Are you a downer?
Do you find yourself focusing on the negative?
Do you dismiss the good things as unimportant?
Say you’ve had a great holiday including lovely meals, new experiences and quality time with your family. When asked how your holiday was do you reply “it was ok but the weather wasn’t great” or “It was a nightmare - one of our suitcases went missing!”
Are you an all-or-nothing thinker?
Do you you catastrophise and blow things out of proportion?
If your boss asks for some amendments to a report - do you thoughts snowball and you think “I can’t do anything right?”, “I’m probably going to be fired”, “I’m useless at everything”?
Are you a mind reader?
If a friend says they can’t make a gym class this week, do you think “I bet I’ve done something to upset them” or “I suppose they are going out with more interesting friends”?
Or are you a fortune teller?
Do you think that there is no point going for a job interview as you will never get the job?
Do you predict failure?
Do you set yourself up to fail?
Are you a perfectionist who sets unrealistic targets?
Do you constantly fall short which reinforces your feelings of failure?
Do you blame yourself?
Do you think that everything that goes wrong is your fault even though you have no control over it?
For example blaming yourself when your bus breaks down and you are late for work.