Why do you think the way you do?
“Your ability to process and manage the information around you is the biggest bottleneck to whatever you want in life.”
2022 has been a rough year for all of us, with the recent inflation and interest rates going up, it’s hard to not feel discouraged in your day to day. But I would like to remind you don’t give up on hope and don’t give up on yourself. You are strong and resilient from all your previous experiences. We will get through this difficult period together.
At times, you may feel frustrated with yourself, the way you act, think or feel in a certain way in a certain situation. But I urge you rather than pushing them away, try to develop a curiosity in understanding why and what is setting you off.
The key to being content with yourself is to develop a sense of self-awareness, which shifts your thinking from being judgemental to having self-compassion in your thinking and in your inner dialogue. This will look differently for everyone, but the first step is to be honest with yourself.
A lot of the time, we do things in a certain way because we are so used to doing them that it becomes automatic and does not require conscious effort. But I am a firm believer that the things we are so used to doing may end up holding us back. When you realise that what you do is no longer serving you, hold on to that realisation and have a think of what or how you would like to approach it instead. While it may be difficult, it is that moment of realisation that will be valuable to you because it gives you insight as to how you want to live instead.
Check out our In Between Therapy Exercise below. The purpose of this exercise is to jumpstart your self-awareness so you can be mindful of what your thoughts and emotions are telling you. There are reflective questions in the exercise that will get you to identify triggers and will guide you to distance yourself from your thoughts. We hope this exercise will bring you more clarity.
If you have been putting something off or pondering if you should take action, this is a sign for you to take a leap of faith. Life will reward you when you step out of your comfort zone. And we will be ready for you when you are.
In Between Therapy Exercise
When you notice yourself spiralling, ask yourself:
What am I feeling right now?
Why am I feeling this way?
What are some of the thoughts that come up?
What about this person or this situation that is making me feel this way?
Has a similar situation happened before where I felt the same way?
What are the triggers in this situation?
What is this trigger telling me? (specifically what am I lacking or missing?)
The purpose of this exercise is to:
1) Distance yourself from your thoughts and feelings so you can see it clearly without the subjectivity of it
2) To understand what is going on for you emotionally, this will give you more insight as to what sets you off.
Learning to see emotions both good and bad as a part of you, part of accepting yourself requires understanding your negative emotions and unpacking it. Learn to see certain thoughts and feelings as fleeting, it does not define your reality.
Post-Exercise Reflection:
What did I gain from this exercise? Specifically, how did it help you to understand why certain thoughts or feelings were coming up?
Did you notice this thought process happen before?
Are there patterns that you can identify (e.g trigger made me feel X and I thought about Y and I did Z)?
These reflective questions will jump start your self-awareness as to understanding what, why and how certain things sets you off. This will help move you from a reactive mode to a more clearly defined and understood state of mind where you can be proactive with what you want or what you don’t want.