How to maintain change? 🤔
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First hint is so obvious that it is actually common to miss out on by thinking „it will all work out itself” 🤷🏼♀️. And here it is: think how do you plan to maintain the change.
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Write your answer down and create a initial plan, of course using SMART method (see step 6) 🧐
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Task for today: focus on first 2 criteria of SMART method and try making your plan specific and measurable 📏📐
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For example, if you lost weight, improved your stamina 💪 and started having new nutritional habits, now in order to maintain it you probably don’t need to keep working out as often as you have but you can’t just sit down and get back to lazy life on sofa! 😉
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So you might (and should) plan to work out e.g. 3 times a week instead of 5-6. Choose form of your workouts (fitness, gym, jogging?) and plan it out in your calendar 📅
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If you e.g. learned a new language you also need to keep working on it, practicing etc .
Same with every finished project! 😉
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Now let’s have that coffee, a small bite of a macaroon and get to work! 😀
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Next week: Create new plan
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s book “90 days – design your tomorrrow”
Category: Smiley Future
Smiley Future – Step 61
We’ve got only last couple of steps ahead! 😀 That’s why now we’re gonna learn how to maintain what we’ve built/changed 🤔.
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Let’s start with some theory 🧐. Psychologists examining motivation have been trying to establish how to proceed life changes. They’ve been wondering what phases we can divide change into, what is important and needed in each phase 🤔. In 1982 James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente described what is called the transtheoretical model of change also known as wheel of change in which they extracted such phases:
➡️ 1. Phase of initial contemplation – when we don’t realize that we need a change 😅
➡️ 2. Phase of contemplation – when we realize there’s a problem and need of change and start considering all pros and cons 🤔
➡️ 3. Phase of preparing for change (our first 13 steps) 🤗
➡️ 4. Phase of action – we’re now completing this phase! 💪
➡️ 5. Phase of maintaining – we’re entering this phase just now and we’ve got new challenge ahead: how to maintain change? 🤔 What to do so as not to come back to old habits? 🤷🏼♀️
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We’re gonna focus on that subject for next couple (and last) of steps 😊. Before we move on to propper hints, here’s task for today: analyze what you’ve accomplished with out previous steps, what you’ve managed to change 🤔. How does this change impact you today? Is it better than on step 1? 😉
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Next week: How to maintain change?
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s book “90 days – design your tomorrrow”
Smiley Future – Step 60
Time for last step of practicing gratitude 🙏. Today I encourage you to look around your closest surroundings. Think about the place you live in and think what you can be grateful for 🤗.
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Today’s task might help you in that: imagine that someone close to you visits you and has never been in that area before 😉. Take a moment to sit down and plan out your day together in your surroundings where you’ll be showing your favourite spots, you’ll invite to try out your favourite activities, use local attractions etc 😉.
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Try making this plan very subjective and personal 😊. Even if you’re not a big fan of your surroundings or you know every bit of it I am sure that there are things you haven’t done here (or haven’t done in a while) waiting for a special occassion 😉.
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Once you finish creating that plan… take yourself on a trip! 😀
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If you want, you can invite someone to join you of course but there’s one condition: spend this day fully aware and grateful 🙏. Look at what surrounds you from different perspective with fresh eyes, open mind and heart ❤.
Enjoy!
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Next week: Stages of change
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s book “90 days – design your tomorrow”
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P.s. Have you ever had spinach waffles? 😀
Smiley Future – Step 59
How did you like practicing gratitude towards your body last week? 🤔 Today I invite you to do this exercise but taking something totally different as the subject of gratitude 😉
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➡️ Task for today: focus on what’s not material. Bring your attention to intangible reasons to be grateful, not related to owning something: going to a cinema with your friends 🎬 (maybe not nowadays but after covid era😅), having an evening to yourself 🧘🏼♀️, a smile of a stranger you pass by 😊, romantic dinner with your other half 😍, a nice workout 💪 – there are plenty examples
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In the end this excercise might not be that easy as those moments – especially those small ones that you have everyday – easily get missed out on, you take them for granted 🤷🏼♀️. We tend to appreciate them from time to time only (when it’s somebody’s birthday, wedding, you attend your favourite concert etc).
