Category: Management

Fear is one of the biggest hurdles that business owners experience when running their businesses. Fear of any kind can limit us, shrink us and reduce us to smaller people with lower capabilities. This is certainly not good for someone who might be running an entire company. Fear also rears its ugly head when the time comes to take risks. A business owner or a CEO has to take measured risks: risks that are calculated, measured and still conservative in nature. Yet, many leaders of today fear to take these conservative risks, leading to problems in administration. Thus, the first step towards taking conservative risks is to overcome fear and begin to do things that you probably think are too risky. In this article, let us take a look at how you can overcome fear and start taking risks. 1. Be open to change A lot of us inherently scared of changes. Changes in terms of the way we do business, changes in our environment, life’s changes and a changing world. Yet, we cannot stop the world from changing. Change is the essence of life and growth. When we begin to accept change and are open to it, magical doors are set to open. Most importantly, we stop getting scared of the consequences, which is what change is all about: positive consequences. [php snippet=1] 2. Be open to challenges If you need to be successful, you should be open to challenges as well. Challenges make us do the unthinkable, and help us to consolidate our strengths. This, in turn, makes us fearless. When we encounter success on account of our own fearlessness, it makes us all the more fearless. If you are open to challenges, you will reduce your fear considerably, which helps you to take measured risks again. 3. Do not expect the worst When we take risks, we tend to expect the worst. However, our worst fears usually do not come true. When they do come true, they tend to be the result of coincidences and randomness. While terrible things can happen with taking risks, usually, measured risks will not lead to these unpleasant situations. Thus, it is not a good idea to always expect the worst. This will help you to take more risks without fear. 4. Accept that everything is not in our control At the end of the day, we must accept that everything is not in our control and can never be. When we accept this piece of information, life becomes a lot easier to handle. It also allows us to take measured risks, which is what is most important anyway. Letting go of control is a hallmark of being successful. It makes us freer, liberal and adventurous beings, allowing us to be ourselves and make choices that we otherwise would never have made. Looking forward Yet, it is important never to lose track of your own conservativeness and still stick to certain methods which have always worked. In this article, we took a look at how we can overcome fear and what we should do in order to take conservative risks. After all, one of the most important goals of any business is to see positive changes, the kind of changes that increase profitability. Overcoming fear helps you do exactly that.

Therapy can be a very useful tool when it comes to managing your life. It helps you declutter your thoughts, naming your emotions and learning about your strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, psychotherapy provides you with an added advantage of being able to wade through the stresses of life, better than those who do not seek therapy. In this article, let us take a look at how psychotherapy helps you become a better boss, making you more popular among employees, while also helping you make them work more efficiently. 1. Therapy helps you build empathy One of the all hallmarks of psychotherapy is being able to love ourselves, and accept ourselves for who we are. Therapy also teaches us empathy, a quality that helps you understand how others might be feeling. When you develop empathy, you will be able to understand the problems and concerns of your employees, without they having to be explicit about it, or without you having to rationalize all their problems. This empathy will help you make policies that are more employee-friendly, making you a better boss. [php snippet=1] 2. Therapy helps you introspect Another important quality of therapy is that it helps us to introspect and look within ourselves. When we look within ourselves, we become more in tune with our strengths and weaknesses. This helps us gain valuable wisdom that is required to handle employees and things at work in general. Certainly, when we are introspective, we can also find solutions to many of the problems that are caused by us, at work, though we may not want to admit. Good bosses always own up to their mistakes. 3. Therapy makes you assertive A good boss needs to be assertive, and not aggressive. Most people confuse being assertive with being aggressive, which makes them behave rudely to their employees, thus destroying their motivation to work. When you are assertive and communicate what you want effectively, your employees will begin to respect you. This is one of the reasons why assertiveness training and social skills training are deeply embedded within the practice of psychotherapy. 4. Therapy makes you productive Last but not the least, when your own issues are sorted out, you tend to become more productive. When you are productive, you tend to be more amiable and kind towards your employees. This in return helps them to become productive too. Psychotherapy sets off a chain of good things that ultimately improve the lives of everyone at work if you decide to make it a serious part of your life. There is nothing more important than your own productivity when it comes to becoming a good boss. Conclusion Certainly, psychotherapy isn’t just for those who are suffering from mental illnesses, but also for everyone who simply want to improve their lives. A better analogy would be exercise and dieting. Exercising and dieting are important for everyone, though it is more important for those who have health issues. If you are already healthy and are still going to diet and exercise, your skin looks better, your body turns more attractive and endurance builds. Similarly, psychotherapy helps you reach your full potential, even if you are already a psychologically well-adjusted individual. Indeed, psychotherapy helps you to become an effective boss.

