Help with staying rational

Updating your belief system

The irrational beliefs shown below are more than just irrational. They are damaging to your happiness and emotional wellbeing. If you can relate to some of these statements it may be helpful to embrace the rational alternative opposite.

 

10 popular irrational beliefs

No.	Irrational unhelpful belief	Rational alternative
1	I must never make mistakes.	Nobody’s perfect. I accept myself, warts and all.
2	I need someone stronger than myself to lean on.	Loving someone means sharing who I am. Not being less than an equal.
3	Certain people make me angry.	I make myself angry when I impose my expectations on other people.
4	I can’t stand rude people.	Other people have the right to be rude, just as I reserve the right not to be.
5	My happiness depends on other people.	My fate is in my hands.
6	I must live up to other people’s expectations.	I set my own expectations. My views are just as valid as anyone else’s.
7	I can’t accept life being so unfair.	Life is seldom fair. Bad things happen to good people. Happiness is precious.
8	I must get my own way.	Grown-ups appreciate the need to compromise.
9	I need the approval of people to feel OK.	When I place value on someone’s approval I make them very powerful.
10	I can’t stand to be criticized.	It’s nice to be in the good books, but it’s more important to live my way.
11?	People that don’t support Collingwood Football Club are stupid.	No comment.

 

 

A final thought on rational thinking
You can take Prozac until the cows come home. But if you continue telling yourself unhelpful messages like those above you make the medication’s job much harder.

 

Another final thought
Beliefs can and do change. When you were little you believed in Santa Claus. Then, as a result of normal growing and maturing, you changed that belief. If you can embrace the rational thinking in the right hand column you are simply ‘fast tracking’ the natural process of personal growth. Make your belief system work for you, not against you.