Self CBT Exercises

Quote from Matthew Whitewood on January 5, 2022, 4:53 am

Trigger - Getting Dominated by my Father

Automatic Thought - Feeling bad about letting my father dominate me

Intermediate Belief - I don’t have the strength to stand up for myself

Current Core Belief: It’s necessary to stand up for myself in all circumstances to be a worthy human being

Adjusted Core Belief: Life is a probabilistic game. Even the most adept find themselves lost in certain situations. We can only do our best and leave the rest up to chance.

Past Evidence to Support Adjusted Core Belief: 

I have started a successful business after serious business failures.

I have lost relationships that seemed essential but didn’t stop me from achieving goals in the long run whether personal or business.

I have helped other people out of sticky situations.

Future Experiments to Test Adjusted Core Belief:

Launch chatbot this month

Continue to practise CBT and see its ramifications in my thought processes

Experiment with CBT to learning social skills

Action Plan

Read 3 chapters of CBT textbook every day

Make plans and coordinate the launch of the chatbot

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Trigger - Conscription is moral

Automatic Thought - If no one gives me credit or shows remorse for 2 years of conscription, 2 years of my life is worthless.

Intermediate Belief - I depend on other people to assign meaning to my life.

Current Core Belief - I want other people to find my life important and meaningful.

Adjusted Core Belief - Does it really matter to you whether other people find your life important and meaningful? No, in the grand scheme of things. Whether I do my best to hit my personal goals is what matters most.

Past Evidence to Support Adjusted Core Belief: 

I launched my first successful business even when some people still continued to look down on me. What mattered was that I continued the work day-in and day-out towards the vision despite all the setbacks.

I have helped friends in sticky situations without needing to feel important and meaningful. What mattered was that I did my best to uphold my own personal code.

Future Experiments to Test Adjusted Core Belief:

Continue working on the vision of your projects despite setbacks.

Look back at the end of the year and see whether the effort is worth it.

Action Plan:

The current path seems good towards my personal goals.
Nothing much to change at the moment but open to tweaking for improvement.