By CATHY BUSSEWITZ, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — When we make mistakes at work, it can lead to a cycle of negative thinking.

The damaging thoughts swirl: “I’m an impostor.” “I’m not smart enough.” “I’m failing at my job.”

Feeling like an impostor — doubting one’s own abilities despite a track record of success — is common, especially among women and members of marginalized groups. Even on days when everything’s going right, it can be hard to shift out of a cycle of self-doubt.

But there are ways to interrupt that downward spiral.

Many people have found cognitive behavioral therapy, a form of talk therapy, helpful to examine internal monologues such as “I’m going to say the wrong thing” or “I’m not good enough” — and replace them with neutral or positive mantras.

“What we do in cognitive behavior therapy is help people identify these negative thoughts, and then we teach them to evaluate those thoughts and see how accurate they are,” said Judith Beck, president of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy, based in Pennsylvania.

“If they’re not accurate, we discuss what’s a more realistic perspective on this,” she said.

To reach students with social, emotional and behavioral challenges, Randolph Public Schools, a district outside of Boston, held a recent seminar about helping children reframe their negative feelings using cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT.

“We want our students… to really have the mindset that they can do things confidently,” said Alpha Sanford, chief of development and student services, who started the initiative.

During the training, Christin Brink, an assistant principal for special education, thought to herself, “Wow, I need this just as much as the kids do.”

“Being a younger administrator in this role, it’s something new to me,” Brink added. “A lot of times I’ll have impostor syndrome, and I’ll make a choice that I later regret.”

Related Articles

Trump administration to close Miami organ donation group it calls ‘failing’

Why are more older people dying after falls?

Texas has a new abortion pill law. But at least one provider plans to keep shipping them there

Without insurance, immigrant patients may face unregulated ‘medical deportation’

Should physicians have to see children whose parents oppose vaccinations?

Why we might focus on the negative

If you find yourself having negative thoughts frequently, you’re not alone. There are evolutionary reasons for it.

“When we were cavemen, it was very important for us to be alert for danger,” Beck said. Preparing for the worst possible outcome helped people stay alive. Some worries — such as “I don’t have enough time to complete this project” — can motivate people to get things done, she said.

But lingering on what’s going wrong can be unhealthy. We sometimes filter out positive reinforcement, downplaying recognition we’ve received and overemphasizing mistakes, said Kristene Doyle, director of the Albert Ellis Institute, a psychotherapy training organization based in New York.

Practicing your positive beliefs by saying them to yourself with force, vigor and frequency can help you build a healthier thinking muscle, she said.

Hold that thought. Is it really true?

One of the first steps to reframing unhelpful thoughts is to identify those that are recurring in your mind. Examine whether they have any validity. What evidence is there to support them?

“Telling myself ‘I’m not good enough to be here’ is only going to lead me down a path of a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you make that worst-case scenario happen,” Doyle said. “What makes somebody good enough to be in the room? What makes somebody good enough to have a job?”

When someone is thinking they’re an impostor, “look for reasons why they’re not an impostor. What are their strengths? Why were they hired?” Doyle asked.

For example, when high school teacher Catherine Mason of New York was asked to reexamine a section of her lesson plan, she had some damaging self-doubt.

“I just heard, ‘You’re a terrible teacher. You’re so bad at this. Why can’t you just get it?’ And that was all internal,” Mason said. Acting out of fear, she rewrote the entire lesson plan, when she only needed to make minor changes.

Now, instead of jumping to the worst conclusion, she pauses to examine the thought. “What did they actually say to you?” she asks herself. “Did they say the actual words, ‘You’re terrible?’ Did they actually say, ‘You have to throw out the whole lesson?’”

People who are thinking “I’m not good enough” can challenge that thought by asking, “What does ‘good enough’ actually mean?” Doyle suggested.

Throw it under a microscope

Some therapists get creative when working with clients to identify negative feelings or beliefs. Avigail Lev, a psychologist with the Bay Area CBT Center in San Francisco, has clients write down the phrases, such as “They don’t value the work that I’m doing” or “I haven’t done enough to get a raise.”

After that, she leads clients through exercises to diffuse the strength of those thoughts, such as reading the sentences backward, counting the words in the statement, or writing the phrases on a cloud.

It can take time and practice to successfully reframe negative thoughts that have been replaying in our mind for years. When Renee Baker was studying architecture in college, professors and instructors frequently tore into her work. The critiques were designed to thicken her skin. But they had a lasting impact.

