Try This CBT Technique
Welcome to the one day at a time podcast with your host and the future leader of The Republic Of Wales, Sveldfjer. Now this might be the only podcast in the world where you actually have to reduce the speed instead of increasing it. However, what I wanna get over to you is that the past is gone. The future doesn't exist. So if you wanna make the most of your life, you've gotta make the most of these moments every single day.
Speaker 1:And this podcast is gonna help you live a healthier, more fulfilled life, hopefully, giving you some wisdom to take away every single day. So I'm gonna shut up now so you can get on with listening to the next episode. Good morning, gang. I hope you're good. Let's get straight into this voice note.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna keep it short today. I wanna introduce you to a tool that I'm gonna build into the Macros app because I think it's very important. It is a CBT thought tracker or a cognitive behavioral therapy, thoughts tracker, negative thought tracker, whatever. And I've been using it for, like, over a year now. And what's interesting is I'm looking through my old entries and I'm seeing similar patterns come up.
Speaker 1:Right? The mind is a fucker. It will trick you. It will trick you all the time into thinking certain ways but if you can see the patterns and see how it is tripping you up all the time, time after time you can then have this like third person view of yourself and be like ah no it's just the mind playing tricks. Okay so let's go through this exercise together.
Speaker 1:You can think out loud. You know, not no. Sorry. Do not think out loud. Just think quietly because you might be walking.
Speaker 1:Right? So the first question is and ask you think of something that's negative recently or you if you're feeling quite sad right now or whatever, any emotion. So what are you right now? Okay where are you, what are you doing or what were you doing and who were you with when you had this emotion? Right and what was the emotion the next phase is what was the emotion you feel describe it in one word.
Speaker 1:Were you angry, sad, scared and rate it on a scale of nought to a %. Hundred % is like a top end intensity right so you could say sad 50% or five out of 10. Some of my entries sad five out of 10, conflicted anxiety five out of 10, very sad 10 out of 10, resentment six out of 10, conflicted four out of 10, horrible sad four out 10, deflated four out of 10 okay so now you got that. Now the next phase is what thoughts were going through your mind right or are going through your mind what memories of images were in your mind right when you felt these things. Okay, so one of mine let me see if I can actually say this one up loud Yeah, maybe I can.
Speaker 1:This is from like a year ago. So my situation was I was sitting in my living room having a lay down as on my own listening to podcasts and I felt sad unmotivated five out of 10 that's my emotional feeling was. So what was my negative automatic thought? My negative automatic thought this is over a year ago was what am I doing? Why am I bothering?
Speaker 1:Was a point in all this feeling trapped potentially lonely in this this journey okay that's what I thought that was my negative automatic negative thought. The next part's important you know what evidence supports the thought what facts support the truthfulness of the image and the thought? Right? So what's the point in this? Like what facts have I got to show that?
Speaker 1:Like am I feeling trapped and lonely? Do I have anything to support it? And I think well, you know, what am I doing? Well, my job is to help other people in rugby warfare and stuff. Know, why am I bothering while I'm trying to help people every day and feeling trapped and lonely and, you know, what's supporting that is while I'm working from home all the time, every day working from home my own office on my own okay.
Speaker 1:So I see evidence. The next phase isn't very important as well is evidence that does not support that thought so what experiences indicated this thought is not completely true all of the time. If my best friend had this thought would I tell what would I tell them? Are there any experiences which contradict this thought? Okay.
Speaker 1:And of course for me there is. So I get a I I brought down I get a massive sense of purpose and days I'm doing the same work. I would tell my best friend that it's just a downer of a moment it's not a day it's not your entire journey it will pass. A sense of joy you get a sense of when helping others and you're just on your own maybe a bit too much. Right?
Speaker 1:That's what the evidence to not support for you know why am I bothering what's the point feeling and lonely like the evidence against that is you know like what I'm thinking what am I doing. So the alternative thought is after you've gone through that is well I just had a little downer of a moment due to inactivity or working on my own for a bit too many days days or just not having a sense of joy that day. Could be the weather causing it, but it's just temporary. Also an annoyance at losing progress in the gym before going away. So alternative thoughts gone from and then, you know, the what's your emotional feeling afterwards?
Speaker 1:And it was like, know, I went from a five or a 10 sad and motivated to a seven or a 10 feeling decent. Okay? So my end conclusion is just a momentary feeling, you know, I love what I do, keep going. Okay? So look at the difference.