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Although due to pandemic I think we’re all gonna enjoy our first beer/drink🥂 in a pub after a lockdown, seeing a movie in a cinema 🎫 or attending a concert 🎶 much more than we used to couple years ago 😀.
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If you want, you can start a special jar to „keep” special moments like those by putting notes with special memories of such moments 🤩. Thanks to it you’ll have the possibility of going back to them in hard/worse times simply by reading them and reminding of those good days 🤗. Apart from that, it feels good to see the jar getting full – this way you get a physical proof that you have plenty reasons to feel grateful every day! 😀
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Next week: Gratitude for your surroundings
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s book “90 days – design your tomorrow”
Smiley Future – Step 58
Let’s continue learning about gratitude 🙏. Today I want you to try out this excercise that is great for practicing self-love and crucial for people who work on their body or try to lose weight 😊.
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Question for today: what are your grateful for in your body? 🤔
Sit down comfortably and bring your whole attention to gratitude towards your body.
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If nothing comes to your mind here’s an example: feel grateful for your feet 👣 that carry you every day, for your legs thanks to which you can walk, run and dance 💃, for your stomach that digests, cleanses and nourishes 🤗, for your back that carry you tall and proud 😎 or let you safely curl up and hide when you need it, for your arms and hands 🤲 thanks to which you can work, hold, hug, pet. Feel grateful for your voice 💬 thanks to which you can express your thoughts and feelings, sing, shout or laugh, for your eyes 👀 that let you see, for your ears 👂 that let your hear, for nose 👃 and tongue 👅 that can taste, that ease your appetite and ability to appreciate smells and flavours.
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If you want, you can try out this excercise in a form of meditation or relaxation 🧘🏼♀️ – lay down in a comfortable position, close your eyes, let your body loose and think what are you grateful for in your body, thank it, thank yourself 🤗
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Next week: Gratitude for what’s not material
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s book “90 days – design your tomorrow”
Smiley Future – Step 57
Let’s continue our practicing gratitude and try out another excercise 🙏. Task for today is feeling (and showing) gratitude towards others 🤩. How can you do it?
➡️ 1. Notice, appreciate and thank others (close ones, coworkers etc) for every little (and easy to miss) gestures coming from them 🙏. Bring your attention to everything that you get from them: attention, support, help 🤝. Short conversation 💬, making a tea when you feel sick 😪, helping in solving a problem, a text showing that somebody thinks of you in a difficult moment….
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When you concentrate on noticing and appreciating those details, you’ll see that you have plenty more reasons to feel grateful that you’ve thought before 🤩
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➡️ 2. Notice, appreciate and thank strangers who you meet along your way e.g. as a customer. It can be a mindful waiter 😊, friendly saleswoman 🤗, a clerk with a smile on his face 😁, bus driver that waits for you to get in before he drives away 🚃… Notice those specific things that others do for you and feel grateful 😍
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Do you notice those little deeds from others in your everyday life? 🤔 I sure do and I’m always grateful for every little help or support I get from others but on the other hand I feel sad/disappointed when others do not notice/appreciate what I do for them and take it for granted 💔
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Do you feel the same way?
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Next week: Gratitude towards your body
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s new book “90 days – design your tomorrow”
P.s. Check out my Instagram for a tutorial how to make those cute Easter decorations!
Smiley Future – Step 56
I hope that last week’s step nr 55 about gratitude got you interested and ready to practice it! 🤗 You’re ready? Let’s get to today’s task straight away! 🤩
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For the next couple of days (until our next step in a week) every night when you’re laying in bed already think of 3 things that you are grateful for in that exact moment 🙏. Notice how you feel before that excercise and how you feel afterwards. Does something change? 🤔 Does it get easier with time to find reasons to be grateful? 😊
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So as not to forget about this excercise stick a note next to your bed with a reminder 📌.
How do you like that excercise? Maybe you’ll practice it every night from now on? 🤗
Write down your reflections 📝
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Today I am grateful for my friends, for the support I get from my husband and for our financial situation 😊🙏
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Next week: Gratitude towards other people
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s new book “90 days – design your tomorrow”
Smiley Future – Step 55
Admit it, how many times during a weekend you think of Monday and you feel scared and angry already? 🤬 Got you! 😉 In the next few steps we’ll practice empowering your attitude that can improve quality of your life and increase your happiness 🤩.
