Objections or BLOCKS people use to oppose doing Rational Self Analysis It's easier to work it out in my mind Writing forces you to clarify your thoughts, builds up your experience in self-analysis. It's worth the effort. It doesn't feel natural Writing seems strange and artificial. So is typing, driving, cooking and so on. Self analysis won't feel natural until you have been doing it for some time. It's hard to do an analysis when you're upset First take steps to calm yourself, then analyse. Possible Affirmation: "Hang on, I'm just doing this to myself with what I'm thinking. I don't need to react this way." It isn't possible to do an analysis in the situation Many analysis are done after the event, the evening may be a good time to do so. Go over the day. It only makes me feel worse to go over something that's happening. In the short term looking at your TRIGGERS may make you feel worse. It will be tempting to just drift along, especially as TIME EASES the PAIN anyway. IF YOU WANT TO PREVENT IT HAPPENING AGAIN learn to tolerate short-term increases in emotional discomfort (LFT exercise) for the sake of long-term gain. I'm afraid what I'll find if I look closely Many people fear that self-analysis will bring up things they would rather not think about. Again, however, avoiding temporary discomfort now means losing out in the long term. No GAIN without PAIN. ============================================================== Possible FAILURE causes You are missing the real cause of the problem You may not be uncovering your ratings/personal meanings and the underlying rules they are based on. To understand the difference between surface interpretations and deeper thinking requires a bit of work. You dispute your irrational beliefs in a superficial fashion If you tell yourself, for instance, that you don't care what other people think of you, you are unlikely to be convinced. This is a variation of the positive-thinking trap – writing down positive thoughts, some of them unrealistic in themselves, without confronting the irrational ones. These will still be there to do their worst, so make sure you believe what you are writing down. You do correct thinking but fail to action it Don't just change your thoughts: record as part of your analysis what you are going to DO. Then DO IT. You get discouraged because of recurring problem Do you feel better after doing an analysis, then get discouraged later when you find yourself feeling or behaving in the same old way? Remember: one analysis, or just a few, won't achieve permanent change. You will need to attack old habits many times. You don't understand what you are doing You may be rushing ahead to try self-analysis before you have gained an adequate grasp of the required steps. To get the most out of this approach take time to read the appropriate section, Chapter 8 of “Choose to be Happy” by Wayne Froggatt.