Sometimes action is what’s needed.
Feeling emotions and working through them, building awareness and connection to the body and somatic experiences are all vital—they lead to insights, self-knowledge and inward shifts that may also inspire brave and loving actions. But sometimes, an action has to actually come first, while motivation finally arrives later. When clients take small, constructive actions despite feeling too hopeless, too angry or afraid, too overwhelmed, I think it’s true heroism.
It’s easy to forget: What am I supposed to be working on? How can I help myself? I like the idea of having it written down, so you can keep it in front of you (on your nightstand, on your fridge, in your car), so you can keep reminding yourself. Below is one example of a way to write it down and have it all organized for a quick reminder. This example is for lessening depression, but you can use the same template for any issue or situation: anxiety, relationship issues, addiction, anger, etc. The center circle is the issue you are working on. The 1st ring around the center circle are the actions that have in the past, or might now, most directly help improve the issue. And the slots in the outer ring are the bigger, more long term “projects” of your recovery, which take more time to have an effect, but gradually help the issue in a more secondary way, and help the direct actions be more effective as well.
In this example, the actions in the first and second rings are certainly not the only way to address depression; it’s not meant to be a comprehensive list and wouldn’t be best for everybody. The idea is that you can gradually fill in all the slots over time as you learn what works for you, even a little. And when you don’t, for example, feel like writing in a damn gratitude journal, ok, you might go outside for a walk instead this time, or make a healthy snack, or just pray and hold on today. There can be hope in seeing that you have a lot of options, and they are all working together to help you over time. And as a bonus, actions transform the insight and knowledge you’ve gained into actual life experience, which is where healing happens in full, where the gains you’ve made on the inside can sink in more deeply and become multiplied.