Speaker 1:Right? So my initial negative thought was what am I doing? Why am I bothering? What's the point? I'm feeling trapped in the what's the point of doing all this?
Speaker 1:Right? Very black and white throwing big things out there. And you go through this process and you type it out, you answer a few questions and at the end you're like, just had a little downer of a moment sitting down on the couch listening to some podcasts realizing you know, maybe I haven't moved enough for today, I haven't really been going to the gym consistently and I need that. I've been working alone, I haven't had that human connection. It's just a momentary thing right get up.
Speaker 1:You enjoy what you do you love it. Okay, the difference is staggering in those two thoughts and this is an exercise you can do okay and I think everybody should have one of these thought trackers. I have posted in the turtle membership group, but we will incorporate it into the app. And you'll just go through and answer these questions, type them out. And at the end, you'd rate in, and we can go and see we can track your negative thoughts in as well and see how they can impact your your journey.
Speaker 1:But I hope that was helpful to go through it. Like, you know, I've got loads of entries, and I am seeing very, you know, similar and this is a negative thought tracker. So, like, in in reality, it's it's kind of a basically a kind of a negative. I use it as a negative one anyway, so it's not gonna be full of joy. But I can see how my mind tricks me up.
Speaker 1:I can see how it does it. I I can see it. And I always, always feel better after doing this. So I thought I'd give you this tool. If you haven't got it, you can email me Scott dot turtle dot com, and I'll send you a link so you can copy and paste it for now.
Speaker 1:You can copy the sheet and you can use it yourself until we get into the app. But I thought this is relevant for your journeys guys because when we're in health and fitness, we know we've got to track our macros, we know we've got to go and get our steps in. But sometimes you think, what's the fucking point? Why are we doing moments, right? And sometimes they can extend for the entire day and you can feel it all day and it can maybe go into two days, three days and then before you know you're three days off track, right?
Speaker 1:Or it can be what I did and it'd be a five, ten minute thing where I just went through this and I felt better instantly because I went through this process. So hopefully that is helpful for you. That's more as voice note. I'm going share a lot of research study stuff. So we do a lot of we look at a lot of new research studies.
Speaker 1:We go through them, make sure they're in good journals. The research is good. And then we were going to share a lot of them. We've been working on a load of them. I'm going be sharing some insights tomorrow, which will be helpful for you.
Speaker 1:But for today, let's start catching those automatic negative thoughts, and let's switch them into an alternative thought, and we will be far better for it. It's like it's just handing off. Things coming in, boof, out it goes. Hopefully, that's helpful. Enjoy your Thursday.
Speaker 1:If you're on a turtle membership book club tonight, I've been reading the gift, which is a book, and it's really, really good. And I've been getting a lot out of it. So, yeah, if any of you if any of you want to read a good book, let me suggest to you now. Let me just make sure I'm saying the author's name correctly. She was a prisoner of Auschwitz, and, you know, she is a psychologist.
Speaker 1:Her name is Edith Eger, so e d I t h e g e r. The audiobook's really good. And, yeah, she talks about, you know, getting over you know, talks about life basically. She doesn't really talk too much about Auschwitz. She talks about how she overcome it, and she talks she talks about some of the stories from her clinical experience.
Speaker 1:And, there's a lot to learn from it. So mindset's key, obviously, if you heard that phrase. So, yeah, give out a give out a read or a listen, and let me know what you think. But enjoy your day. Remember, focus on today only, please.
Speaker 1:What's your one big thing today? Get that done. Build the momentum. It's all it takes. If we can do these day in, day out, we will succeed because most people don't.
Speaker 1:And that's it. Speak tomorrow everyone. And that is it for today's episode. So hopefully you took something away from it. If you didn't, here's what we need to take away.
Speaker 1:Stop wasting time on social media. Stop wasting time gossiping. You've only got a day to live. Today's the only day you ever have. So if there's anything to take away from this podcast, even if you can't understand the word I say, even if you didn't resonate with the wisdom I try to deliver, this is a reminder of you daily to live one day at a time.
Speaker 1:Give your moments meaning today and don't be fooled by thinking you've got unlimited amount of days but if you can make the most of today I'm telling you you'll have a fulfilled life so enjoy your day and hopefully I'll see you back tomorrow. Do daily to live one day at a time. Give your moments meaning today and don't be fooled by thinking you've got unlimited amount of days But if you can make the most of today, I'm telling you, you'll have a fulfilled life. So enjoy your day and hopefully I'll see you back tomorrow.
