Week 1 of CBT in 7 Weeks: It All Starts Here

This post is the first of a series that accompanies each week in my book, Retrain Your Brain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks. This week we start with Week 1, which begins on page 50 in the print edition.

Interested in connecting with others who are going through the workbook? Consider joining the Think Act Be Facebook group! It’s a place to find support and to share ideas, challenges, and successes.

This week is all about figuring out what your goals are for this program. In this context I’d like to draw from the work of psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham (see this article for a review). They highlight the close connection between goals and motivation.

I often think we don’t spend enough time thinking about the right goals as we’re starting treatment. We often have a general sense of what we’re not happy about in our lives, but we haven’t been specific about what would be different because of the treatment.

Bạn đang xem: Week 1 of CBT in 7 Weeks: It All Starts Here

If we’re going to build a bridge from here to there, we need to know what these points represent!

Xem thêm : Guide to Skincare Under a Beard or Facial Hair

As you work through this week’s material, spend a good bit of time taking stock of what’s going well and what’s not going well. This assessment will drive the goals you set.

Find a time to sit quietly and contemplate each area of your life. It will require honesty on your part, honesty about where you are and what you want to change.

Why do goals matter so much? According to Locke and Latham (L&L), goals drive action in at least four ways:

1. Goals sharpen our focus on what’s important to us. By making what we value more salient, distractions that compete for our energy and attention can fade into the background. For example, if I set a goal to conquer my fear of driving, the pull to avoid my fears can become less compelling.
2. Goals energize our efforts. Without clear goals we can feel unmotivated, unsure of where to direct our energy. When we know what we’re aiming for, we work harder, especially if we feel a deep connection with our goals.
3. Goals lead to greater persistence. When we’ve decided what we want, we’ll be more likely to continue working toward that goal even when we face challenges.
4. Goals compel us to find ways of meeting them. It’s easy to let not knowing how to meet a goal prevent us from setting it. For example, I might avoid committing to a goal of consistent exercise because I don’t know what form of exercise I want to do. Once I decide to exercise, I find a way to make it happen. The fact that you picked up this book suggests that you’ve taken that crucial step toward deciding to do something to change your situation. Thus you’ve raised the odds that you’ll find “task-relevant knowledge and strategies” (as L&L say) to help you meet your goals.

Goals turn dissatisfaction with our situation into intention to improve it. And that’s pretty empowering.

Speaking of empowerment, my favorite part of the L&L article I cited is where they tie it all together to show how well-chosen goals are part of what they call “the High-Performance Cycle.” Based on their model, the right goals generate excitement and a sense of self-efficacy—that is, an awareness that I am capable of reaching these goals.

Xem thêm : Bigelow Matcha Green Tea with Turmeric

Excitement and self-efficacy in turn lead to greater performance and greater satisfaction with our performance. As we see ourselves succeeding, our confidence goes up, as does our “willingness to commit to new challenges.” This idea is built explicitly into CBT in 7 Weeks, as success in initial activities feeds into our next round of goals. Success breeds success. Over time this cycle builds on itself, leading to ever greater levels of achievement and satisfaction.

As you think about your goals this week, aim for the following attributes:

1. Specific. You should know when you’ve reached your goal. For example, “exercise more” is vague whereas “exercise 30 minutes 3x/week” is specific and measurable.
2. Appropriate difficulty level. There’s a sweet spot in picking the difficulty of our goals. Too easy and we’ll be uninspired; too challenging and we’ll be disheartened. If you’ve ridden a bike with multiple gears, the former is like spinning in a gear that’s too small and the latter is like barely turning the crank over up a big hill. Aim for moderate effort that’s sustainable.
3. Important. If we don’t care about our goals, we’ll have little chance of meeting them. Make sure your goals are indeed yours, not what someone else wants for you. Also consider why each goal is important; how will your life improve when you reach it?

This is sacred work, the work of determining what’s worth fighting for. It all starts here.

I’m excited for you as you begin this program. Have a great week!

I will post the next installment on November 7, 2016.

Please leave any questions or comments below.

Nguồn: https://buycookiesonline.eu
Danh mục: Info