The Power of Positive Reflection
I’ve been talking with a lot of people recently who are feeling stuck – not just physically stuck at home, but stuck in a mental and emotional rut. Many of us are struggling to stay happy and productive during these difficult times. So I gathered some tips from The Upward Spiral to help with getting unstuck.
I’m going to ask you to reflect back on the past few months and how you’ve faced the challenges that came to you. This is not to examine and dissect all that went wrong, but instead to capitalize on an opportunity to strengthen your brain’s resilience and willpower.
Think about the following questions, and you’ll enhance your ability to start creating the life you want, even amidst the chaos. As you think about your answers, your brain might have a tendency to slide into the negative, focusing on your mistakes and shortcomings, but if it does, just guide your attention gently back to the task at hand.
First, have you helped anyone since the pandemic started – perhaps a friend or a co-worker? Did you thank anyone who helped you? When was the last time you tried to make someone feel better, even if it was just with a smile? Did you forgive anyone for his or her mistakes?
And changing gears briefly, what was your favorite moment from the past few months? Can you think of something fun you did? Can you think of a time you laughed? Have you had any good conversations?
These questions are designed to help you focus on (1) your positive qualities, and (2) your happy memories. Several studies have shown that reflecting on your positive qualities actually strengthens your ability to change bad habits (Armitage 2008; Epton 2008).
On top of that, thinking about happy memories boosts production of serotonin in the brain (Perreau-Linck 2007). Enhancing the serotonin system can help increase positive emotions, and give you greater impulse control.
Lastly, this exercise functions as a way to practice mindfulness, which gives a workout to the prefrontal cortex. And that improves your ability to set goals and follow through with them.
When you’re stressed out, your actions become primarily guided by the habit and impulse circuits in your brain. You start living your life on autopilot instead of intentionally. Most of the time there’s actually no problem with that – as long as you’ve trained your brain to enact habits that keep you on the path you want to be on. But if you’re feeling stuck in the pull of bad habits, you’ve got the opportunity to utilize your prefrontal cortex to override them and create a new path forward.
If you found that helpful, maybe you’d like to learn more about your brain and simple strategies to living your best life, even during difficult times. To explore these ideas I’ll be leading another 6-week session of The Upward Spiral Core Program: https://alexkorbphd.com/the-upward-spiral-core-program/ Enrollment opens this Friday, and will last for one week so that the program can get started ASAP (July 31st).
And if the thought of tackling your problems head on seems a bit overwhelming at the moment, that’s fine. That’s just a mental habit that’s contributing to you feeling stuck. Take another moment to reflect on your positive qualities and your happy memories and then decide on an intentional step forward.
References:
Armitage, C. J., Harris, P. R., Hepton, G., & Napper, L. (2008). Self-affirmation increases acceptance of health-risk information among UK adult smokers with low socioeconomic status. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22(1), 88.
Epton, T., & Harris, P. R. (2008). Self-affirmation promotes health behavior change. Health Psychology, 27(6), 746.
Perreau-Linck, E., Beauregard, M., Gravel, P., Paquette, V., Soucy, J. P., Diksic, M., & Benkelfat, C. (2007). In vivo measurements of brain trapping of 11C-labelled α-methyl-L-tryptophan during acute changes in mood states. Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience: JPN, 32(6), 430.