Seeking advice from those who are younger than us seems a little humbling, especially for those who are from hierarchical societies such as Asia. It is expected that older people give orders, suggestions and pieces of their wisdom to rookies, who obediently follow the pieces of advice given, no matter how inane or outdated they might be. As you can already guess, wisdom is not a prerogative of any one single age group. A child can be wiser than an ageing old man. Likewise, a child may have a lot to learn from his elders. In this context, it would be more realistic and tactical to accept that wisdom exists among different age groups, and it may not exist in any group we may assume it exists in. Thus, at the workplace, older CEOs, and senior officials may stand to gain by listening to their younger employees, who may be more in touch with technology, social media and the current state of affairs than someone who is very experienced but a little outdated. This is not a matter of the young vs. the old, but instead, the ability to humbly seek advice from those we may think is not wise. The younger generation is more in tune with technical advances It is important to note that those who are younger, especially the millennials, are more in touch with technology and the different ways to use them. They are naturally accustomed to using the social media and are intuitive about using technology to their advantage. Asking your younger employees about making use of social media and digital marketing can actually help you to gain access to a world of opportunities. This is something that many older CEOs still are not able to understand. We tend to stick to ideas that are familiar to us, even if they become outdated. It is common to see companies still sending out faxes, when there are better options available, just an example. Younger employees are more adventurous Even outside the realms of technology, youth is traditionally more adventurous and liberal than older people. Older management may tend to be conservative in their approach towards handling issues, which results in certain missed opportunities. Taking a more liberal approach may help not only advance the progress of the company but also open the senior management to newer and more revolutionary ideas. Indeed, it is always a good to seek advices from our juniors, even if they are limited by their experience or age. The very situation of seeking help from someone who is traditionally not an advice-giver makes you courageous, opening up doors to different possibilities. Parting thoughts No matter how hierarchical you may be, it is important to recognize that wisdom can be found across different rungs of the ladder. If you are going to depend on senior management for advice all the time, you may miss out on fresh ideas, new outlooks and adventurous opinions, all of which are necessary to grow successful. In this context, it makes sense to speak to younger and less experienced employees, when it comes to technology, working styles, and company culture.

There is negativity all around us. Whether it is the inflation, exorbitant outsourcing costs or labor unrest, there is always some bad news to worry about. There can also be negativity in the form of passive-aggressive behavior from those around us, pessimism, financial difficulties, stressful situations and a whole lot of other negative situations that ultimately wear us out. It is already known that prolonged exposure to negative situations causes stress, which leads to lowered performance, health issues and a general tendency to give up on things. Yet, this negativity can be used to our advantage. In fact, we can use negativity to help us become better individuals, and in fact, learn to thrive when the odds are stacked against us. At the cost of sounding like a motivational speaker, we have listed some tried and tested methods through which we can use negativity around us for our advantage. Learn from negativity Like we mentioned earlier, negativity can present itself in various situations and forms. No matter how it comes to your door, always try to learn from it. Negativity around us always has something to teach us. It helps us to become better individuals, look for survival tactics and teaches us to turn threats into opportunities. Most importantly, negativity teaches you to be resilient to adversities, which in turn helps you to become stronger. Make use of depressive realism Depressive realism is a concept floated by some psychologists, who believe that depressed people are in touch with reality more than people who are in normal states of mind. The fact that people are depressed makes them lose their protective layer, which exposes them to harsher realities of life, unlike normal people, who tend to view life from a less realist glasses. If you are unable to see anything positive, make use of that. Make use of your own depressive reality to change it and see a better future. Focus on the positive When all the odds are stacked against us, it is easy to lose hope and become helpless. However, in every dark moment, we can find something to focus on the positive. The very fact that you are reading this article or the fact that this article was written shows that all is not lost. There is still access to the Internet, electricity, literacy and education. That itself is a lot for many people. If you focus on these basic positives that already exist in your life, you can create a better future for yourself by strengthening what is positive. Hurry up with unfinished business Negative situations are created because we tend to procrastinate with a lot of things. When we hurry up with things that need to be completed, things become a lot more easy and streamlined. For this reason, you should start finishing up things you have left incomplete, as this will not only bring you peace but also make you a more productive and efficient person. Negativity need not be negative At the end of the day, we must not look at negative situations negatively. We must learn to tolerate distress in our lives. This helps us to focus on the positives and strengthen what we already have. When we accept that negative situations will always be there and that we can make them work for us, we will start to look at negativity from a completely different perspective. That actually makes us more positive than you might think.

