Flip the Script - A Series

I’m back! We have been in the process of moving which has included a lot of unpacking, cleaning out, painting, and weeding. During this transition I had to practice what I preach, which is to re-orient my priorities accordingly for this time but I'm ready to jump back in with you all, so let's do it!

Whether directly or indirectly, the culture that we live in today asks a lot of us. It can feel like there is pressure coming from all facets of life at times. This can result in us being harder on ourselves than we would even be on others. In turn, we can fall into negative thinking that only causes further stress which keeps us stuck longer. In my last series on Getting Stuck, I explored that we can use a technique I like to call Flip the Script for these negative thought cycles (click here to go back and see the full article).

As humans we are really good at focusing on the negative, but that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Any time we are doing something repetitively over time it becomes habitual. Our brain creates neural pathways that produce automated responses. Unfortunately, if those responses are no longer wanted it takes time and intentionality to create new ones.

One of the best ways to stop one unwanted habit that I teach my clients is the replacement method. That is what the Flip the Script technique is all about. Instead of trying to simply stop one habit, we can replace it with another. My go-to example for this is smoking. When people try to stop smoking, according to the all-knowing Google, only 3-5% of people are successful in quitting cold turkey. Whereas those that use alternative substitution or additional help methods increase their success over a six month period anywhere from 50-70%. When we simply tell ourselves to stop something we are ironically focusing on it more and therefore thinking about not doing it more than we thought about doing it before, as it was automatic. However, when we replace it with something literally or metaphorically, it fills the void that was created.

So let’s get to the main point - what is Flip the Script?

Over the course of the upcoming weeks I will be sharing about a number of different scenarios in which we can implement this helpful tool that allows us to stop signing up for unnecessary frustration and overwhelm and instead gain a different perspective that allows you to thrive in your day to day life.