How to stay productive and positive during a time of transition and crisis?
Understanding the balance of positive and negative outcomes.
WHOOP your life.
How to apply and BONUS WHOOP Kit link.
How do we stay productive and positive during a time of transition?
Let’s be honest here - answer how often do you prioritize in the past month or couple of weeks and practice: social connection, gratitude, acts of kindness, positive thinking. Not often lately? Because lately, we all being capture by a resting space and not a mental effort that we used to.
I do believe in affirmations and positive thinking, BUT I also believe in current reality. The reality of life, human needs, and psychology, where we tend to react first before we act. We could believe and visualize all day long what outcome could be or should be, but the situation, belief, and mindset not going to shift until we do something about it.
So what do we do?
Have you run into the argument between friends, family, conflict at work, yes? Then you would recall find yourself, before you take someone's side, thinking: “Wait, I want to know the other side of the story, what is she/he has to say?”. Familiar? There are always two sides of the story between truth and dishonesty, positive a negative, hard and easy, work and rest, yin-yang, everything comes to balance. So how do we balance our minds when we in the middle of crises or life transitions. Where do we find our Zen?
This great technique that just takes 5 minutes to move your wish to come true.
It called WHOOP by Gabriele Oettingen, author and psychologist, and her method of thinking stand for:
Think about your Wish
The best Outcome
Potential Obstacles
You're if/then Plan
Remember that not just one side of the thinking, see and listen to both sides of the story and it has a term to that:
Mental contrasting
- it involves intentionally indulge in visualizing the positive outcomes and in thinking through the possible obstacles of achieving those outcomes.
1. We start with want, a wish. Visual that wish, it could be: I want to be healthier, more positive, more confident, quit smoking, avoid negative self-talk, loose weight, etc. -truly imagine for a several seconds desired outcome, it doesn't have to be perfect, trust your wish and feel it out.
2. Instead of continuing ongoing in your imaginary thoughts, stop and switch to what stops you to have this wish? Be honest with yourself and answer: what actually in me that stands on my way? What is my main inner obstacle? No excuses, just recognize and acknowledge. The idea behind this is to see what it will take to overcome this perspective to make your wish real.
How is it make sense, most likely I will not do anything about it, once I find out there is a block?
3. Recognizing your obstacles, training and automatically know what is stopping you create an association between future wish and current behavior. When you see something, you recognize what can you do. Imagine running into the idea of wanting something? Oops! here the obstacle thought, how cant I get it and what should I do? Why am I stressing out, why am I here, what do I want to from this situation, etc - and you work it through by questioning vs stop, back up with mindset “I can’t do it” and step back.
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4. But what to do if you in the tempting situation and you see both sides but here you caught yourself leaning into bad habit direction? How do you intervene? The strategy is ” if-then plan” which can lead to a better result. Pay attention to the situation “if-then or now what “ plan. Think of the specific action a thought that will help you when you find yourself leaning toward negative thought or unhealthy habits?
For example:
You decide to eat, think, react healthily. But here is tempting food that keeps you away from being in the desired shape. " If then" - promote a healthy environment make things visible on the kitchen counter, your work desk like calendar, journal, simple things like yoga man by your bed, sneakers by the door, book on your nightstand bed on the floor - purposeful reminders.
You can do phone free lunches. Shape environment having fewer cues that trigger to get to that habit.
If your goal is to use social media less but pop up and notifications keep buzzing on your phone "If then"- deleting social media from your phone or set a timer on browsing and scrolling.
If your goal is to meditate more often, but never enough time, or simply forger " If then" - putting written reminders to meditate on your bathroom mirror, before leaving your bed reserve 5 minutes in the morning turn the app to start meditating.
Relevant one. You want to avoid napping or lazy breaks? Make the bed in the morning, set pillows on it so you have to put some effort to put hem away.
If your goal is to quit smoking " If then" -spending more time with friends who are not smokers.
Want to start running- start with a run once a week once per day, want to challenge run with a group of people, or sign up for the running club.
Another benefit of recognizing your roadblocks before you apply some actions decreases your sensitivity to other people's criticism, feedback, comments, or dislikes or your own negative self-talk.
You know what you have to improve and what you want.
in this case, what others think in what you do, doesn’t involve them in your process.
It will stick with you after applying once a day, apply with your friend, teach someone else, share on social media platforms. Ask how is it going for them, share your results. In this unclear situation give yourself clarity, it pithing you in control, doesn't cost anything, and requires nothing.
You will get creative once you start applying whoop, you will alter and play with your wishes.
The WOOP kit gives everything you need to learn and use WOOP in your everyday life. The WOOP kit contains seven documents for printing. You’ll find an overview of WOOP, the WOOP exercise in written and mental format, a checklist, faqs and information on how to adapt your plans, a WOOP card that you can use as a daily reminder, and a guide for WOOP in groups.