Good morning, Miracle Commuters. Today, I want to talk a little bit about head games. Head games are what we do to fuel negative emotions in our heads. As a result, we get more of what we don't want, distort things, exaggerate things, or amplify things that we don't necessarily need in our lives. We could focus on being more positive or mindful with how we analyze or even think about situations in our heads. A lot of time as we are. Catastrophizing things in our head that have even happened. So I think it's essential to. Sit down and think about some of the thoughts that we may have, whether they're positive or negative and use them to identify and weed out some of the awful thoughts that we might have. So you can move away from it. The bad ideas and focus on more of the good things or the ideas and thoughts that can bring you joy. And your situation. This is a little bit of a long list. So, bear with me here, but amplifiers are first things first. A lot of times, we have. Emotions that magnify unpleasant situations. And that looks at extreme words, like always or never, or no one or every time. Virtually. Nothing in life falls to an extreme, and nothing is almost always that black and white. So when we start to think about. Amplifiers mean to start a stop and say, I bet you, no matter what it was, or some type of other scenario that could happen, that could be positive. And. Delay or fix the situation at hand. So be careful with amplifiers and especially extreme words. Like always, never, no one, and every time. Another bad head game is feelers or the attempt to accept a negative feeling as accurate or without questioning it. Sometimes, our negative emotions reveal a sort of deficiency in ourselves or someone else. And sometimes, they don't. So often, you may feel a simple distortion. Sometimes, an objective reflects the quality of your thinking more than the quality of your actual life experience. Dark feelings are important, but they are no substitute for the truth. So just remember, when you have a thought, it's not always the truth, and it's good to make sure that you stop yourself and say, Hey, is this reality, or am I exaggerating this? Or am I? I am getting a feeling out of this, and that's not the case. Guessers guesser thought, pretending what other people are thinking and then assume that they are thinking the worst. This is the one that I sometimes have to correct myself on, and quite often, This is like a trigger or an emotional response that we get from thinking about what other people are thinking, covering ourselves. This sometimes puts us on the defensive, which can kick off a cycle that is not very helpful or joyful and maybe even puts you mentally. It's a state of hate for someone who doesn't even deserve it. The definitely avoid guessers are trying to guess what someone else is thinking of you at any given time. And I think this leads to the next one, which is exaggerators. You're exaggerating your thoughts, transforming molehills in the mountains and triggering words like horrible or worse, ruin, shock, devastating, stunned, and outraged. These are all exaggerators that we put in our minds. And sometimes we do not need to use them. When we're thinking about scenarios or situations that have happened in the past or, unfortunately, things that haven't even happened yet. And I think it's essential to think of them as awful or like drama queen syndrome. Don't exaggerate something that hasn't happened or a situation that maybe wasn't as bad as it would be. The next one's identifiers inject harmless events with personal meetings. They have overestimated how the event is related to them. They take things too personally and interpret adverse events as personal attacks. So, for example, you get cut off in traffic and spill your coffee in your lap. Perfect for this, right? I might respond with the other driver who is out in front of me momentarily. I actively think that the other driver had carefully plotted to be in just a spot to do this on the interstate. But the truth is, they didn't. A lot of times, we all make mistakes when we're driving and commuting. And I think that you, if you give people grace, knowing that easily could have been you. You can realize that no one is really out to get you. And that we all have been irritated in situations like this. And we just have to number is a small moment sent something to derail you. For the rest of the day, change how you think or create more negative habits in your mind. Forecasting. It's another one. So, particularly predicting a worst-case scenario—sometimes even allowed before it even happens—and participating in an activity, solving a problem, or engaging in an important conversation. Forecasting is not necessarily a good thing to do. I think it's good to plan. It's good to have foresight into whatever you're going into or whatever you're going to say, but you don't want to doom forecast and come up with things that are not necessarily true or haven't happened yet. Cynical thinking, right? Cynics, have you had the knack for finding something wrong, even if there's only one thing wrong or nothing wrong at all? Despite all the good that they have, your mental radar always sees the bad. And I think this is one thing that I've struggled with over the years because, I know, in journalism school, they teach you to be cynical in some ways, which is not necessarily a good thing. Like always looking for the bad and the good and never trusting anything for face value, I think that one thing about being cynical is that it is a purpose in life. That's why we have this ability to be cynical and critical. But at the same time, I don't think it's good to live in that mindset because it never really comes to any good. Sometimes, you just have to find the positive and the negative, even if it is negative, too. So always. And mostly, avoid being cynical unless you have to, as a career, unfortunately. Blaming pointing fingers at someone else for their own problems, even if it's a rare problem caused entirely by someone else. Blaming. It is the opposite of responsibility, meaning that it was your responsibility. Still, you're apt to blame someone else and say it's so popular because it temporarily liberates you and gives you a short-term emotional fix. So if he feels better for the time being, it's you feel like it's good to blame someone else when you should take full responsibility. However, blaming others ultimately mobilizes you, holds you back, and cuts your legs right out from underneath your full potential for joy. So the blame is. Is like a dirty bomb. You don't want to blame unless you have to write unless it's just, but ultimately, even justified blaming is not appropriate in work in life. In my opinion. Finally, justifiers are mining for some reason why they are entitled or to have this negative emotion or harmful pursuit, losing sight of their vision, or justifiers are advocates for their own negativity. It manifests in language. If you only knew what they did, and I deserve to be upset. It's not exactly what Joy is made of, but now. Where are these all of these different emotions coming from? Hopefully, they're not coming from an area of justification. So, just to recap real quick, there are plenty of mind games that we play with ourselves, and sometimes our emotions and thoughts turn into these sort of head games that put us on the right or wrong path to success. And it could be anything from amplifiers to feelers, guessers, exaggerators, identifiers, forecasters, and cynics. Blamers and justifiers, try to remember which one you are or are not. If any of these resonate with you, then maybe it's time to rethink and reframe some of your situations and try to get some of that negativity out of your mindset, especially when it comes to work and play. Try to use it as an opportunity to remove the negativity. You can bring more joy into your life if you have more joy than the tough times in the low times. Sometimes aren't so bad. I hope this was helpful. I think it's helpful to re-read this stuff or revisit it every now and then because even when you are on top of your game, you can easily be at the bottom. We just had a few wrong turns. But hopefully. On your way in your commute, it's easy, safe, and successful. I hope you have a great day. And remember when you, win your commute. You can 100%. When the rest of your day Get full access to Scott Winterroth's Substack at themiraclecommute.substack.com/subscribe
