Joanne Smith argues that forced positive thinking backfires because your brain detects the gap between expectation and reality. Instead of aiming for a brilliant day after years of struggle, set tiny goals like 1% improvement or a slightly calmer reaction to stress. Small, believable steps reduce fear and actually work.
It can sense something that is not authentic. So if we're just wishful, trying to force some kind of positive thinking, the brain is able to sense that, nah, no chance, no chance. Tomorrow's not going to be a brilliant day because look at all the other days where you've had this for the last 16 years. So Instead of, like, expecting it to believe something that feels impossible, it's about doing it in maybe a much smaller step. So the expectation that maybe tomorrow could just even be just a 1% easier, like, I can just do a little bit better, a tiny bit better, and just, I can actually feel slightly calmer if something flares up. It's just setting an expectation that doesn't feel out of reach, so maybe I can be a bit less scared tiny bit, um, or even allowing the possibility that things might change, it's still a slightly new expectation, and it's more realistic, more believable.
