Breaking the Negative Spiral: Using the 5G Model
The 5G Model is a reflective tool that provides insight into your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. By understanding these elements, you can often gain better insight into automatic dysfunctional behaviors and consciously improve how you act in the future. Discover in this blog how to use the 5G Model to break a negative spiral and foster more positive outcomes!
- How Do You Get Stuck in a Negative Spiral?
- The 5G Model
- Breaking the Negative Spiral: Using the 5G Model
How Do You Get Stuck in a Negative Spiral?
Thoughts are powerful! A negative spiral occurs when negative thoughts lead to selective attention. By focusing too much on what is negative, you amplify the aspects you are dissatisfied or insecure about. In other words, it distorts your perception of reality.
What we think not only affects our perception but also impacts how we feel and our self-image. This often leads to missing opportunities or lacking the self-belief needed to seize the right chances.
“You think you’re a failure, you feel like a failure, and you behave like a failure.”
However, thoughts can also work in your favor! Recall times in your life when everything seemed to go well effortlessly. Often, recognition and positive feedback give a boost to our confidence, encouraging us to take action with empowering thoughts like, “I can do this, I know it’s possible, we’re making progress”—leading to even better results!
In this case, we are talking about a positive spiral. The key is not to be discouraged by setbacks but to continue riding the momentum of small victories and successes!
The 5G Model
The 5G model comes from the world of cognitive behavioral therapy. It operates on the premise that thoughts lead to dysfunctional behaviors such as avoidance, procrastination, aggression, or fears. These thoughts act as the lens through which you view the world.
3G Model
The 3G model stands for Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior. In this model, you analyze what you think, feel, and do, and how these factors influence each other.
Thoughts
- What were you thinking about?
- Are these thoughts helpful in this situation or not?
- What are some helpful thoughts?
Feelings
- How did you feel?
- Why did you feel this way?
- What would you like to feel?
Behavior
- What did you do?
- How could you have done it differently/better?
- What will you do in the future?
4G Model
The 4G model adds 'Consequences' to the elements of Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior. In this model, you also analyze the outcomes of your behavior. This is a crucial step in the reflection process, as you can adjust based on your (desired) results.
- What result do you get?
- What is going well?
- How can it be improved?
The 4G model is sometimes also used as a feedback model within teams. It helps improve team dynamics by fostering open communication about the consequences of someone's behavior.
- Specify the behavior causing friction within the team.
- What feelings does this evoke in you?
- What behavior does this trigger in yourself? Automatically or consciously?
- What is the impact of our behavior on the team's results?
- How can this be improved? What is the desired shift?
5G Model
The 5G model adds a final G to the framework: the G for 'Event.' This provides insight into potential triggers or causes for certain thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
- When does it occur?
- In what environment?
- With which people?
Knowing the cause of certain challenges makes it easier to anticipate and address them.
Breaking the Negative Spiral: Using the 5G Model
Your thoughts can create both negative and positive spirals. Breaking a negative spiral starts with awareness. You then step out of your current thought patterns to consciously develop empowering beliefs.
By filling out the 5G model, you reflect on a situation and consider a better approach for future situations. This increases awareness and helps you break the negative spiral.
What happens if you think differently? Ask yourself
- Is this a helpful thought?
- What are some helpful thoughts?
- How does this lead to different behavior?
- What is the impact of this on the outcomes?
- How does this affect your emotions?
- How do you want to anchor these thoughts to an event?
You do this by visualizing the ideal situation and determining how you would act in that situation. You can also view this as the sixth G: "Desired Shift." It's often easier to let go of old habits or thoughts when you replace them with new, better habits. What shift do you want to achieve?
