Discounting the Positive

In this kind of thinking, you focus on the negative aspect of a situation and completely discount the positive. In fact, when your experience contradicts your negative outlook, you even go as far as to reject or discredit the positive experience by saying, "It doesn't count." For example, you bake five pies for a school bake sale, and when the crust on the last one burns, you tell yourself, "I stink at this." When your pies get rave reviews, you think, "They're just saying that to be nice, I really ruined those pies."

Mind Reading

In this type of thinking, you draw conclusions about a situation without knowing all the facts. You either act as a mind reader ("I just know he didn't call because he doesn't like me.") or as a forecaster ("He won't like me, I just know it, so there is no use going on the blind date."). This style of thinking is one of the most common ways we stress ourselves out. We assume something is negative without any evidence at all!

Avoid negative thinking