August 26, 2007

Controlling your Mind – Focus on ‘Event’

Step 1: Focus on the event that is triggering your mood and...

  • change your behavior:
    • Simply stop doing anything that may be contributing to the problem
    • Make a list of things you could do to fix the problem
    • Make a plan to do things differently next time the problem arises
    • Remove yourself from harmful relationships or situations which are contributing to the negative mood
    • Seek advice from friends, family members, or other people that you trust—sometimes, another perspective is all you need to lift your mood
  • change the way you think about the event:
    • Have faith that things will turn out for the best. Hope, in and of itself, can be restorative
    • Make a list of the positive aspects of the situation—sometimes an important life lesson can come out of a seemingly bad event
    • Make a list of the things that are going well in your life and try to focus on those elements

Set aside a limited time to think about the negative aspects of the triggering event, then forbid yourself from thinking about it at other times of the day. For example, allow yourself 15 minutes each day to worry about the situation, and then stop

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