Flip the Script

Quick Win

When you’re faced with a challenge, disappointment or irritating event — a traffic snarl, not getting the job, not meeting a personal goal — look on the bright side to help keep stress in check.

Try This Today

1. Name your feelings. It’s important to recognize and label your emotions, such as frustration, anxiety or anger.
2. Question your thoughts. You’re having a tough moment, but are things really as bad as they seem? Is getting stuck in traffic worth getting bent out of shape over? If you messed up at work, are you really going to be fired?
3. Find the silver lining. Instead of getting stuck in negative feelings, practice “positive reframing,” focusing on the upsides of a potentially stressful situation. If you’ve failed at a task, think about what you learned that will help you nail it next time — and all the times you’ve gotten it right. If something has upset you, think about other things that make you feel happy or grateful.

Why

Positive reframing is a type of cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation technique that encourages people to view difficult situations from a less negative perspective. “Cognitive reappraisal is associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and other forms of emotional distress and greater levels of psychological, mental, and physical well-being,” note the authors of a meta-analysis of 55 studies on the topic published in Clinical Psychology Review in 2024. The researchers found that “cognitive reappraisal skills operate as a protective strategy against stress and adversity and, therefore, enhance personal resilience."