Last week I had a conversation with a good friend who shared a smart (and effective) exercise she uses to re-center herself when she gets her buttons pushed. As I listened to her describe the process, I knew I had to share it with you.

The next time you get your buttons pushed and you find yourself fixated on a negative experience, in the middle of a shame attack, or ruminating about something that's upset you, try this. Take out four pieces of paper and put one of the following four sentence stems on the top of each sheet:

1. I know I'm acting in alignment with my Highest Self when I...

2. The things that knock me out of alignment are...

3. When I'm out of alignment, the behaviors I engage in are...

4. The best actions for me to take to get back in line with my Highest Self are...

Once you have each sentence stem listed on a separate piece of paper, set aside twenty minutes to do a "mind dump" for each category. List lots of examples for each one. What do you do when you're at your best? How do you think? What actions do you take? What kinds of situations knock you off track? And then, what habits or behaviors do you engage in that keep you off track and feeling stuck? Finally, what do you do that helps you to re-center so you can get back in alignment with your Highest Self?  

I intended to give you examples for each category but, after doing the exercise myself, I discovered that it's better not to have any preconceived ideas. They interfere with the process. So, let yourself go, write down whatever thoughts or ideas come to mind, and when you're done, I'm sure you'll learn something valuable about yourself. I know I did. I'll give you a way to share your experience in this week's Take Action Challenge. Have fun!

Don't wait to get your buttons pushed before doing this exercise.  Instead, give yourself the gift of twenty minutes and use what you learn to respond differently the next time you're faced with a challenge.  I'll post each individual sentence stem on my facebook page this week and invite you to share your ideas.  But, don't look until you've done the exercise yourself ☺. And be sure to use what you learn to keep yourself empowered and on track!


This week's video is of the first woman on Rolling Stone's Guitar God list. I may have shared it long ago in a newsletter, but it's worth seeing again. She's fantastic! If you loved the movie August Rush, you'll recognize the playing style ☺. Enjoy! You'll find it here.