Stress can be described as a situation wherein our physiological equilibrium is disturbed. It is a situation in which the ideal state is disturbed and we try to fight the situation or initiate a flight from the situation. Often called the ‘fight or flight’ response, stress causes not only for chemical imbalances in our body but also psychological dysfunction. Under stressful conditions, our body produces certain hormones and neurotransmitters which cause us to remain on the edge. Prolonged stress can cause physical and mental problems that will negatively affect us throughout our lives. Many autoimmune diseases are now blamed on stress, just like heart disease, cancer and diabetes are also blamed for it. Most importantly for entrepreneurs, who tend to remain stressed all the time, being inspired and remain inspired to do what they wish to do becomes very difficult. Thus, a CEO or a high-level executive must always be looking for techniques and opportunities to beat stress and remain inspired. In this article, let us take a look at some of the techniques which can help you beat stress and remain inspired. 1. Get some sleep There is nothing more important than getting 8 hours of sleep every day. Even if people tell you that 6 hours are enough, most published studies indicate that to perform optimally, at least 7-8 hours of sleep is required. Make sure that you maintain sleep hygiene and sleep every day at the same time. Do not schedule late night appointments with clients and try to fix them during the day. A good night’s sleep can help you to wake up nourished, rested and more productive. This will also help you to remain inspired rest of the day, instead of drowning yourself in cups of black coffee. 2. Eat well Eating enough proteins, fats and carbohydrates are very important. Ensure that you include fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts in your diet as antioxidants and fiber are required to keep your body nourished and feeling fresh. Drinking copious amounts of water will keep you hydrated and fresh. All this helps you to beat stress. A weak body invites infections and immune system disorders. By ensuring that you are well nourished, you can remain strong, healthy and confident. That really helps you to focus on work better than anything else. 3. Get enough exercise Exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week is very crucial. If you cannot go to the gym, at least go for a brisk walk every day for thirty minutes. This will ensure that your blood sugar levels are within limits and that your stress levels are low. When we exercise, our bodies release a chemical called ‘endorphin’. Endorphin helps us to feel good about ourselves and also aid in reducing stress levels. When you feel good about yourself and when your body is healthy and strong, you will feel inspired to work hard and play harder. 4. Practice mindfulness Mindfulness is a concept that was brought forward by famous clinical psychologist Marsha Linehan. Part of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness requires us to be aware of our emotions and thoughts but not react to them. For instance, if you are angry, be mindful of the physical and psychological sensations and try not to react. Similarly, when you are stressed out, practice mindfulness and try to be calm. This helps to reduce stress and will keep you inspired. Mindful meditation has helped to cure even clinically depressed and anxious people. If you are feeling rundown and tired, try mindfulness. It surely will work. 5. Listen to music Listening to music can be a very relaxing and inspiring activity. It does not matter what kind of music you are listening to as long as you like it. If something inspires you or makes you happy, it will reduce stress levels. This is not to say that you should not listen to angry or bleak music. Listening to negative music can help too, especially when everything around you feels bleak. No matter what kind of music it is, it always helps you to unwind and beat stress. Listening to music too releases endorphin, the feel-good chemicals. 6. Maintain a journal Maintaining a thought diary or a journal will help you to keep track of all your thoughts and emotions. This will help you to analyze them and assess what is triggering your stress. If you find that there are certain patterns which are leading to stressful conditions, you can fix those situations, instead of letting it fester. Journals are always therapeutic and most psychologists recommend maintaining a journal in order to understand our thought processes. It does not have to be a complex diary. You can just write down your thoughts and mention what triggered your stress, what were your thoughts and emotions at that time and what you did as a consequence of that. 7. Socialize Last but not the least, try to socialize with people. It does not matter whether you meet your friends or family. You could even begin to talk to strangers. As long as you are talking to someone in person, it will help you to beat stress and feel lively. Socializing helps us to release oxytocin, a chemical that is known to reduce stress. Look for opportunities to meet people who are supportive and try to spend some time with them. This will help you to be inspired by their lives too. Conclusion Certainly, there is nothing more important than beating stress so that we can avoid a number of physical ailments and mental conditions. However, stress can also interfere with our professional lives and lead to a lack of productivity and efficiency. For this reason, it is important to beat stress and remain inspired. Getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising regularly, socializing with friends and family and also strangers, practicing mindfulness, listening to music and writing a journal can all help you to focus on what is important, remain calm and stay inspired.

