Controlling negative thoughts
Featured in the Using Emotional Intelligence at Work training manual
By Mike Bagshaw
Category: Emotional Intelligence
Credit price: 4 download credits (Single user)
The way we talk to ourselves about our work can have a profound impact on our performance. Positive self-talk can enhance organisational performance, but this information rarely appears in the management literature. Research has shown that eight out of ten of our thoughts are negative. Negativity dampens the spirit and creates a contagious ‘emotional virus’. This training activity shows how we can change what we say to ourselves for greater emotional well-being, personal success and enhanced organisational performance.
The training activity starts with a simple exercise to demonstrate the effects of negative statements on our emotions. Then the power of the concept of self-talk is presented. Participants then do a self-assessment exercise to help them to identify their ‘internal critic’, which gets in the way of them performing at their best. A further exercise is conducted in pairs where participants describe a situation that makes them defensive, to identify their positive and negative self-talk and the consequences of their beliefs and how they might dispute their negative beliefs. Each participant then says one thing they will do to strengthen their self-beliefs and the training activity is rounded off with a reminder of the importance of distinguishing between reasonable and irrational emotional reactions and how self-talk can help us to control the tendency to overreact.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to enable participants to respond more purposefully to difficult events by replacing negative self-talk with motivational self-talk, therefore, bringing a positive and creative climate to work helping them be proactive and take control.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:05:00 |
| No of Pages: | 24 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers on stress and change management programmes and personal development programmes.
Download the training activity, Controlling negative thoughts as featured in the Fenman training manual; Using Emotional Intelligence at Work