In this episode of the Men Seeking Calm podcast, Greg Martin explores the thinking trap of Jumping to Conclusions — the mental habit of assuming the worst before knowing the facts.

Common in men during relationship stress, this distortion includes mind-reading (“She must hate me”) and fortune-telling (“This is going to end badly”). It’s driven by fear, past wounds, and a deep desire to protect oneself, but often causes more harm than good — leading to emotional shutdown, miscommunication, and growing distance.

The fix? Replace assumptions with curiosity. Ask instead of assume. Recognize when your mind is writing fiction. Instead of dramatizing, communicate. When you stop jumping to conclusions, you step out of fear and into real connection.

As Greg says — ditch the detective work, and just ask her how she’s doing. WalktheMountain.com

In this episode, we dive into the faulty thinking trap of Disqualifying the Positive — the mental habit of rejecting compliments, kindness, and progress.

Whether it’s your partner saying, “Thanks for helping with the kids”, or “I appreciate how you listened”, your inner critic swats it away with thoughts like, “She’s just being polite”or “I still screwed up.” This mindset often stems from past experiences where praise felt unsafe, and it trains your brain to only see failure.

Over time, it erodes intimacy and keeps connection out of reach. Greg uses humour and real-life examples to call out this “Compliment Ninja” mentality and offers a simple, powerful antidote: pause, receive, and let it land. Practice saying “Thank you, that means a lot” — and take the win. Because real growth starts when we let the good stuff in.

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In this Men Seeking Calm episode, we explore Negative Filtering — the cognitive trap where men obsess over one critical comment or tense moment, ignoring the many things going right in their relationship.

Whether it’s a forgotten bin or a frustrated sigh, this faulty thinking filters out gratitude, affection, and shared joy, leaving men feeling like constant failures.

Greg shares 10 examples of how this plays out and how it silently feeds resentment, shame, and emotional withdrawal.

The fix? Clean your mental lens. Notice what also went well. Reframe the story

When men start to see the full picture, connection and self-worth begin to return. For more grounded guidance, visit Walk-The-Mountain.com and subscribe to the free newsletter.