I am SO delighted to share that a NEW SEASON of the Sexy Soulful Success podcast is HERE!!!! 

I have been very intentional this season about curating an exceptional lineup of guests who are experts in their fields, and who have super valuable lessons and insights to share, and I sincerely hope you LOVE each episode and tune in weekly over the next few months to join the conversation and get inspired with us 🙂 

We’re kicking off this season with Tiffany Toombs, a mindset coach who specializes in NLP (neuro linguistics programming)!

We spoke about mastering your mindset for success in today’s episode, and I hope you’ll tune in and listen to gather some valuable insights, perspective shifts, and more resources to support you on your journey.

For the past few months, I’ve been studying to earn a Certificate in Positive Psychology through The University of Pennsylvania, under the field’s founding teachers and professionals. I’ve been learning SO MUCH, and have already started implementing new and improved ways of serving my clients in The Business Alchemy Circle, Soulful Leadership Mastermind, & Soulful Success Sisterhood. 

Today, I’d love to share with you a few simple ways to identify and overcome negative (unhelpful) thought patterns when they arise. 

There are 5 major “thinking traps” cited in the work of Dr. Karen Reivich & Dr. Andrew Shatte, Resilience researchers at UPenn.

They are…

ME Thinking //  Believing you are the sole cause of every setback and problem, and that you are likely causing a lot of harm to others. When you’re in this trap, you tend to experience a lot of guilt and sadness. 

THEM Thinking // Believing that other people or circumstance are the sole cause of your setbacks or problems. When you’re habitually falling into the trap of “them” thinking (blaming others or circumstances) for the problems you’re confronting, you’re likely to be over experiencing the emotion of anger. 

Catastrophizing // Wasting critical energy ruminating on the irrational worst-case outcomes of a situation, which blocks you from taking action to address the challenge. You’re overestimating the threat and underestimating your own resources to cope or navigate the challenge at hand successfully. You’ll likely experience agitation, anxiety, and not really engaging in a productive way with the situation at hand.

Mindreading // Assuming you know what another person is thinking or expecting another person to know what you’re thinking (usually assuming that something negative is being thought/perceived). We tend not to ask questions or communicate well because we already think we know with 100% certainty what is going on in someone else’s mind, so this is very harmful for relationships.

Helplessness //  Believing that the negative event is going to impact ALL areas of your life, and that you have no control. in this thinking trap, you believe that bad things are here to stay, and there’s nothing you can do about it. When we’re caught in this thinking trap, we’ll feel stuck, passive, hopeless, ready to give up, withdrawn, depleted, and as if we don’t have the energy to figure out solutions.

Take a moment to pause and reflect.

Which thinking trap is YOUR go-to during times of stress or challenge? 

Here are three simple prompts to break the hold of any of the above 5 thinking traps:

“A better way of seeing this is…”

“If x happens, then I will y, and I’ll develop the plan.”

“That’s not true because…”

Copy + paste these 3 prompts into a note on your phone. 

Then, the next time you find yourself in one of these thinking traps, pull up the note and work through each of them to support yourself in coming back to a state of proactive + positive thinking to move forward!  

To share how this message has resonated with you, please send me a direct message or tag me in your share on Instagram @emilycasseloffical. And, as always, feel free to forward this message to others you feel would benefit from hearing it.

In Love + Sisterhood, 

Emily