Self-criticism can be a very powerful enemy. A lot of us demean ourselves and we end up procrastinating, underestimating ourselves and even feeling demotivated, because of the harsh inner critic. The harsh inner critic is usually the result of an overactive super ego, according to Freudian theories. Freud believed that human personality is controlled by animal and dark instincts, controlled by Id, while our Ego tries to strike a neutral balance between these libidinal forces and the morally cautionary Super Ego. If Super Ego is really strong, it can interfere with our thinking and behavior, constantly criticizing us and make us believe that we are probably wrong all the time. The Ego (or our consciousness mind) has to deal with inner dark forces and a moralistic mind that tells us to control ourselves. Entrepreneurship and the harsh inner critic Entrepreneurs frequently have this inner harsh critic, which tells them that their decisions are poor, they are taking far too many risks, they may not be as competent as they believe they are and the worst of them all, that they don’t deserve success. Yet, this inner critic need not be always negative. Super Ego is known to be very helpful too, helping us to make the right decisions and choices, without succumbing to baser desires. For instance, if you feel like you need to purchase a company just because it looks attractive, your Id forces are taking over. Your Super Ego might warn and tell you not to do so. An inner conversation would be something like: “I want to buy XYZ startup right away. Okay, wait a minute. It may not be such a good idea. This company can cause more losses than profits and I always tend to be impulsive in making decisions”. In this case, the Super Ego clearly is helping the individual to not make a foolish startup acquisition. This will save the CEO a lot of money and probably will also earn him respect. This sort of criticism (telling oneself that some decisions may be impulsive, for example) need not be bad at all. In fact, such self-criticism arising from a charged up Super Ego should always be welcomed. Learning to be a better leader using self-criticism Psychological studies point out that self-criticism can help people to be better leaders. The inner critic can warn, reproach, advice and even help you to introspect, allowing you to grow as a person and as a leader. Sometimes, all you need to do in order to be a better leader is to just listen to that inner critical voice. In this article, let us take a look at how self-criticism can help you become a better leader. 1. Make better decisions One of the biggest gifts of a harsh inner critic is, it helps us to make better decisions. Whether it is a hiring decision or avoiding impulsiveness, a harsh inner critic can be a valuable tool. If you want to be a better leader, you will need to take a number of difficult decisions, some of which you may personally not like. Your inner critic will help you to make decisions that you may personally not like. After all, the most important characteristic of a good leader is his or her ability to make great decisions in spite of difficult choices. 2. Practice restraint Another important leadership skill is to practice restraint. Even when your gut feeling tells you to do something, you will need to say no to yourself. You will need to criticize yourself for being hasty and taking actions which may not be very wise. Practicing restraint turns out to be one of the most important qualities of a leader. If you wish to be a great leader, you should be able to say ‘no’ to yourself and to what your heart desires. Saying no to yourself helps you to become a strong-willed person, which in turn helps you to become a better leader. 3. Make peace with others A leader cannot and should not have enemies. He or she should never hold grudges or petty disagreements. A good leader is someone who is able to forgive and make peace with adversaries. This builds character and also helps in being a role model to followers. If you wish to be a leader, you will need to make peace with others even when you feel like disagreeing with them. You can go ahead and disagree, but you can do so in a way that is not offensive. One who is able to make peace with those he disagrees is the one who can be a leader. This requires a lot of maturity and ability to listen to the inner critic. 4. Follow a routine Most importantly, a leader should be able to follow discipline and not be controlled by Id impulses. Id impulses can manifest in the form of not being disciplined, being lazy, procrastinating and even acting impulsively. For all this, you need to critically evaluate your actions and thoughts and finally, bring in some discipline. This discipline can set in only when you listen to your inner critic. Discipline also helps you to follow a routine, which is required to set an example and be a great leader. After all, every great man in this world always followed healthy routines. Listen to your inner critic but do not become despondent While your inner critic can be a great teacher, it can also bring you down and make you despondent. You should not allow that to happen. Healthy self-criticism can help you to become a disciplined and strong-willed person. However, too much of self-criticism will lead to despondency and dejection. If you wish to be a better leader, learn to control both your Id impulses and your harsh inner critic. Strike a balance between the two and engage in healthy self-criticism. This will help you to grow as both an individual and a leader.

