Challenging unhelpful thought patterns and becoming more objective can help to avoid the automatic descent into unwarranted negativity.

Journaling and keeping an open mind when receiving feedback can help you recognise the positives. By avoiding mental filtering, you will be better equipped...

• Upon submitting a project for approval, the overwhelmingly positive feedback is quickly overshadowed by one piece of constructive criticism. This can lead you to believe that you are doing a poor job, even though this is not what you were told.
• A colleague fails to greet you when you...

 Asking your friends or colleagues for an objective opinion on your performance or achievements is a good way to gauge your ability or progress. If you have become entrenched in negative self-talk, listen carefully to what others objectively report.

Write down all of the positive opinions y...

To manage this cognitive distortion, you must consciously start to manage negative thought patterns so you can begin to see your efforts and achievements in a more positive light.

First, recognise when mental filtering occurs. A key step to managing a cognitive distortion is to acknowledge ...

Do you tend to focus on negative details?

Mental filtering is a cognitive distortion that leads us to magnify the negative details of a situation while filtering out the positives. Also known as selective abstraction, this bias for dwelling on your shortcomings could lead ...

Mental filtering can have a detrimental impact on your self-confidence and personal growth. If the one piece of advice your boss gave you after a presentation led you to feel that you were no good at public speaking, then you may internalise that any future attempts will be a disaster. This vicio...