This week we will be focusing on overgeneralization. An overgeneralization error happens when people make general conclusions based on specific situations. For example, if somebody doesn’t smile and say “hello” right away, a person may thinks “they must be angry at me.” Another example would be you try your hand at quitting, if it doesn’t turn out well and you slip, you think “I’m not good at anything” or if a quitter doesn’t get recognition for their accomplishments in quitting they may think “Nobody cares, I should just go back to smoking it would be so much easier”. The truth is that this happens in life, not everyone is sensitive to others successes.
How often do you find yourself overgeneralizing? Today we challenge you to keep count with a pen and paper. Let’s challenge these and think or some ways to reverse these thoughts.