“There’s the self-doubt that comes with being told, literally, ‘You’re not good enough. Your ideas aren’t good enough. Your work isn’t good enough,’” said Baker, who’s now director of project management at Inform Studio, a design firm. “At the heart of a lot of my self-doubt is feeling like my voice, and what I think, what I believe, what I am passionate about, isn’t as important as the next person’s.”

So Baker worked with a therapist to challenge her damaging core beliefs, exchanging them for more neutral thoughts. At work, she practiced speaking up even when her throat felt tight with anxiety. Over time, she became less anxious and more comfortable sharing her ideas.

Find a replacement thought

You can get specific when you’re searching for alternative, healthier mantras.

“When we look at this sentence, ‘They don’t value the work that I’m doing,’ do you have any examples of when you felt your work was valued? Do you have examples of when people appreciated your work?” Lev asked.

You can also reframe your thoughts about other people who are part of your workday.

Eleanor Forbes, a social worker in Randolph Public Schools, helps teachers and administrators learn to apply CBT techniques. When staff members complain that a young person is being manipulative, she helps them reframe the thought. “How about we just say that this young person is just using survival skills?” she said.

Brink, the assistant principal, learned to reframe her own negative thoughts, saying to herself: “I made a lot of great choices today,” or “This was what went well,” and “Tomorrow we can try again with x, y and z.”

Having scripted phrases ready to go helps when negative thoughts resurface, she said.

“I’ve got this,” she tells herself. “One step at a time.”

Have you overcome an obstacle or made a profound change in your work? Send your workplace questions and story ideas to cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well.

Mark Coyle tried to be supportive of P.J. Fleck as they left Berkeley, Calif., after the Gophers’ 27-14 road loss to California last weekend.

The Gophers AD and head football coach discussed details of the game, player injuries, the bye week schedule — with its emphasis on recruiting — and the focus turning to Rutgers for the Big Ten home opener next Saturday.

“It’s boring, to be honest with you,” Coyle said. “I mean, those coaches and players invest so much time and energy into that. I just want to listen, support. That’s my goal. That was a tough loss.”

Coyle might make that part of his job sound mundane, but it’s not as dry as the financial reports and spreadsheets that can dominate his working life. Yet that area is what’s newsworthy after the Gophers athletics department in July forecast a nearly $9 million shortfall for fiscal year 2026.

“I feel like we have daily conversations about our budget and just trying to be fiscally responsible,” Coyle told the Pioneer Press. “We’re having success fundraising, which is a big part of this, and we’re so grateful for our fans. So again, we’ll continue to chip away at that $8.75 million deficit. I feel like we’ll be in a good spot at the end of the year.”

With the addition of a $20.5 million expense to share revenue with players via the House vs. NCAA settlement, some other programs are believed to be in bigger financial holes than the Gophers, who pride themselves on balanced budgets most years.

Here are six takeaways from a Q&A with Coyle:

Fundraising uptick?

Just over 50% of the Gophers’ total athletic revenue (budgeted for $165 million this fiscal year) comes from the Big Ten and NCAA, primarily in shares of media rights contracts, followed by 12% in ticket sales and 11% via fundraising.

Coyle didn’t share specifics on what the the fundraising increase might be, but said: “Our donors continue to be very receptive and have been very supportive.”

Naming rights for Williams Arena

Last spring, the Gophers started to explore a naming-rights deal for Williams Arena, and that effort has been progressing.

“Hopefully, as we move forward, we’ll be able to close something here in the near future to, again, create a new revenue stream for the athletics program that we desperately need,” Coyle said.

For perspective, the naming rights deal 3M entered into the U for the men’s hockey arena in 2017 was worth $11.2 million over a 14-year deal.

“We’ve had specific conversations with a few different folks a few weeks ago, and those conversations went well,” Coyle said. “We continue to have those conversations. I’m not sure exact timing, but if we got something to the end during the season, I think you could see a change happen rather quickly.”

The men’s and women’s basketball teams will start playing games at The Barn beginning in October.

Private equity in college sports

There is plenty of recent buzz in college sports about private equity firms potentially making deals with conferences and programs. These contracts are looked to as avenues to provide cash infusions to help with revenue shortfalls on campuses.

But Coyle has not yet taken those meetings on behalf of the U.

“I think the key right now is just to make sure we gather the information,” Coyle said. “We don’t make a quick decision because, again, when they get involved, you’re giving something up. They’re for-profit. They want to make money, right? I think you have to be very cautious and mindful when you make those decisions.”

