brodie

self motivation tactic #1

make and catalog a list of days you actually remember having zest, or hope for the approaching day when you wake up in the morning:

sample list:
1.every morning age 0-7
2.the morning you dropped out of art school
3.the day your first girlfriend got married to someone else
4. the first day of a new job
5.the day after my last relationship walked out on me
6.the time you went back to community college

do not focus on the negative aspects that may come out of these thoughts, just focus on the feeling you hope you sensed initally. Any negative thoughts that arise, transform into positive facts you can cling to:

sample list of things not to write about (a) followed by modified "positive" aspects of those exact statements (b);

1a. every morning since you realized the crushing reality of adulthood.
1b. every morning since you accepted the responsibility of adulthood.
2a. when you moved back into your mom's basement
2b. when you "temporarily re-located" to your mother's house
3a. the day you realized how empty your apartment is
3b. the day you realized how responsible and more attractive you appear to the opposite sex because of your apartment
4a. the four hundredth day of the same job
4b. you are a reliable employee with a good sense of dedication
5a.when you called an ex girlfriend because you were lonely
5b. when you showed initiative to get your jacket back
6a. when you went back to community college and cried in the bathroom because you felt so old
6b. when you went back to community college and realized how attractive you appear in the "sexy older male" role to the young wild eyed girls.

from the Regret Instruction Manual 1