This week’s challenge is about learning to notice our thoughts without automatically believing them. We all have negative thoughts sometimes: “I’m not good enough.” “I’m going to fail.” “Everyone thinks I’m stupid.” Sometimes we treat these thoughts as facts, even though they are just thoughts. In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), there’s a technique called cognitive defusion. The idea is to create some distance from our thoughts rather than trying to get rid of them or change them. 📝 The Challenge For the next 7 days, whenever you notice an unhelpful thought, try this: 1. Notice the thought: “I’m not good enough.” 2. Add the words: “I’m having the thought that I’m not good enough.” 3. Take it one step further: “I notice that I’m having the thought that I’m not good enough.” Notice if this changes how you experience the thought. 💭 Reflect ● Did the thought feel different? ● Was it easier to observe without getting caught up in it? ● Could you still act according to your values? The goal isn’t to stop having negative thoughts, but to understand that we don’t have to believe or act on every thought we have. Give it a try this week! 🔺

This week’s challenge is about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. We naturally try to avoid discomfort. When we’re cold, we want to get warm. When something feels unpleasant, we want it to stop. But not all discomfort is dangerous. Sometimes deliberately exposing ourselves to small amounts of it can help us practice staying calm in uncomfortable situations. For this challenge, we’re focusing on the psychological side of cold exposure rather than the physical benefits. 🧊 The Challenge For the next 7 days, try one of these two exercises: 🚰 Option 1 – Cold Water on Your Hands Wash your hands with cold water for 15–30 seconds. Notice how your body reacts. 🚿 Option 2 – Finish Your Shower Cold End your normal shower with 15–30 seconds of cold water. Notice the urge to turn the warm water back on. The goal isn’t to push yourself, but to practice staying with manageable discomfort. 🌬️ Remember Last Week’s Breathing Exercise? Cold water can trigger a stress response, making us breathe faster and feel uncomfortable. By slowing down our breathing, we can help calm our nervous system and signal that we don’t need to panic. Try to breathe slowly and naturally, focusing on a relaxed exhale. Unlike box breathing, don’t hold your breath during cold exposure. The idea is simple: Notice the discomfort, control your breathing, and practice staying calm rather than immediately reacting.

This week’s challenge is about something we do all day without really thinking about it: breathing. When we’re stressed or under pressure, our breathing can become faster and more irregular. Intentionally slowing down our breathing can be a simple way to help regulate our body’s response and bring our attention back to the present moment. For this challenge, we’re going to use a technique called box breathing. 🌬️ How to do it Think of your breathing as four equal sides of a box: Breathe in → 4 seconds Hold → 4 seconds Breathe out → 4 seconds Hold → 4 seconds Then repeat. 🎯 The challenge Once a day for the next 7 days, spend 2–5 minutes practicing box breathing. You could do it in the morning, before going to bed, before an important meeting, or whenever you notice that you’re feeling stressed. Don’t worry about doing it perfectly. If four seconds feels uncomfortable, make the intervals shorter. It should feel controlled, not forced. 📝 Pay attention Before you start, take a moment to notice how you’re feeling. Then check in with yourself again afterwards. Do you notice any difference in your body, thoughts or stress level? The goal isn’t to make stress or uncomfortable feelings disappear. It’s about practicing a simple tool that can help you slow down, create some space and regain focus.

Our phones are a big part of everyday life. They help us communicate, work, navigate, learn and stay connected. So I don’t think the goal needs to be “phones are bad” or to stop using them. But I do think it can be useful to ask: Am I choosing when I use my phone, or am I just reaching for it automatically? Research has found associations between problematic smartphone use and higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, although that doesn’t mean phones necessarily cause these problems. Sleep is another area where the relationship seems important. A meta-analysis found that greater smartphone use was associated with poorer sleep, and a large Danish study found that using your phone during the sleep period was particularly associated with disturbed sleep. So rather than trying to completely change how much you use your phone, here are 3 small habits you could experiment with: 🚶 1. Take a walk without your phone Leave your phone at home and go for a short walk. This has personally been especially helpful for me. I noticed that I had some anxiety around being away from my phone, so intentionally going for walks without it has helped me become more comfortable with not always having it available. Start small. It could just be a 10-minute walk. 🌙 2. Sleep with your phone outside the bedroom Instead of putting your phone next to your bed, find somewhere outside the bedroom where it stays overnight. This creates a physical boundary between your phone and your sleep. It also removes the opportunity to automatically check it when you wake up during the night. 🏠 3. Give your phone a home Choose one place in your home where you regularly leave your phone. It could be a shelf, table or charging station. Instead of carrying it around in your pocket from room to room, put it there when you don’t actually need it. Creating a little distance means that checking your phone becomes more of a choice rather than something you do automatically. 📝 Your challenge Choose one of these three habits and try it for the next week.

In the last post, we talked about changing habits by focusing on what we can add or do more of, instead of only focusing on what we need to stop. This time, I want to introduce another simple way of building new habits: habit stacking. The idea is pretty simple. Instead of trying to remember to do a new habit at a random time during the day, you connect it to something you already do regularly. The basic formula is: After I [existing habit], I will [new habit]. For example: ☕ After I make my morning coffee → I will drink a glass of water. 🪥 After I brush my teeth → I will take my medication/vitamins. 🍽️ After I finish dinner → I will go for a 10-minute walk. The existing habit becomes a kind of reminder or trigger for the new one. Over time, the two behaviours can start to feel connected. You don’t have to rely as much on motivation or remembering to do it — it becomes part of something you are already doing. 📝 Your exercise Think about one small habit you would like to build. Then think about something you already do consistently every day. It could be making coffee, brushing your teeth, eating lunch, getting home from work or getting into bed. Now put them together: After I __________, I will __________. Keep the new habit small and realistic. You can always build on it later. And just like with the previous exercises, think about your values. Try to choose a habit that moves you a little bit closer to the person you want to be. Small actions might not feel like much in the moment, but repeated over time, they can make a big difference. 🔺