A number of times, we come across situations which seem chaotic. Thoughts run wild and emotions wreak havoc. Meanwhile, our behavior goes haywire and people begin to question if we really are worthy enough to do the tasks we claim to be able to do so. Eventually, we begin to question our own abilities and we become despondent and cynical. This may lead to stress, anxiety or depression. Certainly, these are serious mental illnesses which can affect anyone. Just like we can experience the flu, cold or a bad stomach, we can also experience psychological illnesses. There is always a stigma attached to mental health, especially among business executives and CEOs, who are always expected to be in control of their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Yet, we are all human and to be human is to accept that we can fall down. In order to overcome chaotic situations which seem to overwhelm us emotionally, we need to start observing what is really happening within our own minds. Buddhist monks called this mindfulness. Psychologists took this one step further and introduced mindfulness meditation. Even if you cannot practice meditation, you can certainly practice mindfulness. In this article, let us learn how to practice mindfulness. 1. In any given situation, begin to name the feelings of your experience. For example, ‘angry’, ‘sad’, ‘hurt, ‘confused’, ‘joyous’, ‘calm’, etc. If you are feeling a distressing emotion, name it and tell yourself that this is an emotion, which will not last forever. 2. Observe your thoughts. If you are experiencing a negative emotion, you will probably have negative thoughts. If you have positive emotion at that particular time, you will probably have positive thoughts. For example, if you are anxious, an automatic thought could be “Oh my god, I will not be able to reach my sales target”. If you are feeling happy, your automatic thought maybe something like this: “Oh, it cannot be that bad. I will do it tomorrow”. 3. While you observe your thoughts, observe your emotions too. Do not judge yourself. Instead, be a non-participant within your own thought process. 4. Breathe in deeply and breath out slowly. Observe the world around you and also your own thoughts and emotions, without judging, criticizing or analyzing. 5. Tell yourself that emotions are momentary and so are thoughts. You will notice that the strength of these negative emotions will slowly dissipate and you will begin to feel calmer. How mindfulness helps you to be successful in your business As you can see, most of our times we think the way we feel. We also feel the way we think. When we begin to observe our thoughts and emotions from a distance, we realize that everything is temporary. You will begin to stop taking drastic actions and instead, you will be neutral and do what is required. In other words, you will be able to make your business decisions with a cool head. This alone can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mindfulness helps you to stay calm, focused and non-judgmental. These are the three important qualities to run a business. If you overcome your emotional thinking and impulsive behavior, you will notice that you are running your business more effectively. It is very important to be aware of our emotional and thinking processes. Mindfulness is a great technique to do so. If you would like to learn how to practice mindfulness, you can always approach a registered clinical psychologist who will be able to teach you the technique in a sitting or two. These are valuable life skills that everyone must know, especially business owners!

