Hi Brooke,

I have a career that requires a lot of research and writing. Often, I find that I take too long on my assignments because I am trying to be perfect or I am afraid to be wrong. After listening to you, I realize that this is a form of procrastinating or buffering. I am trying to get comfortable putting out B work instead of holding on for “A+” work. I did this with a rather large assignment a few weeks ago. I expected feedback. Today I walked into my manager’s office and saw a sea of red as he went through my work. What I immediately felt was my stomach drop so I worked the model:

C: Work is being edited
T: My work must be terrible
F. Inadequate
A: I want to stick my head in the sand and give up
R: I don’t learn and continue to feel like shit

Alternative:

C: Work is being edited
T: I can learn a lot from these comments
F: Hopeful
A: I study each comment carefully to try understand why the change was suggested
R: I learn and improve my writing

I think I got the models correct. However, I didn’t feel much relief even working the second model. I still felt anxious. Does that mean that I have not correctly identified the emotion or thought? Or is it a matter of sitting with the alternate model/thought?

Sincere thanks!