How To Deal With Guilt And Break Free From The Past

How do you deal with guilt?

Here are 6 steps:

1.    First off, take a moment.
Think about a specific situation that’s making you feel guilty.

For example:
→    “I feel guilty for taking credit for my colleague’s idea during a team meeting.”

2.    Now grab your journal and jot down:
→    WHAT happened
→    HOW you felt at that time
→    HOW you feel about it now
For example:
→    I took credit for my colleague’s idea during yesterday’s meeting (what)
→    I felt pressured to impress my boss and a bit insecure about my own contributions (how)
→    I feel a bit of remorse (how)

3.    Now ask yourself:
→    What’s the root cause of my guilt?
For example, you might discover this:
→   “The root cause is the fact that I value honesty and integrity in my relationships”
And you feel you’ve compromised those values by taking credit for your colleague’s idea.

4.    Now it’s time to challenge your negative thoughts.
“Uhm, my negative thoughts…?”
Yeah, those negative thoughts you have about yourself related to that guilt.

For example, a negative thought could be:
→    “I’m a dishonest colleague”.
But that’s not true, right?!
Great! So, challenge those thoughts and turn them into more positive ones.

For example you can turn that thought into:
→    Making that mistake doesn’t mean I’m a dishonest person.
→    It’s a chance to learn and do better next time.

5. Now, after giving yourself a bit of compassion, ask yourself:
→    What positive actions can I take to address this guilt?

For example you can use the 3A Framework:
→    Approach your colleague
→    Apologize for taking credit for their idea
→    And Acknowledge their contribution in front of your team
As we know, we can expect improvements without actions, right?
Awesome! Let’s move to the last step.

6. After doing that, take a moment to reflect.

Ask yourself:
→    How much do I feel lighter or more at peace now?
Your answer will surprise you 🙂