This document discusses common negative thinking patterns and how to change them. It identifies thinking patterns like "life is shit," "never to me," and "emotion based" that can be destructive. It recommends recognizing the problem patterns, becoming aware of when they are used, and slowly replacing them over time by introducing better thinking patterns. The key is to let the old patterns fade away while strengthening the new, improved ones, as changing thinking takes place gradually rather than immediately. The goal is to change one's perception of life and the way one thinks in order to change one's reality for the better.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf(CBTL), Business strategy case study
How to change destructive thinking patterns
1. SHEDEED ASHOUR MD
Prof. of Andrology, Sexology & STDs
Cairo University, Cairo – EGYPT
Consultant Andrologist Dr Erfan & Bagedo General Hospital,
Jeddah – Saudi Arabia
2. Objective
Today‟s life style is
so fast and stressful.
The byproducts of
which is pollution,
not only in air and
food, but also, in
mind and thinking.
3. Objective
It can be extremely
difficult to focus on
the good when,
seemingly, bad
things are happening
in your life.
5. Objective
This is about changing
the way you think,
changing your thinking
pattern.
Do you use any of these
thinking patterns in
your day to day life?
6. Do you use any of these thinking
patterns in your day to day life?
7. ‘Life is shit’ Thinking pattern
Everything in life is
bad, everybody is not
to be trusted and
nothing good will ever
happen to them e.g. “I
won‟t get that job, the
interviewer didn‟t like
me, I didn‟t particularly
like them anyway.”
8. ‘Unsubstantiated conclusive’
Thinking pattern
You tend to make a lot of
conclusions without any
evidence to back up your
conclusions.
This can be a really
destructive pattern as it
can limit you in seeing
reality for what it is e.g.
“He walks a bit funny, he
must be gay.”
9. ‘Never to me’ Thinking pattern
when you think nothing
good will ever happen to you.
This can be a deep seated way
of thinking and it is a deep
down inability to believe you
are worthy of anything good
happening to you e.g. “I‟ll
never have money, I‟ve never
had it before so I‟ll never have
it in the future, might as well
carry on with this shitty job,
at least it pays the mortgage
10. ‘The negative psychic’
Thinking pattern
Presuming you know what
people are thinking about
you and it‟s all bad. e.g.
“She thinks I‟m an idiot, I‟ll
try to avoid talking to her.”
11. ‘Should, would, could’
Thinking pattern
This type of person knows
what they have to do to
change their life, they are
capable and they know it
and they would do it if
only……… e.g. “I know I
could go to university and I
would, but I‟m just to busy
with other things right now,
I‟ll apply next year.”
12. ‘Emotion based’ Thinking pattern
Your emotions control
what you are thinking
and therefore your
vision of what reality is
e.g. “I feel incapable of
doing that so I must be
incapable”.
13. ‘It’s all my fault’ Thinking
pattern
You see yourself as being
the cause of everything
bad that has happened
e.g. “It‟s my fault he left
me for another woman.”
You‟ll notice this type of
person does not take
responsibility for the
good things that happen.
14. ‘They’re all wrong’ Thinking
pattern
You see everyone as
incapable of doing
anything right and
your way is the best
way to do it e.g. “He
can‟t do it right, I‟ll stay
late tonight and fix it
when he‟s gone.”
15. Thinking pattern
These are just some of the common thinking patterns
you have come across in your life and you have used
some of them yourself.
We used to use mix the ‘Never to me’ and ‘The
negative psychic’ thinking patterns about everything.
I made a conscious effort to change what I believed
about myself and what I believed about the world and
it has literally changed my life.
16. How to change the
destructive thinking patterns
The first stage of changing is to
recognize the problem
Just don‟t think there is a problem so
there is no need to change. If this is
you then do nothing.
If you want to change you must think
there is a need and you will start to
recognize what things need to change
and it usually starts with your
perception of life.
17. How to change the
destructive thinking patterns
Everybody‟s perception of life is
different, therefore everyone‟s
reality is different.
I don‟t live in the same world as
you and you don‟t live in the same
world as me.
That might sound a strange concept to some
people, but think about it for a few minutes, it
could change the way you see the world.
18. How to change the
destructive thinking patterns
The second stage is to be aware of when
you are using the destructive thinking
patterns
We can employ different thinking
patterns depending on what we are
doing in life.
Recognizing when you use destructive
thinking patterns can help you to
change that pattern.
19. How to change the
destructive thinking patterns
The third stage is to replace the bad with
the good
This is something that you don‟t do
immediately. You don‟t say to
yourself „I‟ll never be able to do that”,
which is you old thinking pattern, to
“Oh yes I can”.
That won‟t work. You have to let the
old pattern die slowly whilst slowly
introducing your new improved
thinking pattern.
20. How to change the
destructive thinking patterns
This stage takes place over time
and is not done immediately.
The best time to change a
destructive thinking pattern is to
let it run it‟s course and slowly
replace it with a thinking pattern
that is better for you.
You can work on more than 1
destructive thinking pattern at a
time.
21. How to change the
destructive thinking patterns
The third stage is to replace the bad with
the good
This is something that you don‟t do
immediately. You don‟t say to
yourself „I‟ll never be able to do that”,
which is you old thinking pattern, to
“Oh yes I can”.
That won‟t work. You have to let the
old pattern die slowly whilst slowly
introducing your new improved
thinking pattern.
22. Summary
Recognize
Be aware
Slowly change and introduce a new thinking
pattern
Keep working on all your destructive
thinking patterns
Change your life with your new way of
thinking
(I actually heard someone saying this about a colleague last week).
You will find a lot of people in life who just don’t think there is a problem so there is no need to change. If this is you then do nothing. If you want to change you must think there is a need and you will start to recognise what things need to change and it usually starts with your perception of life. Everybody’s perception of life is different, therefore everyone’s reality is different. I don’t live in the same world as you and you don’t live in the same world as me. That might sound a strange concept to some people, but think about it for a few minutes, it could change the way you see the world. I’ll give you an example:
You will find a lot of people in life who just don’t think there is a problem so there is no need to change. If this is you then do nothing. If you want to change you must think there is a need and you will start to recognise what things need to change and it usually starts with your perception of life. Everybody’s perception of life is different, therefore everyone’s reality is different. I don’t live in the same world as you and you don’t live in the same world as me. That might sound a strange concept to some people, but think about it for a few minutes, it could change the way you see the world. I’ll give you an example:
For example you could use a positive thinking pattern at work as you are very confident in your ability and yet use a destructive one when it comes to looking for love. Now that you have recognized when you use the destructive thinking patterns it is now time to change it.
I know people want a microwave life, stick it in the micro and it’s ready in 3 minutes, your life is not like that and you cannot change in 1 day, unless something drastic happens