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And that attitude is gratitude so feeling satisfied and appreciating what you’ve got (or not), what surrounds you and what you experience 🤗.
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Human tendency to notice negatives 👀 and danger 💥 can be explained by evolution – this perceptivity saved our ancestors plenty times yet complaining is something more 🙄.
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Constant complaining is a habit. Good news is that – as every habit – you can work on it and habit of complaining can be replaced with gratitude 😉.
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You’re probably wondering what it has to do with strong will and perseverance? 🤔
Practicing gratitude:
🔅Lowers stress (and that empowers willpower, remember?) 📉
🔅 Lowers tension, levels excessive expectations and frustration (that can lead to total giving up on your goal at first obstacle) 🙏
🔅 Helps noticing small successes and strong points that empowers motivation and perseverance 🎯
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As Robert Emmons and Robin Stern say „Clinical trials show that practicing gratitude can have dramatic and lasting positive effects on a person’s life. It can reduce blood pressure, improve immunity, promote happiness and life satisfaction, generate behaviors such as helping others, generosity and cooperation. Additionally, gratitude reduces the risk of depression, anxiety and addiction” 🤩
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Have I convinced you? Let’s start our today’s task 😉:
➡️ How often do you feel gratitude?
➡️ What are you grateful for?
➡️ Is feeling grateful dificult or easy for you?
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Next week: Practicing gratitude – excercise 🙏
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s new book “90 days – design your tomorrow”
Smiley Future – Step 54
Time for last excercise in our mindfullness series 🧘🏼♀️ – careful submergence. The purpose of this exercise is to cultivate the satisfaction of being here and now 🙏 and to avoid constant feeling of struggle (or boredom) that overwhelms us everyday 😉.
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Instead of waiting for the end of boring routine tasks 🙄 in order to do something differnt, try experiencing that routine in a totally new way 🤩.
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For example, when you’re cleaning the house 💨 bring your attention to every little detail of different activities: feel the smooth moves while vacuuming 💫, feel your muscles work while washing the dishes 💥, notice what the objects you touch look like 👀, what do they feel like etc.
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This whole excercise is about fresh new creative look on activities well-known to you and experiencing them in a totally new way instead of treating them as a burdensome obstacle standing on your way to the next tasks 🤗.
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If you want you can choose another routine activity instead of cleaning of course 😉. But who knows, maybe even cleaning will turn out to be a fun experience? Try it out! 🤗
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Write down your reflections and conclusions after this excercise 📝
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Next week: Do you feel gratitude?
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s new book “90 days – design your tomorrow”
Smiley Future – Step 53
Today I want you to practice an excercise that increases awarness by listening 👂.
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Key element of this excercise is not to judge what you hear – listening without the impact of the past or of the future 😉. Lots of things that we feel are connected to the past. For example, we don’t like some song because it reminds us of some difficult moment 😥.
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That’s why today I want you to listen to something new, something you don’t know yet 🤗. It will let you focus on attentive experience by listening.
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➡️ 1. As soon as you pick some new song put your headphones on, close your eyes and sit down in a comfortable position 😊
➡️ 2. Try not to judge the song right away by its genre, artis tor songwriter. Ignore all those labels and dive deep into the sounds during whole song 🎶
➡️ 3. Let yourself explore new aspect of listening to music 😍. Even if at first you don’t like it, try to set aside this feeling and let your conciousness fully dive into the sounds you hear. Soak into the melody 😊
➡️ 4. Explore the song by bringing your attention from one instrument (voice) to another 🎷. Notice them not only together but seperately. If there are vocal parts in the song focus on the sound of the voice, its scale and tone. If there is more than one voice also try to hear each one of them seperately 😊
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How did you like that excercise? Have you managed to experience music without judging it, from another perspective, with mindfullness? Write down your observations, reflections and conclusions 📝
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Next week: Practicing mindfullness: submergence
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Source: @chodakowskaewa‘s new book “90 days – design your tomorrow”
P.s. I started a Creative Challenge on my Instagram – come join us!
How to be HAPPY 