When my brain gets the best of me in the middle of the night I use two simple techniques to short circuit the chaos:
1. I count to 100 in French
2. I list the 50 states in alphabetical order

But this isn’t really about sleeping better. It’s about paying attention to what we rehearse.

Because the byproduct of this exercise is that, while my conversational French is absolutely trash, I know my numbers cold.

And while I would struggle to fill in a blank US map correctly, I could make a rock solid list of the states and tell you how many states start with any letter of the alphabet. 

You get better at the things you rehearse, so it matters a great deal WHAT you rehearse.

When my daughter was younger she had a tendency to fixate on the reasons something might not work. A pastime about which I personally know a thing or two. 

I would tell her, “It sounds like you’re rehearsing your misery.” 

And I bet you can relate.

Instead of using worry and anxiety to engineer an alternative outcome, you end up reviewing and reinforcing how badly things are likely to go.

Your brain is really smart, but it’s also really dumb. 

If you feed it the same messages and images, even negative ones, it will help you make them real.

But you have a choice.

You might not be able to prevent fatalistic thoughts from arising, but you can choose whether you rehearse them or whether you rehearse something more helpful.

TRY THIS: When you find yourself confronted by an overwhelming fear or worry, ask yourself the following questions: 1. What can I do to have a positive influence on this circumstance? 2. How would [capable person you respect] navigate this circumstance? 3. What if I’m completely wrong about my assessment of this circumstance?
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