FLOURISH 004 – React or Respond? *Gamechanger*

| Sent Wednesday 12th of July

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Hey there, here’s a question;

 Do you predominantly react or respond to stimulus and events? 

If you answered ‘respond’, unfortunately, you are wrong. Although it’s hard to quantify, scientists estimate that about 95% of our thoughts are subconscious therefore leaving only 5% of them to be conscious responses. We’ll always have more subconscious than conscious, it’s just the way we’re built.

The key to an improved life is an improved ratio.
The more responses over reactions the better.

A ‘re-action’ is the repetition of a previous action, your previous programming, the stuff that you’re sick of, exactly the thing you want to change…

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SO TRY THIS:

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Ready for some super cheesy self-help advice? This one is basically self-help fondue…

 One Breath. 

Told you it was cheesy.

Whilst I was meditating one day I was gifted a phrase that I had to stop and write down;

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 The distance between thought and action is wisdom. 

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And it’s true. A reaction is instant and it usually comes without conscious thought, just subconscious. If we can observe a thought and then take ONE BREATH, we create a distance that allows us to formulate a conscious response and therefore a wiser one.

And I don’t have to even mention (although I will) how much that benefits us and everyone around us. We create better relationships (intimate, familial, work), we have less impulsive reactions that create mistakes and trouble for us and we have overall better mental fitness.

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HERE’S THE KEY:

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Practice. You have to practice.

You are basically trying to retrain a subconscious habit through conscious choice and that takes repetition. That’s neuroplasticity.

And it’s always easier to practice when you’re in a calm state.

Start with taking one breath every time before you respond in a conversation.

Try taking one breath before writing a response to an email.

You can use it is almost any situation; you just have to use it.

The more you practice the easier it gets, the easier it gets the more likely it is to be your default (subconscious) response, which in turn means that you are more likely to make wise choices off the back of it.

And of course, that’s more awesome for all of us.

Much love,

 

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