Implementing revenue sharing

The Gophers and other athletic departments have been sharing $20.5 million of revenue directly to student-athletes since July. Of that pie, approximately 75% is going to the football program, 15% to men’s basketball and the remaining 10% split between women’s basketball, volleyball and men’s hockey.  A few scholarships to other U programs are also included in the total.

“I think the payment to student athletes has gone very well,” Coyle said. “We haven’t heard any feedback from student athletes saying, ‘Hey, this didn’t work.’ ”

That revenue sharing amount is expected to increase 4% (or $800,000) next year to approximately $21.3 million, Coyle confirmed.

Data to understand revenue sharing

With the introduction of revenue sharing only a few months old, the Gophers and competitors don’t know what the overall marketplace is spending on certain players. That is expected to change via the system the conference uses.

“As we get to next spring, we’ll start to see, and have access to, ‘What does a quarterback in the Big Ten make? What does a women’s basketball forward, make?’ ” Coyle said. “We’ll see some of that data, which will start to help us better understand and also educate the student-athletes.”

More expansion

Budget forecasts for the 2027 fiscal year include an expected uptick in revenue from the College Football Playoff, money that goes to the Big Ten and then its members. The CFP field is expected to grow from its current structure of 12 teams to possibly 16 next year.

Coyle also expects the Big Ten to expand at some point. The conference grew from 14 members to 18 in 2024, with the addition of Southern Cal, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

“Our friends at Oregon and Washington wanted so badly to be in the Big Ten that they’re getting half the media revenue. I mean, think about that,” Coyle said. “I think Minnesota is very well positioned. We are a charter member of the Big Ten.

“Whether it’s two days or two years, I do think there is going to be continued fluctuation because we are in this House settlement era for two months now. I can tell you peers in the Big Ten are trying to find revenue, right? What are peers and other conferences trying to do right now? We have the best media deals in the country, so there’s going to be movement.”

Related Articles

Gophers football: One big missed call looms over Cal loss

Gophers football: Koi Perich must ‘swallow the pill of adversity’

Miscues doom Gophers in 27-14 loss to California

Gophers tailback Darius Taylor ruled out for Cal game

Frederick: With a ‘perfect’ 10-2 season, Gophers can make college playoff

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department is moving closer to making President Donald Trump’s “ no tax on tips ” promise a reality. But new guidance released Friday tends to limit the number of tipped workers who will be able to claim the benefit.

The agency on Friday submitted proposed regulations to the Federal Register that includes greater detail on the occupations covered by the rule and who will qualify and what counts as a “qualified tip.”

The “no tax on tips” provision in Republicans’ massive tax and spending law signed by Trump in July eliminates federal income taxes on tips for people working in jobs that have traditionally received them and allows certain workers to deduct up to $25,000 in “qualified tips” per year from 2025 through 2028. The deduction phases out for taxpayers with a modified adjusted gross income over $150,000.

Related Articles

As controversy swirls around late-night TV, here’s what a new poll shows about who still watches

Day and night get equal billing Monday as fall equinox arrives. Here’s what to know

Late-night shows address Jimmy Kimmel suspension with humor and solidarity

Today in History: September 19, Greg Louganis hits head on diving board

A massive mural honoring NYC immigrants now fills the entrance to St. Patrick’s Cathedral

To qualify as a tip, the tips must be must be earned in an occupation on Treasury’s list of qualified occupations. Among the jobs exempted from tax on tips are sommeliers, cocktail waiters, pastry chefs, cake bakers, bingo workers, club dancers, DJs, clowns, podcasters, influencers, online video creators, ushers, maids, gardeners, electricians, house cleaners, tow truck drivers, wedding planners, personal care aides, tutors, au pairs, massage therapists, yoga instructors, skydiving pilots, ski instructors, parking garage attendants, delivery drivers and movers.

The tip must be voluntarily given, so mandatory tips or auto-gratuities would not qualify for the “no tax on tips” benefit. However, tip pools and similar arrangements qualify, so long as they are reported to the IRS and voluntary. The benefit is not available to married individuals who file their taxes separately.

The tip must be given in cash, check, debit card, gift card or any item exchangeable for a fixed amount of cash, unlike digital assets. And any amount received for illegal activity, prostitution services, or pornographic activity does not qualify as a tip, according to the Treasury Department.

The “no tax on tips” provision will be implemented retroactively to Jan. 1, 2025.

The Yale Budget Lab estimates that there were roughly 4 million workers in tipped occupations in 2023, which amounts to roughly 2.5% of all jobs.

