Dr. Ethan Kross

Well, thank you. I mean, it is truly remarkable when you take a 30,000-foot view and think about What does our chatter look like? What does it sound like? I mean, we say things to ourselves that many people not only wouldn't say to a buddy, right? We often talk about that. Talk to yourself like you would talk to someone else. This is a great tool, by the way. We'll talk more about that later.

We sometimes say things to ourselves that... We are ashamed to even say out loud. Sometimes when I do exercises, workshops with groups or students, I'll sometimes invite people to just write down their chatter on a piece of paper. And it's really remarkable. People are often reluctant to even put in writing what they're thinking, even when I assure them.

We sometimes say things to ourselves that... We are ashamed to even say out loud. Sometimes when I do exercises, workshops with groups or students, I'll sometimes invite people to just write down their chatter on a piece of paper. And it's really remarkable. People are often reluctant to even put in writing what they're thinking, even when I assure them.

We sometimes say things to ourselves that... We are ashamed to even say out loud. Sometimes when I do exercises, workshops with groups or students, I'll sometimes invite people to just write down their chatter on a piece of paper. And it's really remarkable. People are often reluctant to even put in writing what they're thinking, even when I assure them.

Like the shredders right here, there's another garbage bag with lighter fluid, like not bag, garbage can, right? You can, I'm joking here, but like no one is going to look at this. Just admitting to what is happening up here can be so challenging for folks. And I think that speaks to the gravity of what we're talking about.

Like the shredders right here, there's another garbage bag with lighter fluid, like not bag, garbage can, right? You can, I'm joking here, but like no one is going to look at this. Just admitting to what is happening up here can be so challenging for folks. And I think that speaks to the gravity of what we're talking about.

Like the shredders right here, there's another garbage bag with lighter fluid, like not bag, garbage can, right? You can, I'm joking here, but like no one is going to look at this. Just admitting to what is happening up here can be so challenging for folks. And I think that speaks to the gravity of what we're talking about.

There are three key forms. Number one, what I call rumination, which is going over the past, something you did in the past, you can't fix it, right? But you just keep turning it over and over in your mind. Why did I do this? Why didn't I do it that way? What implications might this have moving forward? So rumination is getting lost in this thought. It's a legitimate issue from the past.

There are three key forms. Number one, what I call rumination, which is going over the past, something you did in the past, you can't fix it, right? But you just keep turning it over and over in your mind. Why did I do this? Why didn't I do it that way? What implications might this have moving forward? So rumination is getting lost in this thought. It's a legitimate issue from the past.

There are three key forms. Number one, what I call rumination, which is going over the past, something you did in the past, you can't fix it, right? But you just keep turning it over and over in your mind. Why did I do this? Why didn't I do it that way? What implications might this have moving forward? So rumination is getting lost in this thought. It's a legitimate issue from the past.

And you're trying to work through it, but you just keep turning it over and over. You're not making any progress. That's often a telltale sign of chatter. Legitimate issue. You want to work through it, but you don't make progress.

And you're trying to work through it, but you just keep turning it over and over. You're not making any progress. That's often a telltale sign of chatter. Legitimate issue. You want to work through it, but you don't make progress.

And you're trying to work through it, but you just keep turning it over and over. You're not making any progress. That's often a telltale sign of chatter. Legitimate issue. You want to work through it, but you don't make progress.

Well, it's a predominant form because I often think that we navigate life in an ideal sense on autopilot. We just kind of want to live the life knowing that the world is orderly, it's safe, it's predictable. And then when we encounter some challenge to that view that the world is safe, that everything's okay. It's like an alarm gets hit in our brains that says, stop, pay attention, fix this.

Well, it's a predominant form because I often think that we navigate life in an ideal sense on autopilot. We just kind of want to live the life knowing that the world is orderly, it's safe, it's predictable. And then when we encounter some challenge to that view that the world is safe, that everything's okay. It's like an alarm gets hit in our brains that says, stop, pay attention, fix this.

Well, it's a predominant form because I often think that we navigate life in an ideal sense on autopilot. We just kind of want to live the life knowing that the world is orderly, it's safe, it's predictable. And then when we encounter some challenge to that view that the world is safe, that everything's okay. It's like an alarm gets hit in our brains that says, stop, pay attention, fix this.

And so then we zoom in really narrowly on what the impediment is. And so maybe it's something from the past and then we keep focusing on it until we can resolve it. Oftentimes though, we don't know how to resolve it. We just keep on playing it over and over in our minds. And then the alarm button stays pressed and And we just get into this rut of turning it over and over and over.

And so then we zoom in really narrowly on what the impediment is. And so maybe it's something from the past and then we keep focusing on it until we can resolve it. Oftentimes though, we don't know how to resolve it. We just keep on playing it over and over in our minds. And then the alarm button stays pressed and And we just get into this rut of turning it over and over and over.

And so then we zoom in really narrowly on what the impediment is. And so maybe it's something from the past and then we keep focusing on it until we can resolve it. Oftentimes though, we don't know how to resolve it. We just keep on playing it over and over in our minds. And then the alarm button stays pressed and And we just get into this rut of turning it over and over and over.

Some of us don't want to let go of that either, because at least if we're focusing on it, that's step one. But in the process of doing that. we're really harming ourselves. We're making it very challenging to think and perform.