The last time you encountered a client who was being too demanding or the time when you had to give a piece of your mind to one of your erring employees, you probably lost your mind. You probably said things that you did not mean and ended up looking like an authoritarian CEO or like someone who does not have a control over his or her emotions. That can be very damaging to one’s personal brand. If you really want to be a great leader or CEO, you will need to inspire awe and respect in people. By revealing your vulnerable side, you might end up doing just the opposite. We usually reveal our vulnerabilities when we are distressed. Some people have a greater threshold for distress while others snap very easily. Whether you snap easily or take time to lose it, it is important to practice distress tolerance. What is distress tolerance? Distress tolerance is a psychological concept in which you learn to tolerate distressing situations without succumbing to maladaptive thoughts, emotions or behaviors. Even if a situation causes distress, you can learn to deal with it without losing your emotional stability. This means, if there are people around, you will need to learn how to tolerate distress and hide your vulnerabilities. It all looks good and feels good when we read about how empowering it is to reveal our weaknesses. Yet, when our weaknesses are revealed like sore wounds, it might cause us more trouble than benefit. Marsha Linehan, the eminent clinical psychologist from the U.S.A., who is famous for her dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for those affected by borderline personality disorder, made the concept of distress tolerance famous. Her body of research revealed that learning to tolerate distressing situations not only helped to cope with that situation but also helped in learning better skills at managing one’s emotions. At the end of the day, it is when we tolerate distress that we stand out as an example to those who work below us in the hierarchy. For example, if your company runs into losses and you yell at your staff, you certainly are not being a role model to them. Instead, if you practice distress tolerance techniques and learn to cope with that particular distressing situation, chances are that your employees also follow your example and learn to behave and act in a more matured and psychologically sophisticated manner. Here are some of the ways in which practicing distress tolerance can help you achieve more: Being able to tolerate stressful situations helps you to tackle them effectively Tolerating distress helps you to separate your emotional mind from your thinking mind Distress tolerance helps you to remain calm and peaceful even under duress Tolerating distress helps you to set an example for others Distress tolerance is a scientifically valid technique to overcome minor and major irritants in our lives which we encounter everyday Tolerating distress helps us to avoid blowing minor issues out of proportions Where can you learn more about distress tolerance? DBT Self Help is a great website that provides information about how you can learn this valuable skill. It helps you to overcome many stressful situations in life and convert every challenge into something successful. In other words, practicing distress tolerance helps you to wade through the many crises that life and business present and put on a bold face. After all, that is what is required to keep achieving. So, go ahead and learn how to practice distress tolerance. It will certainly help you to live a better life.

As we move towards a world that is saner, healthier and more sensitive, companies have found the need to do their bit as well. To show that they are environment friendly, many companies are going green, a colloquialism to imply that efforts are being made to remain sustainable, energy efficient and leaving fewer carbon foot prints. Yet, having a green agenda is not easy on a company’s exchequers. It costs real money and sometimes, it may not even be a profitable idea to do so. CEOs often realize that going green is good for their company’s image but they do not actively promote themselves as a green company, as this would require them to be environment friendly in all respects. However, this is just an assumption which is not entirely true. Even the smallest step we make towards going green will be well appreciated not only by clients and consumers but also by nature itself. Yet, with all these differing opinions and practices, it is possible to have a green agenda while remaining business friendly as well. In this article, let us take a look at how this is possible and what you probably could do to remain green and financial viable at the same time. 1.      Have a green agenda department While it may seem easy to assume that you have a green agenda for your company, it helps to have an actual department that overseen environmental friendly activities and policies within your company. Even if the department consists of just one person or is headed by you alone, it makes sense to have a structured department so that you can track progress and also write reports based on activities and policies. 2.      Focus on quality products and services Never compromise on the quality of products and services you offer or receive. If we are talking about products, good products are usually energy efficient and also last longer. This means, there is less need to recycle quickly or pay for energy. The fact that your products last for a longer time or consume less energy will make them a big hit among consumers. Similarly, services can be environmental friendly too. You just have to offer or choose services that are eco-friendly. 3.      Hire vendors who are green themselves If you are planning to outsource your tasks, it is better to hire a company that is environment friendly. While you save money on outsourcing, you will also end up being green and sustainable in an indirect manner. This will help you to play on the right side of the court, instead of increasing carbon foot prints in the world. 4.      Market your green agenda Most companies fail to market their green agenda even if they have one. If you have done anything environment friendly or even if you believe you will be energy efficient or green in the future, use that to your advantage when you market yourself. Create ad campaigns that tell the world how green and environment friendly you are. With the kind of adulation and admiration that green agenda has today among customers and consumers, you will certainly see improvements in your business. Going green does not mean giving up profits There is a misconception out there that being green somehow alludes to being a hermit of a company. That is far from the truth. In reality, most companies that are environment friendly use it to their advantage to market themselves positively. If you are not doing that, you probably should do that as well!

