". Since they "just happen" they don't always tell you the truth. Sometimes they even lie to you. This can influence how you see yourself and hence, your future.

We are skilled Disputers when accused by someone else but accept our beliefs as truth when disputing ourselves.

Others Opinions can be biased or wrong, yet we treat our own opinions of ourselves as indisputable.

Dove won a best advertisement in 2013 for this homerun on how we tend to see ourselves.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk

To increase Optimism, your own beliefs need to become a target of skepticism.

Don’t Blindly accept your insults.

DISPUTE THEM:•Evidence for..•Evidence against…•Other ways of seeing it…•How did you feel or act after disputing?

ANTsAutomatic Negative ThoughtsDon’t invite them to your picnic!

Here are a few…

1. All or nothing thinking. “There is nothing to do.” or “I’m the worst basketball player in the city.”

2. Blame – most poisonous ant. When you blame your problems on others, you become powerless to change them.

3. Focusing on the Negative – when you only see the negative and can’t find a silver lining.

4. Fortune Telling – Predict a negative outcome. “Why should I study, I’m just going to fail.” This way of thinking is often a self-fulfilling prophesy.

5. Mind Reading – You believe what another person is thinking when they haven’t even told you. This is a common reason why people have trouble in relationships.

ANTS: Automatic Negative Thoughts

Disputing addressed “WHY” a problem happened.

“I didn’t study enough.”

VS

“I’m stupid”

DECATASTROPHIZING

Addresses what comes next.

“I’ll be grounded for life.”

VS

“I may have to do extra credit to bring up my grade.”

•What is the worst thing that can happen?•What can you do to stop the worst thing from happening?•What is the Best that can happen?•What can you do to get the best thing to happen?•What is the most likely thing that will happen?•What can I do to Handle the most likely thing?