Saturday, January 17, 2009

How to overcome stubbornness

  1. Set a timer or watch to countdown for 15 minutes.
  2. Do something for those 15 minutes, e.g. write a thank you card for a friend.
  3. Write down the activity or product of your activity, e.g. "Thank you card".
Repeat steps 1-3 for the rest of the day, doing something different every 15 minutes. If something takes longer than 15 minutes to complete, come back to it after you do something else. You may notice the following:
  • You can let go of emotions more easily. Letting go of activities trains you to let go in general, and that includes emotions.
  • You learn to break activities down into manageable (15 minute or so) chunks.
  • Hence, fewer projects will seem overwhelming.
  • You wake up to an alarm more easily as you let go of the stubbornness of sleepiness.
Though we tend to think they happen to us or we just have them, emotions are activities we perform. So are the beliefs that lead to the emotions. By practicing letting go of behaviors, we indirectly practice letting go of emotions. (It is advisable to practice letting go of emotions directly, too.)