7
When we react, our emotions take over: we act hastily, without much consideration. It’s like when someone pushes
our buttons and suddenly our heart races, our breathing quickens, and we might even feel sick to our stomachs.
Often, we end up doing or saying things we later regret. It’s a common experience, but with these exercises, we can
learn to pause and craft a thoughtful response instead of merely reacting. When we pause, we slow down, think
things through, seek other people’s opinions and ideas, and realize that we have a choice. We’re more likely to act
from logic rather than pure emotion. We refer to this as “making space.”
Here is a real-life example of this lesson: Imagine your brain as a bottle of soda. When we shake it, just as when
something frustrates or angers us, it gets all stirred up. Now, pretend the cap on the bottle is your mouth.
Ask: Does it seem like a good idea to open your mouth when your brain is all riled up like this? What if we
give our brains some space to settle down, like letting the soda bottle sit for a couple of hours? When we do
that, what comes out of our mouth is more likely to be helpful rather than making things worse.
So, taking a moment to pause and think before we act or speak can make a big difference. It’s like giving the soda
time to settle so that, instead of causing a mess, we can enjoy something positive, like a refreshing sip of soda.
With Mind Matters, we hope to expand that space between stimulus and response.
We’re starting a journey to learn skills that, with practice, can help us wait and create a valuable pause so that we
can respond instead of react. The goal of this class is to help you become someone who can wait, take a moment to
think, and do hard things.
Your Mind Matters Journal
In this class, you will have a Participant Journal. This journal serves two purposes: first, it is a reminder of the skills,
worksheets, and a full summary of the information from each lesson. Second, it is your space to practice the skills
you are learning in class and to track your progress. It’s a guide and toolkit for putting the lessons of Mind Matters
into action and making them part of your everyday life.
At the beginning of each lesson is the Lesson Review. The Lesson Review is your chance to look back at the skills you
tried during the week and see how they worked for you. What was easy? What was hard? How does practice affect
your thoughts, feelings, or actions?
By writing down your experience, you can track your progress and recognize the small wins that build over time.
Each lesson concludes with the Practice Plan. Here in your journal, the Practice Plan is designed to help you actually
use the skills we have been learning. Each week, you will pick one or two skills to focus on and write down how you
plan to practice them. You may change what you are practicing from week to week.
This is a time for discovery and wonder. Try things out in your life. Do not worry about being perfect this is about
small steps that add up. The more you practice, the more these skills become a natural part of your life.
Mind Matters is about giving you the skills and self-control you need to go after what you want. We want you to feel
confident and empowered to make the choices that matter most to you.
Instructor Note: If you plan to collect and store their journals each day, we recommend you implement the
following protocol: To maintain privacy and anonymity, we won’t be putting names on the journals. Instead, each of you
will write the last four digits of your favorite phone number on the back of your journal. In the unlikely event that two
participants end up with the same four digits, have both of them choose a different set of digits. At the end of each
session, I’ll collect and securely store them so they’re always available when you need them. And don’t worry—at the end
of the program, you’ll get your journal back to take home and continue using.
When we react, our emotions take over: we act hastily, without much consideration. It’s like when someone pushes
our buttons and suddenly our heart races, our breathing quickens, and we might even feel sick to our stomachs.
Often, we end up doing or saying things we later regret. It’s a common experience, but with these exercises, we can
learn to pause and craft a thoughtful response instead of merely reacting. When we pause, we slow down, think
things through, seek other people’s opinions and ideas, and realize that we have a choice. We’re more likely to act
from logic rather than pure emotion. We refer to this as “making space.”
Here is a real-life example of this lesson: Imagine your brain as a bottle of soda. When we shake it, just as when
something frustrates or angers us, it gets all stirred up. Now, pretend the cap on the bottle is your mouth.
Ask: Does it seem like a good idea to open your mouth when your brain is all riled up like this? What if we
give our brains some space to settle down, like letting the soda bottle sit for a couple of hours? When we do
that, what comes out of our mouth is more likely to be helpful rather than making things worse.
So, taking a moment to pause and think before we act or speak can make a big difference. It’s like giving the soda
time to settle so that, instead of causing a mess, we can enjoy something positive, like a refreshing sip of soda.
With Mind Matters, we hope to expand that space between stimulus and response.
We’re starting a journey to learn skills that, with practice, can help us wait and create a valuable pause so that we
can respond instead of react. The goal of this class is to help you become someone who can wait, take a moment to
think, and do hard things.
Your Mind Matters Journal
In this class, you will have a Participant Journal. This journal serves two purposes: first, it is a reminder of the skills,
worksheets, and a full summary of the information from each lesson. Second, it is your space to practice the skills
you are learning in class and to track your progress. It’s a guide and toolkit for putting the lessons of Mind Matters
into action and making them part of your everyday life.
At the beginning of each lesson is the Lesson Review. The Lesson Review is your chance to look back at the skills you
tried during the week and see how they worked for you. What was easy? What was hard? How does practice affect
your thoughts, feelings, or actions?
By writing down your experience, you can track your progress and recognize the small wins that build over time.
Each lesson concludes with the Practice Plan. Here in your journal, the Practice Plan is designed to help you actually
use the skills we have been learning. Each week, you will pick one or two skills to focus on and write down how you
plan to practice them. You may change what you are practicing from week to week.
This is a time for discovery and wonder. Try things out in your life. Do not worry about being perfect this is about
small steps that add up. The more you practice, the more these skills become a natural part of your life.
Mind Matters is about giving you the skills and self-control you need to go after what you want. We want you to feel
confident and empowered to make the choices that matter most to you.
Instructor Note: If you plan to collect and store their journals each day, we recommend you implement the
following protocol: To maintain privacy and anonymity, we won’t be putting names on the journals. Instead, each of you
will write the last four digits of your favorite phone number on the back of your journal. In the unlikely event that two
participants end up with the same four digits, have both of them choose a different set of digits. At the end of each
session, I’ll collect and securely store them so they’re always available when you need them. And don’t worry—at the end
of the program, you’ll get your journal back to take home and continue using.
