Day 4 Post 1: Your Thoughts Matter
You know when you feel stressed and your mind is looping on a thought like, "Arrrgh, this is too much!"?
🤔 What if, in that moment, you took a breath and turned your attention to a thought like, "What do I need right now?" You might answer:
· "I need help, so I’ll ask for it"
· "I need a break to clear my head"
· "I need to talk to [person you know] who always has good ideas/makes me laugh"
See how this could downshift your stress levels? 😌
Other thoughts you could try:
· "This is challenging, but I can figure it out"
· "I'm doing the best I can with what I have"
· "What's one small step I can take right now?"
These little thought makeovers might sound simple, but changing your inner words is a powerful technique called cognitive restructuring. It can help shift your mood and train your brain to find more helpful ways of thinking. 🙌
Check out these other thought makeovers:
· Change catastrophizing to realistic thinking"Everyone will hate me if I make a mistake" → "People may be disappointed, but they'll understand I'm human"
· Change self-blame to self-compassion"I should have known better" → "I made the best decision I could with the information I had at the time"
· Change perfectionism to progress-focused"If it's not perfect, it's not worth doing" → "Done is better than perfect; I can always improve later"
· Change victim mentality to empowerment"Why does this always happen to me?" → "What can I do to improve this situation?"
Cool, right? So the next time you find yourself in a funk or stressed out, try noticing your dominant thought and asking your wise mind for a more helpful thought.
Remember, this is not about suppressing your feelings or pretending everything is perfect. That’s not healthy. Instead, it’s about having the feeling and then finding a more useful way to think about it. 💪
Day 4 Post 2: Setting Boundaries
How often do you think about––or create––boundaries in your life? Most of us were never taught to do this! ✋ Myself included.
But I’ve learned to love boundaries as a part of a healthy mindset. They are a form of self-care that allows you to say YES to more things that fill you up and NO to what drains you. Which is huge for creating a healthy, fulfilling life. ❤️
Boundaries also help prevent the stress and conflict that happens when we burn out or haven’t been fully honest about what we want.
💡MINDSET TIP: Think of boundaries as a way to devote yourself to what matters most to you. When you have to tell someone about a boundary, framing it in terms of what you value helps them accept it. We actually set boundaries with ourselves, not others––they are choices we make for reasons that are meaningful to us.
These questions help you create life-enhancing boundaries 🙌:1. Values: What’s super important to you and your well-being? What is a non-negotiable in your life?2. Needs: What do you need to experience that value?3. Honoring: What does it look like to honor that need?
Here’s an example of how you’d use this to set a boundary:
· I value: My health and ability to fully show up for my work and/or loved ones
· So I need: 7-8 hours of sleep each night
· I’ll honor this by: Saying no to obligations and habits that interfere with my sleep schedule
Another example:
· I value: Quality time with people I love
· So I need: Focused 1:1 connection
· I’ll honor this by: Planning a tech-free weekly date night
Boundaries are part of a self-care mindset where you consistently treat yourself with respect.
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