Day #6: Last Day to Tracking Triggers

From the Orange Rhino:

Good Morning and Happy Monday/ Day 6!

I decided to add one more day to track triggers as it will give you that much more input to help set a meaningful goal next week. But more so it will help you continue to gain key insight into what changes you can possibly make, both within yourself and your environment, to yell less. That said, some triggers you can’t change…but knowing that is huge and helpful!

I am on Weight Watchers, have been for years. When I take the time to write down what I eat, I truly eat better and lose weight. It’s like magic. Seeing the good days is inspiring and proves to me I can do it; seeing the not good days is motivation to get back on track. It’s a pain…but it works. The same applies here.  I’ve wanted to lose a couple holiday then birthday pounds and can’t seem to get eating healthy again. Today I will track right along side of you because eating unhealthy is a trigger for me, for lots of reasons….So let's track away!

TODAY’s THOUGHTs:

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” ~John Pow

“One cannot too soon forget his errors and misdemeanors; for to dwell upon them is to add to the offense.” ~Henry David Thoreau

TODAY’s ACTIONs:

1. Continue to track your triggers even if it is a big pain and feels time consuming! Learn from what you write down. If you write down "I yelled because we were late," push yourself to understand why you were late. Were you all just running late or…were you not organized? Or as is often the case with me, I was on my phone too much or I wasn’t focused.

2. At the end of the day (perhaps with a celebratory drink or ice cream sundae), look at your 4 days of tracking triggers. Group them into these three categories:

(a)  Easy to Change (i.e. clean kitchen counter every night, a messy counter annoys me, morning rush, sorting laundry, something happening same time of day--a trend trigger)

(b) Personal triggers that have nothing to do with kids (i.e. fight with husband, finances, PMS!, work stress)

(c) Kids' behavior that TRULY have nothing to do with you-be honest! (yelling, not hanging up jacket, throwing food at dinner)

3. Choose 1 trigger from each group that you want to focus on this weekend/next week, so 3 triggers all together.  Before we officially go “yelling less” we are going to practice. Marathoners don’t just run 26.2 miles…they practice first for strength! Post them on the blog so we can offer support:

http://theorangerhino.com/30daychallenge/2013/03/01/day-5-3-triggers/

password: icanyellless

4. Practice forgiveness! It is easy as you write down triggers to feel like “UGH! Look at all these errors I’ve made.” WRONG. Look at all you are learning! Don’t dwell on the yelling, that will just bring you down. Forgive yourself and forget and learn instead!

I know you all are already putting in a lot of effort so this quote doesn’t totally apply. But I also know a little bit of feeling hopeless may be inside you. So I leave you with this:

“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.” ~Elbert Hubbard

Forget may, how about will?!

Here's to a good week,
The Orange Rhino