In Episode 41 of the 1life podcast, host Behka White discusses how to maintain motivation throughout the week. She suggests that mornings and Mondays are ideal for making decisions about what we will and won't do for the week, preserving willpower and avoiding decision fatigue later on. However, motivation can wane by mid-week, and Behka introduces the acronym BLAST to address five common motivation killers:
Bored
Lonely
Angry
Stressed
Tired
Behka encourages listeners to identify how they react when experiencing these feelings and to develop strategies for responding more effectively, staying on track with their goals.
Welcome to the One Life Podcast with Becca White. I am your host and this is episode 41, Motivation Blasters. It's Wednesday. What's good about Wednesday? It's hump day. Congratulations. You've made it halfway through the week. I like to say that mornings and Mondays are for motivation. The clarity that mornings and Mondays provide before the demands of life set in is the ideal time to make decisions regarding what we will and will not do. As we reach the middle of the week, sometimes our motivation wanes and, of course, there will always be opposition to our goals and aspirations. Today, I'll use the acronym BLAST to address five of the motivation killers that impair our judgment and lower our resolve. As a side note, my son originally learned BLAST from Travis Hansen, former Mountain View High School basketball star BYU star who went on to play for the Atlanta Hawks. Today, I'm sharing additional information from Ben Croft of the EFT Clinic. So BLAST, the B stands for Board. What do you do when you are bored? Do you have negative behaviors to help fill the time? Having a plan for boredom can help us avoid these negative behaviors. The L stands for Lonely. When we feel isolated, disconnected, or alone, we are more likely to engage in undesired self-soothing behaviors. When you are feeling lonely, consider who you might call, pay a visit, or reach out to. Connecting with others can remind us that we are cared for and that others support and believe in us. The A stands for Angry. Our limbic or reptilian brain takes over when we are flooded with strong emotions like anger. During this time, the executive functioning part of our brain, where we make decisions based on reason and logic, become inhibited. Paying attention to our behavior can reveal our anger and act as a warning sign that we need to calm down and reconsider before acting. The S stands for Stressed. Like anger, stress increases our limbic brain activity where we act on emotions and reduces our executive functioning or thinking part of our brain. Using grounding and calming techniques like deep breathing, physical touch, or even a quick meditation can lower our stress and shift our thinking back to the present where we can make healthier decisions. Finally, the T stands for Tired. Our brains literally starve when we don't get adequate rest. Making critical decisions when we are tired can lead to poor outcomes. Even 10 to 15 minutes of sleep can reset our mood, increase our resolve, and help us manage tasks and relationships with increased clarity and confidence. So BLAST highlights a few feelings that have the ability to hijack our best intentions. And there are others. Identifying when we are vulnerable to poor decision-making can help us make a plan to respond instead of react. Thus, we will be better able to stay on track with our goals and objectives throughout the week. Today, I invite you to reflect on how you react when you are bored, lonely, angry, stressed, and/or tired. How might you respond with more effectively in these situations? We only get one life, let's make it our best. [BLANK_AUDIO]
