Overcome Negative Thinking and Find Career Success
The #1 barrier to achieving career success is you. You are standing in the way of your own success with negative distortions. We are often our clients’ biggest cheerleaders, while their thinking is their own worst enemy, beating themselves up with criticism, self-doubt, and worry. We listen patiently and hear them offer up thoughts from the dark side. Thoughts come and go so frequently that we rarely think about how they impact our day. It is impossible to think negatively and have healthy career development. What we think has a direct impact on how we feel, what we say, and how we act. Erase these eight thought patterns that can derail you from your future career.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a powerful tool that can help reframe these destructive thought patterns. CBT focuses on identifying, challenging, and replacing negative thought patterns with more constructive and balanced perspectives. If you find yourself stuck in these distortions, CBT techniques can help you regain control and move forward in your career.
1. Absolute Thinking
This is the tendency to perceive your job situation as either all bad or all good with no shades of gray. This is an “always” or “never” mentality. It may take the form of: “I’ll never be able to get a job.” or “I’ve always been this way.” CBT helps by challenging these absolutes and encouraging a more balanced view of situations.
2. Blaming
An unconstructive way to handle things is to blame someone, something, or yourself. This may include such phrases as: “It’s my entire fault” or “It is all their fault.” or even “If xyz didn’t happen, then I would not be in this situation.” Therapy and career counseling can help you shift from blame to personal accountability, empowering you to take action rather than dwell on what went wrong.
3. Over-Generalizing
Taking a negative experience as the predictor that universally your life is a failure. This is a common cognitive distortion that therapy can help you dismantle by focusing on individual successes rather than broad, sweeping conclusions.
4. Negative Thinking
This is a habit of focusing on a self-defeating inner dialogue of gloom and doom. Catch yourself from saying: “That will never work!”, “I’m just too tired to do a job search.”, “I can’t seem to get my act together.”, “I’m nervous about the interview.”, “I can’t find a job.” or “I’ll never be able to get ahead.” CBT teaches techniques such as cognitive restructuring, where you actively replace these thoughts with more helpful and realistic statements.
5. Discrediting
This is the belief that positive accomplishments, strengths, achievements, and attributes are somehow less important. Prevent yourself from devaluing by avoiding phrases like: “That’s a nice idea, BUT….” or “Yes, BUT.” My advice is to rid yourself of that big fat BUT. CBT encourages self-validation and recognizing your successes rather than minimizing them.
6. Forecasting
Predicting that the worst is going to happen. Let me reprogram you: Your future is NOT dismal and hopeless! A core principle of CBT is challenging catastrophic thinking and learning to look at situations in a more rational and hopeful way.
7. Over-Exaggerating
This is where you blow your situation way out of proportion. This is a skewed thought pattern that makes it seem like the sky is falling. CBT can help by introducing perspective-taking exercises that reframe the problem in a more realistic way.
8. Self-Sabotaging
Creating barriers, roadblocks, and hurdles in your mind that manifest themselves in negative words and then self-defeating behaviors. These include: “My resume is not good enough.” or “It would be too much work to go after what I really want.” CBT focuses on behavioral activation, which encourages taking small steps to overcome inertia and self-imposed limitations.
Who is telling you all of this nonsense? You are! Notice your thought patterns and whether they are serving you or not.
Career issues and challenges are often rooted in deeper emotional problems. If they are not addressed, they tend to manifest themselves in unconvincing resumes and cover letters, job hopping, procrastination, perfectionism, career confusion, analysis paralysis, or a lack of confidence during interviews and salary negotiation. Fortunately, emotional issues can be repaired, and you can move forward and find career success.
Let’s stop and regain some perspective. The first step is to become aware that you actually have limiting beliefs. Next, pay attention to your body and how you are feeling. For example, a rapid heartbeat might indicate accelerating anxiety, or an upset stomach could indicate fear. My advice is to practice identifying the feelings that hold you back. When you begin to experience fear and anxiety, stop yourself and ask what you were thinking immediately prior to those feelings. In all probability, you were having one of the eight destructive thought patterns from above. Once you are conscious of them, you can begin to replace them with positive messages.
When I hear an excessive amount of negativity, I will interrupt and say, “What career advice would you give to your kids or best friend?” The response is almost universally positive and inspiring. I ask them to listen carefully to what they just said, take that advice themselves, and then model the way for others. If you wouldn’t call your kids or your friends a loser, then don’t say it to yourself. Teach yourself to live your life forward instead of obsessing about what’s in the rearview mirror.
Don’t concentrate on your weaknesses, but instead, focus on what IS actually working well for you. Make a list and write it down. Find the solutions to your career development in your strengths. My advice is to train yourself to erase the tapes of negativity that prevent you from advancing. Reprogram your mind that there is hope because there really is hope. Don’t isolate yourself from others; instead, develop a support network of cheerleaders and allies.
Be careful that destructive thoughts don’t get lodged in your mind and then spread like cancer. Work on controlling these runaway thoughts that clutter your head. CBT techniques such as thought records and mindfulness exercises can help manage these thought patterns effectively. You can deliberately plant positive affirmations in your mind such as: “I know I’m going to get a new job.”, “I can do it.” and “I deserve to succeed.” Without question, the most important foundation for your success is your attitude. Therapy and self-awareness can be invaluable tools in changing the way you think, feel, and ultimately, the way you achieve success.
Reach out to schedule an appointment with Drs. Joe and Tom!
Updated March, 17th 2025 with additions by Joe Keifer
Copyright 2025 Dr. Thomas J. Denham, Careers in Transition LCC, republished with permission.
