How to Break Free of Negative Thought Spirals

Turn breakthrough ideas into real results at the virtual HBR Innovation Summit this November with top CEOs and masterclasses on AI and growth. Register by September 30th and save 25%. Learn more at hbr.org slash innovation summit. I'm Alison Beard. And I'm Adi Ignatius, and this is the HBR Ideacast.

Adi, do you know the origin of the word ruminate? I actually do. Comes from ruminants, those animals we love who chew their cut all day. Yes, exactly. Giraffes, cows, camels.

And I didn't always know that, but once I learned it, I couldn't stop thinking about how it so perfectly describes what humans are doing when they ruminate. We're taking our worries about making the right decisions or replaying past mistakes, and we just continue to chew on them over and over in really unproductive ways that diminish our focus. and ultimately at work hurt our performance. So I assume a lot of our listeners, a lot of leaders, you know, struggle with this kind of overthinking, whether or not they talk about it publicly. I mean think about you get an evaluation and your boss tells you six positive things and one area that needs work and you can obsess on that one negative, maybe even slightly negative thing because we have trouble letting go of them.

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