One of the main problems of jumping to conclusions is that you usually feel as though the likelihood of the event happening is 100%. If you believe with such utmost certainty that the event is going to happen, it keeps you from looking at other alternatives. Below are some questions that you can ask yourself the next time you notice yourself believing 100% that something is going to happen.
- Am I 100% certain that the event will happen?
- What evidence do I have that it will occur?
- Is there any information I might be missing that someone else might identify?
- What’s happened in the past in a similar situation?
- What’s the actual likelihood that it will occur?
When you find yourself catastrophizing, ask yourself:
- What’s the worst that could happen? How bad is that really?
- So what if it happened?
- If it happened, what would I do?
- Has it ever happened before? How did I cope then?