Congressional budget analysts project the “No Tax on Tips” provision would increase the deficit by $40 billion through 2028. The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated in June that the tips deduction will cost $32 billion over 10 years.

Only tips reported to the employer and noted on a worker’s W-2, their end-of-year tax summary, will qualify. Payroll taxes, which pay for Social Security and Medicare, would still be collected along with state and local taxes.

By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio, KFF Health News

Any evidence of lice was once a reason for immediate dismissal from school, not to return until the student’s head was lice-free. But what are known as “no-nit” policies have been dropped in favor of “nonexclusion” rules, prioritizing class time over any nuisance caused by parasites the size of sesame seeds. That leniency, of late, is coming back to bite some schools.

Related Articles

Trump administration to close Miami organ donation group it calls ‘failing’

Why are more older people dying after falls?

Texas has a new abortion pill law. But at least one provider plans to keep shipping them there

Without insurance, immigrant patients may face unregulated ‘medical deportation’

Should physicians have to see children whose parents oppose vaccinations?

Parents in Massachusetts, Texas, Ohio, and Georgia are petitioning for their districts to revive strict rules on nits and live lice. They blame recent outbreaks on the inclusive recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that allow students with live lice to remain in class. Before the start of this school year, the Hernando County School District, north of Tampa, Florida, acted to reinstate a policy abandoned in 2022.

“It’s a reinfestation, over and over and over,” said Shannon Rodriguez, who chairs the Hernando school board. In July, she told fellow board members that she’s seen the vicious cycle among families. “What do you do as a parent? Put them back in school with the same kid or kids that are in the classroom who have it? It’s just a never-ending battle.”

Public health officials consider lice a nuisance, not a health threat. Outside of small studies, data collection is scarce. With very little data on infestations, it’s hard to know whether more inclusive policies have anything to do with isolated outbreaks.

The latest estimates of annual infestations in the U.S. are broad and unreliable since so many cases go unreported. The CDC puts the number between 6 million and 12 million, affecting mostly preschoolers and elementary-age children.

“It really is about education because there are so many myths and so many misunderstandings about lice out there,” said Cathryn Smith of the National Association of School Nurses chapter in Tennessee. “This isn’t a topic that most people talk about.”

NASN and the American Academy of Pediatrics have supported nonexclusionary head lice management since at least 2002. But the recommendations were taken more seriously after the covid-19 pandemic affirmed the importance of face-to-face schooling.

“I think that people are starting to realize the value of in-person school and that really anything that takes them out of that should be scrutinized,” pediatrician Dawn Nolt of Oregon Health & Science University told NPR and KFF Health News. “Head lice is not a valid reason to keep a kid out of school or be dismissed from school.”

Nolt co-authored the latest guidance issued by the AAP in 2022, which incorporated new research but largely echoed prior recommendations. It discourages widespread lice checks in schools, as a study published in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal found that lice are frequently misidentified, which leads to unnecessary treatment and isolation of lice-free children.

It takes four to six weeks for lice to go from nits to a full-blown infestation. Only then would a child be seen head-scratching uncontrollably, caused by an allergic reaction to the parasites’ saliva.

“Kicking them out on a Wednesday when they’ve been having it for the past four to six weeks is not going to do anything. But it’s going to take that kid out of school and shame that kid and shame that family,” Nolt said. “I just think that’s not acceptable.”

Inclusion is the priority, even if it may inconvenience others or sow financial costs. Over-the-counter remedies, such as creams, gels, or shampoos, can add up. Professional treatment, which often involves manually picking out lice and nits, can run into the hundreds of dollars per person. And sometimes lice hits an entire household.

This summer, a preschool outside Nashville, Tennessee, endured its biggest outbreak yet. Roughly a third of the kids at the Creative Youth Enrichment Center ended up with lice.

Owner Tonya Bryson knew the latest recommendations were to play it cool. So she kept everyone in school, and they faced the dreaded four-letter word together. And then she talked openly about the experience.

“It’s not as bad as you think it is,” Bryson said. “I mean, yes, we had quite a few kids with it, and it went to parents and siblings. But it’s manageable.”

Among the affected families was Stephanie Buck, who also teaches at the day care. Lice ran through her household, requiring pricey treatments to rid them all of the infestation.

Buck said she’s torn about the best approach to combat lice, balancing the shame and stigma with the practical matter of containing an outbreak.

“Because my daughter was really embarrassed when she found out that she was the first one who got checked and she had it,” Buck said. “It’s hard. You want to protect your babies’ hearts, but you also want to keep them from getting lice.”

This article is from a partnership with WPLN and NPR .

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.