Good Thinking, Batman! How Thinking Good Will Help You Feel Good and Do Good

If you've checked out my website or read my posts on Linkedin, you've probably noticed that I spend a lot of time banging on about thinking good. What's it all about? Well, I'm going to explain and Batman's going to help...

It's the 1960s and Batman & Robin are doing what they do best; fighting the criminal underworld of Gotham whilst wearing impossibly tight spandex and cracking one-liners.

In those heady days before computer-generated imagery, the producers let viewers know when things were really getting serious by using cutting-edge visual effects, such as inserting comic-book style cards with onomatopoeic phrases written on them.

WHAM! BAM! POW! Incidentally, I wasn't around in the sixties. I watched the repeats as I grew up in the eighties, but it was still awesome, and we'd seen Star Wars by then.

Now, 1960s Batman was like a jolly Father Christmas compared to the dark and brooding Batman depicted these days. Every episode finished with an overtly moral message for kids.

In one notable episode, their arch nemesis The Penguin has made a secret bad-guy lair in a Gotham restaurant, a seemingly legitimate cover for his, no doubt, dastardly criminal deeds.

Having defeated The Penguin in a tense fight scene, made even more tense by being liberally peppered with onomatopoeic phrases written on flash cards, Robin remarks that it's a shame to see all the food go to waste, particularly as there are so many hungry children in the world.

"Good thinking, Robin", says Batman, and an incorrectly-attributed catchphrase is born.

Holy Misattribution, Batman!

I know, I was shocked too. My first thought was "Typical! The sidekick had the bright idea, but the boss took all the credit." It's another post for another time. Let's try and move on.

So, back to thinking good. Robin's thinking good, he's seen a problem, thought of a solution and he gets extra points for thinking of a solution that will impact positively on others.

As a coach who specialises in working with people who are driven by doing good, I'm fortunate to meet a lot of "Robins", they have a good idea and they make it happen. They tend to be confident in their skills and abilities, believe in themselves or, even if they don't, they've developed a resilient mindset that doesn't stop them from giving it a go, anyway.

I also meet people who have a good idea, but struggle to make it happen. They might want to start a social enterprise, go for promotion, suggest a new project to their boss, or make some positive changes in their personal life, such as improving their work/life balance.

Knowing something needs to change but not changing it can make you feel like crap. It can feel like an invisible force pulling you back, but it makes no sense to you because you know that you want to move forward. It's like you're both Batman and The Penguin, there's a struggle going down, but the only person you're really fighting against is yourself.

It's often a sign that you're not thinking good.

Ways in which we may not be thinking good

It's easier to explain how you can start thinking good by sharing a few examples of how you already may not be thinking good:

• All or nothing. There are only two outcomes, perfect or awful. If your manager doesn't love you, they must hate you. You can either succeed or fail, there is no in-between.

• Imposter Syndrome. You're crap at your job. You don't have what it takes. You must have blagged your way into this. Any day now, you're going to get found out.

• Mind Reading. Everyone thought your presentation was rubbish. Carol in accounts doesn't like you, you can tell. You left yourself on mute, now they all think you're stupid.

• Blame. You didn't get that promotion because Carol must have told the boss you're rubbish. You were late because your partner didn't wake you up, that sort of thing.

• Personalisation. Someone messed up, so it must be your fault. Somehow. John's pissed off today, what have you done to upset him? You're sorry. You're sorry for saying sorry.

Sound familiar? These are just a few examples of what Cooper & Palmer call thinking errors. The bad news is that it's our own brain that stops us from thinking good.

Et tu, Brute? Your brain is not always on your side.

Yes, it turns out that our brains are not always our best friends and they can sometimes work against us. They can mistake our irrational thoughts for rational ones, then allow us to simply accept those, often negative, perceptions of our skills and abilities as cold, hard facts.

When we stop thinking good, we stop feeling good and, for those of us who are driven by doing good, it can really get in the way of doing that. Not thinking good can stop us from reaching our goals and reaching our full potential. We can stop before we've even started!

People who do good can sometimes find it harder to think good

If you're driven by doing good, there's often another thinking error that comes into play.

People often say your job must be so nice, lovely, rewarding, humbling, inspiring, etc. It is, or at least it can be, but it's still a job and it comes with all the usual pressures, stresses and challenges a job entails, but it's easy to feel guilty for not loving your awesome job.

It may sound weird but, if you're driven by doing good, your empathy could be another factor that's working against you. There's a good chance your work involves helping other people and maybe it seems like their challenges are greater than yours, so you might wonder what right have you got not to feel good about the things happening in your own life?

So, what can we do to start thinking good?

Fetch your cape! Here are five easy ways in which you can knock those unhelpful thoughts out of your brain like Batman knocking The Penguin out of his secret bad-guy lair, liberally peppered with onomatopoeic phrases so you know that we REALLY mean business:

WHAM! Acknowledge when you're not thinking good. Recognise it. If I'm busy, I make a quick note on my phone or laptop about what I was doing or thinking to come back to later).

POW! Interrogate that thought. Call yourself out on it. Ask yourself where is the evidence to support it? Think of the times similar tasks have gone well or you've been complimented.

BAM! Mind your self-talk. We all have that little voice inside our head, commentating our daily lives. Make sure yours isn't running you down on a bad day, or in a bad moment.

CRASH! Avoid black and white thinking. Accept shades of grey. Recognise that there is no perfect way of doing it, there is just your way. Give yourself a break, you did your best.

SHAZAM! Weigh up the pros and cons. Does the thought help or hinder you? Is it helping with the task in hand, or your wider goals? If you recognise that it's not, then the rational part of your brain might find it easier to bin it off and let you get on with your day.

In my experience, doing good and feeling good almost always starts with thinking good.

So, whether you're the superhero or sidekick at work, or whether you're fighting against figurative bad guys (thoughts) in other areas of your life, I hope this has triggered some helpful thoughts or ideas to help you think good, feel good and do good.

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Steve Allman is a certified coach & consultant who helps socially conscious individuals and organisations to think good, feel good and do good. Find out more about coaching, read more articles like this and sign up for free tips by email at www.steveallman.com