Jumping Into Conclusions

1. Fortune Telling: When one believes that the negative outcome is already a confirmed fact. The baseless assumptions are a reality inside the mind of a fortune teller. In most cases, things that seem to be a big worry have nothing to do with reality.
2. Mind Reading: Instead of focusing on probable bad situations, a mind reader creates unverified negative assumptions about people. These can be about people not respecting you, or about not getting acceptance from someone.

The basic psychology about visiting a fortune teller is that the mind is cognitively distorted and needs reassurance. When a fortune teller tells you that everything is going to be ok, the negative thoughts start to diminish.

1. Check the facts to see if the situation is all in your head or has some ground.
2. Be aware of the time the negative thought enters your mind, and place a barrier on the entry, saying to yourself ‘We don’t know that yet’.
3. Think of past events that were positive and understand that the mind can over analyse stuff. Understand that it serves no benefit to panic right now.
4. Trust yourself and life, believing that things are going to be okay, no matter what happens. Distrusting yourself leads one to rely on external crutches.

An extreme of a cognitive distortion is believing that everything will happen according to the wishes, and would be perfect in every way.

But life can be miserable if a person is always having unrealistic expectations out of situations and people. Things are bound to go wrong too sometimes. Learn to be a realist.