I was just recently told about a cognitive technique called jerk in the box, and I just had to share it because I think it’s profoundly important even though it has a rather silly name.
In short, it’s a way to visualize boundaries. You imagine that anyone or anything that is getting you down has a box around them, and they are doing their best to draw you into that box. Your job is to stay outside of it.
It was described to me as a way to deal with difficult people, but I think it works equally well against our own self defeating thoughts because in the end, it’s all about choosing what you will and will not allow in.
So today, instead of getting all depressed and walking around in circles wondering what to do with my time and telling myself that I will never be able to stay on top of things and be productive, I could have said that those poisonous thoughts were just my inner jerk trying to draw me into the box. And then I would have had a choice not to enter.
What do you think? What jerks do you have in your life that could stand to be fenced away? What negativity is trying to draw you in? How would your life be different if you stayed outside that box?