Hello everyone,
I wanted to take the time to talk about a tool that I found really helpful and.
I actually found out about this,
I think,
From a video,
A YouTuber online.
And she had gotten it from a woman named Regina Thomas Hauer,
Who I actually am not familiar with her work.
But I wanted to give credit for this wonderful tool that she developed.
Um,
And I use it in a nightly journaling form.
Just when I'm done journaling,
I go through these four things.
Um,
Regina calls this the quad.
I call it the quadrant,
Same idea.
And basically it's going through these four things.
And I found this really helpful when I am feeling Stuck,
Confused.
Frustrated,
It really helps me move through those emotions in a productive way and not get kind of stuck in thought loops.
So I'll take you through the quadrant,
The quad.
So the first thing is,
Regina calls it swamp,
I call it vent,
And you write down anything that is bothering you.
That is stressing you out,
That is bumming you out.
It could be something really huge and hard and life-altering or it could be something little and annoying and that's also fine too.
I think it's important.
Generally with journaling,
To not have a lot of judgment of what you're writing,
What you're thinking,
Just to kind of promote the flow of stuff out of your brain onto the page.
So the first one is Swamp.
Just getting all that stuff out there that is really not helping you right now,
Not making you happy.
Um,
Then from swamp.
We move to Bragg and Bragg is you focusing on what you have done.
Again,
Whether that be huge things.
Degrees,
Education,
Studying,
Paying off a loan.
Maybe caretaking for someone,
Or it can be something small.
It could be getting out of bed,
Depending on the day.
Getting out of bed.
It could be making yourself a meal,
Right?
Maybe what for one person is huge is not so huge for another person.
But what are you proud of yourself for doing that day or recently?
And I like the transition,
The order of operations here I feel is important because.
We are moving from swamp slash vent to the brag.
Basically,
We are saying.
.
.
Okay,
These things are really annoying me,
Really pissing me off,
Or really making me sad.
And maybe I can control them,
Maybe I can't.
But here is what I can do.
And I find that really powerful,
That switch from frustration,
Anger,
Sadness,
Whatever it is to self-empowerment to I can do things and I have done things.
Even if they are small or even if they're big.
So we've just done two of the four.
The third thing is gratitude.
And this is a really beautiful one because because we hear so much about gratitude journaling and having an attitude of gratitude.
But I feel.
When you have the gratitude sandwiched.
Right in between the brag and the next step,
Which I will tell you about in a second.
Again,
It switches your brain from thinking about,
Okay,
What have I achieved?
What have I done?
Which is great.
To what can I what can I be grateful for because often Gratitude,
Of course,
You can be grateful for the things you've worked really hard for.
People work to provide for their families.
People work to have food on the table.
They work in their professions,
In their careers.
Weirdly,
Or at least in my life,
I feel I'm often most grateful for the little things.
I actually get a little emotional talking about it because it's so beautiful,
You know,
To walk outside and to see the leaves on the trees or to feel the sun on your face or to see a beautiful sunset.
Or maybe you you know,
Share a moment with a stranger that makes you laugh.
And,
You know,
None of that is is really something you've worked for,
Something is just kind of provided to you.
And so I really like the use of the gratitude.
Again,
Switching from the first quadrant of.
Frustration,
Anger,
Sadness.
Swamping,
Venting.
To the second,
Which is self-empowerment and action.
And believing in yourself to gratitude of enjoying and appreciating what life is offering you right now.
And then we finally move to the final quadrant,
Which is Desire.
And.
Again,
This can be big desires,
Right?
Big life goals or maybe,
You know,
More abstract.
I want to feel safe.
I want to feel healthy.
I want to feel fulfilled.
Or maybe sometimes I take this really small and I say,
You know,
Tomorrow I want to bake some cookies.
And oddly that.
.
.
Kind of for the next day gives me a little impulse to bake the cookies or to do the thing,
To work towards the goals that I set for myself.
And I find that really powerful this day to have that last piece be desire,
Be sort of of tapping into what you are really wanting right now.
You know,
Despite the stuff stressing you out,
Despite the stuff you've already done,
Despite the stuff you already have,
You're still allowed to want things and work towards things.
And this last step kind of tunes you into what you actually are wanting.
So again,
To recap,
It's swamp slash vent.
It's Bragg.
Gratitude.
And its desire.
And again I've found this so so helpful so many times when I just feel like I am hamster on the hamster wheel just spinning spinning spinning in my thoughts or feeling really stuck or I don't know,
A bureaucratic step is holding me back or something.
And it just really helps me move through those feelings of stuckness.
And both trust that things will work out the way they're supposed to.
And then also kind of like a little fire under my butt if I'm feeling like I need some clarity or some motivation.
For how to move forward.
All right.
I hope you found this helpful.
And again,
All the credit to Regina Tomasower for this really kind of genius,
But simple,
But so smart concept.
Thank you for listening.
