At the heart of this book lies a simple but profoundly useful insight: most people trying to undergo some kind of personal change are not prepared for the discomfort present at the beginning of
the process of change. Such discomfort sometimes causes them to sabotage their own efforts. This book makes the most of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques to help the reader deal with
that discomfort - and go on to make the changes they seek.
This book is written for those who wish to take a step by step approach in identifying:
i) what they want to achieve
ii) their unhealthy goal-sabotaging beliefs, thoughts, actions and emotions
iii) healthy alternatives to the above
iv) how to go about mediating this change
v) strategies and techniques to help them focus on their goal whilst tolerating the discomfort and learning to stretch their comfort zone
vi) the obstacles that appear during the process of goal achievement and how to overcome them
CONTENTS
Ch 1. Understanding CBT for goal achievement
Brief history of CBT
Theory made simple
Basic Principles
Healthy and Unhealthy beliefs
Want to vs Have to
Bad vs Awful
Difficult vs Unbearable
Self Acceptance vs Self Damning
Ch. 2 Your Goals
Rflect on what you want
SMART goals
Current goal sabotaging beliefs
Goal achievement beliefs to support your SMART goal
Personally Persuasive reasons Ch. 3 Obstacles to goal achievement
Emotional obstacles
Habitual or Behavioural obstacles
Cognitive obstacles
Environmental obstacles
Ch.4 Tolerating tension and discomfort
Why do we feel tension and discomfort when we want to change?
Focusing on the goal
How to tolerate the natural discomfort
Ch.5 Developing cognitive skills through your internal dialogue
Internal dialogue
Your hot thoughts
How to change internal dialogue
Past, present and future expressions
Constructive internal dialogue
Force and rigour
Ch. 6 Using Imagination and visualisation first
Start with your imagination
Internal dialogue
Future image
Repetition
Ch 7 Accepting possibility of failure and disappointment
Accepting Failure
Accepting Disappointment
Responding to Failure and Disappointment
Ch. 8 Develop resiliency
Challenges
Resources for resiliency and how to access them cognitively
Cognitive disputing skills
Ch 8 Action and responsibility
Accountability and action
Be open and learn from failures and disappointment
Acknowledge and express your feelings appropriately
Take appropriate risk
Do it again Ch 9 Develop a healthy philosophy of balance
Short term comfort
Long term gain
Balance
Fallibility
