Right Now Is The Perfect Moment

MendMaker Exercise: Session written and explained by your coach Claire Anstey

How true is your self-hate?

Session Length: 20-25 minutes

Session Benefits: The "Right Now Is The Perfect Moment" MendMaker Exercise offers a practical approach to grounding yourself in the present and reassessing self-critical thoughts. This session provides a structured way to identify and challenge negative self-perceptions, helping you differentiate between unfounded self-criticism and areas where genuine improvement is needed. By focusing on the present and systematically questioning the validity of negative thoughts, you can clear away unhelpful patterns and lay a foundation for positive change. This exercise not only helps manage and understand your emotions but also encourages actionable steps towards personal growth and self-acceptance.

Introduction:

Whenever your mind goes off and you think about the bad stuff of the past or your worries about the future, you need to change your mind to think about the now!

The key to shifting your emotional state is thinking about your life at that moment. Not what happened this morning and not what will happen tomorrow.

Task 1:

Take a deep breath and write down anything that you don't like about yourself right now – if you find yourself writing about the future or the past, STOP - it doesn't exist.

This exercise is an excellent way to train your brain to live in the here and now, and you may get some new revelations.

I found this a great exercise at my desk when having a desperate emotional moment. I could write it all down in an email and then delete it.

It was a great way to vent, and although I often found myself hating myself in my writings, it was a great release. The more I did this exercise, the more the self-hating stopped; eventually, I was writing about good things, and you will do – We need to get the negativity out first.

Remember that all of our emotions are important, the good and the bad – it is just about learning the techniques that will enable you to manage them, understand them and banish the ones that do not nourish us.

Task 2:

Following from Task one, try Task two to go more in-depth into these thoughts and feelings.

Take a deep breath and write down anything you don't like about yourself.

Do this for 3-5 minutes.

If you have found yourself writing about the future or the past, cross it out.

Now take each statement left and ask yourself whether it is true. If it's a yes, support it by writing out the evidence for this.

If it's not true or you can't find evidence for it - cross it out; it doesn't exist.

Now take a moment to think about how you can create the changes you desire for the factual statements you have written down. Write down the results you want.

What are at least five steps to get you there? Write these down and start making a plan to get you there.