If you have ever seen a counselor or a psychotherapist, chances are, you were asked to write a thought diary. A thought diary is a journal in which you record your significant thoughts, behaviors and triggers to those thoughts in a sequenced and orderly manner. Usually, the psychotherapist will specify a format for you to write the journal in. These thought diaries are fodder to psychotherapy sessions. The therapist usually goes through your thought diary at the beginning of a session and reviews your week. In other words, your thought diary helps your therapist to understand what troubled you during the week, what those troubling triggers made you think and how you acted on those thoughts. Here is an interesting detail: if you could write the same thought diary and review it at the end of the week, even if you do not have any psychological troubles, you could still learn from your own thoughts and hope for a better and more fruitful next week. It may make sense to start writing thought diaries even if you do not have any problems. What is a thought diary? A thought diary is a very structured journal. It is not like your usual diary that you start with a “Dear diary”. Instead, you make three columns on a sheet of paper and title them as follows: the first column states the trigger or the Antecedent, the second states your thoughts or your Beliefs and the third states the Consequences. For this reason, it is often referred to as an ABC diary. Usually, consequences refer to what you did following those thoughts that were triggered by a situation. Antecedent/Trigger Belief/Thoughts Consequences I was walking past the computer room. I need to pay money to the vendor. I sensed a headache coming so I took a few painkillers. Let us look at an example. If you were suddenly worried about an impending payment that had to be made to your vendor, you would write in the second column that “I was troubled by the fact that I had to give money to the vendor. I started to think I would not be able to make the payment in time”. In the trigger section (which happens to be the first section, you could write “I was walking by the computer room and was reminded of the fact that I had to pay”. If you notice, most of the times triggers are not really related to our thoughts. Thoughts just occur and the triggers may not be related to the actual worry. The third column, or the consequences column, is where you write down what you did following those troubling thoughts. You might write “I took a few pain killers to ward off the headache”. Certainly, this was not the most adaptive or helpful consequence or behavior. At the end of the week, you could review your own diary and come to the conclusion that instead of popping a tablet, you could have eaten an apple or taken a walk in the park to divert your mind. Better still, you could remind yourself to call up the vendor and inform him or her that the payment would be delayed but shall be paid at a later date. Thought diaries help us to understand our own faulty coping skills and how we end up behaving in a way that may not necessarily be the best consequence to our thoughts. The good news is, we can change the consequences by reanalyzing and restating the thoughts. How thought diaries can help you: A thought diary helps you to understand the trigger of your maladaptive thoughts Writing down thoughts helps you to understand if they are based in reality or irrational. Diaries also help you to remember how you behaved when you were experiencing troublesome thoughts. By recognizing existing patterns, you can change not only the behavior but also the thoughts themselves. You can practice mindfulness to just observe the thoughts, without taking any action on those thoughts. In other words, you do not have to behave according to your thoughts.You can choose to ignore them. Ignoring your negative thoughts is a good consequence. If you start writing “I ignored my thoughts” instead of writing “I drank a bottle of beer” or “I took pain killers”, it shows that writing down your thoughts is really helping you. Start writing the diary Thought diaries can be powerful tools to understand how we behave, why we behave the way we do and what makes us to behave in such a manner. By reviewing them at the end of every week, we can make positive changes and replace maladaptive behaviors with constructive and helpful ones. If you are a business leader or a CEO, you will know how important this really is. A thought diary is a part of cognitive behavior therapy but is also used in other forms of psychotherapies. You can follow the example we have shown you or you could also seek the help of an actual psychologist. By following this diary and always remaining observant of your own thoughts, emotions and beliefs, you will be able to change the way you behave. After all, bad behavior can really ruin our prospects of being successful. The habit of writing a diary Make it a habit to write down your thoughts in the format we have shown you above. You can take a small book or a set of sheets in order to maintain this diary. Ensure that you keep this diary confidential. No one should have access to your inner thoughts other than your therapist, if you are seeing one. However, you can also choose to type this down on your computer or your cellphone and save it in a secret folder. Slowly over a period of time, you will come to realize your own maladaptive thinking patterns and that will help you to change positively. Consequently, your business and professional life will improve, leading to material and professional