Counterproductive thoughts are ones that distract you from your task and drain your motivation. It happens from time to time.

The skill of Real-Time Resilience (RTR) is designed to obliterate these counterproductive thoughts to get back in the game. RTR can help you lower anxiety, anger, or other strong emotions enough so that one can perform well under tough circumstances. (FYI: the US soldiers learn this skill)

Caveat: Real-time Resilience is an internal skill, not to be used to argue back against others.

When these counterproductive thoughts pop up, use one (or more) of these RTR questions to squash those and get on with it.

The counterproductive thought: “Preparing for the holidays is too hard… I’m going to mess up”

Response using Evidence: Tell yourself: “That’s not completely true because ….I know what needs to be done. I have my lists. I have friends to call on. I can do this.” – You are showing yourself (evidence) that you are well-equipped to do this.

Response using Optimism: Tell yourself: “I may not get it perfect (who does?), but it will be a beautiful holiday nonetheless. We’ll be together, and we won’t starve.”

Response using ‘Put It In Perspective’: Tell yourself: “Yeah, even if I mess up here or there, it’s just a small part of the holiday. And this holiday is just one of a long life of holidays. There’s always next time.”

With practice, you’ll catch those counter-productive thoughts quicker and squash them down with more effective responses.