Why You Should Do A Thought Download Every Day
I spent most of last year trying to get better and more consistent with journaling my thoughts.
I have to admit I really only dabbled - I preferred doing yoga and some meditation in the morning and by the time I was ready for bed, the thought of writing pages on my inner most musings sounded exhausting.
Even though I saw benefits from journaling, including more gratitude and better sleep, it never really stuck.
I have become much more consistent with the practice and am using Brooke Castillo’s strategy of thought downloads.
How To Deal With Negative Thoughts (My Review of The Happiness Trap)
Based on the psychology of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), the book is centred on dispelling the widely sought after goal of chasing a constant state of happiness.
It also addresses the belief that negative thoughts get in the way of happiness and need to be eliminated or controlled.
As the name suggests, ACT teaches us how to stop struggling with negativity and accept negative thoughts as part of the complexity of our minds.
The Genius of Brooke Castillo’s Self Coaching Model
Brooke's main principles are represented in the Self Coaching Model.
Firstly I love the model because it, of course, implies you can do it for yourself.
Secondly, it is genius and completely obvious and difficult and mind-blowing and crazy hard all at the same time.
Let's take a look…
How To Feel Like You Have Plenty Of Time
I can’t even count how many times people said to me, “You think you’re busy now — well, wait until the baby comes.”
This felt like a pretty negative, fear-inducing statement to make to a pregnant woman, but I’m sure they were coming from the same place of indoctrination.
Once I had my daughter, I certainly understood what those well-meaning people meant. Much of my day was spent feeding her, changing nappies and trying to convince her to sleep. But I can also say I spent more time reading books and playing games on my phone (hello Cooking Craze!) than I probably ever had in my life. I began to wonder if I had more free time than I thought.
Segment Intending (AKA Trying To Live In The Moment)
What is segment intending?
Essentially to me, it means living in the moment or the activity you’re undertaking.
Abraham defines it a little differently as setting your vibration and pre-paving your path before moving into an activity, but let’s go with my definition for now…
How to Use the Lessons of Hypnobirthing to Change Everything
When they say that having a baby changes everything, I now realise they didn’t mean it in a positive way.
After reading The Happiness Trap many moons ago, I had a breakthrough and realised (shock) my thoughts were not the truth. What I hadn’t realised until I was pregnant, was that my overarching beliefs are not the truth either.
What I Learnt From Tracking My Time for A Week
I’ve talked about Laura Vanderkam many times on the blog - she is a time management author, who interviews and gathers time log data from a variety of people.
Her message is to essentially prove to us that we have more time than we think.
I agree with her concept, but when my brain starts to feel overwhelmed, I’m always pretty adamant I’m too tight on time and can spin out over that.
What I Learnt From Brené Brown
I have managed to resist Brené Brown’s work for years, until I finally succumbed and watched her TED talk - one of the most popular of all time.
What then followed was a (accepted!) recommendation of her book The Power of Vulnerability. I downloaded the audio book and the 6 hours and 31 minutes were devoured in just four days.
An Easy Visualisation Technique to Use With Negative People
Earlier this year, I was having trouble with a particular person in my life - I would call him an ‘energy vampire’...
I wasn’t super close to him but had to have a lot to do with him on a week to week basis. In my eyes, he was very negative about life and I felt like I was a sounding board for much of this negativity.
How These 3 Tech Tools Can Cut Down Your Time Online
A common issue I hear from my clients is the guilt they feel for the amount of time they spend online.
Whether it’s distracting them from their business, their kids, or derailing their mornings, endless scrolling seems to be an easy time suck without much reward.