Paradox of Choice Hack:
Often, the brain is overwhelmed by too many options which leads to decision fatigue. If you are stuck, narrow the choices to two options.
Dopamine Anchoring:
Pair something you enjoy with a task you hate. Eventually, your brain will associate the unpleasant task with the pleasure and thus it will be easier to complete.
For example: coffee or your favorite snack while cleaning the house.
Expectation Effect:
The brain LOVES to prove itself right, so whatever you are telling yourself, your mind will find evidence to support it. I often use the blue jeep example in session: If you are looking for only blue jeeps on the road, that’s all you will see but there are hundreds of other cars and colors on the road.
You can do this in your own life by telling yourself something that is potentially anxiety provoking, will actually be fun and then your brain will actively filter out the bad for the things that make it true. This is called selective attention bias.
On the flip side, if we are chronically disappointed by someone or something in our lives, drop the expectations of how that person should act or what they should do or know. Most likely they are not capable of more. This way, if they end up pulling through, you are pleasantly surprised; and if they don’t, you didn’t have any expectations to begin with. This is not to be confused with having low expectations of how you should be treated. This is simply decreasing a level of anger and frustration when realizing there are some people in our lives who are just not capable of more and therefore they will never meet such expectations.
The 90 Second Rule:
Another fun fact that I often bring up in session is that emotions physiologically only last 90 seconds, unless you mentalize them. Meaning, you fuel them with thoughts and attach a story to them which keeps the feelings flowing. So when you're angry or just dysregulated, try not to attach a story to the feeling. Try to also separate yourself from the provocation for a few minutes. This prevents you from having the emotions dictate your reaction, as it gives them a chance to settle and thus, you will respond instead of react.
The Exposure Hack:
What you consume daily wires your brain. Your beliefs, habits and standards are shaped by what you see the most. This is why so many of us have trouble sleeping at night when we are on the phone doom scrolling. Especially when going through the therapeutic process, you will be more raw to the “bad stuff.” Be mindful of what you are consuming.