When faced with an urge, consciously choose to act based on your values rather than immediate feelings. This practice helps build resilience and align your behavior with your deeper principles.
If you have an urge that typically leads to negative outcomes (e.g., staying in bed when feeling overwhelmed), deliberately act opposite to that urge. Reflect on the different outcomes to learn what serves your well-being.
Develop the ability to observe your own thoughts from a detached perspective, like holding a mask at arm’s length. This creates distance, reducing the immediate power of negative thoughts and allowing you to see them for what they are without being controlled.
Build your ability to resist urges by practicing in lighthearted, low-risk situations (e.g., not crunching a mint). This strengthens your awareness and control, which can then be applied to more challenging, real-life scenarios.
Practice mindfulness by intentionally bringing your attention back to the present moment whenever your mind wanders. View your mind as a theater and your attention as a spotlight, choosing what to focus on and allowing other thoughts to pass.
Regularly engage in journaling as a powerful tool to gain clarity on your emotions and diffuse from overwhelming thoughts. The act of writing thoughts down helps you observe them objectively and understand their nature.
When journaling, reflect on past experiences by breaking them down: describe what happened, distinguish between thoughts and feelings (including physical sensations), identify urges, note whether you acted on them or against them, and analyze the impact of your choices. This process helps reveal connections and influences between different aspects of your experience.
Intentionally take dedicated, undistracted time off with family, especially during breaks like summer, to foster quality connections and strengthen relationships.