What to do When You Lapse

Change Academy

Everyone has lapses – small slips, moments, or even brief periods of time when you fall back into old habits and old patterns.

Lapses can be an opportunity to learn something useful. But all too often, a lapse leads to self-defeating and catastrophizing thoughts, which lead to further lapses. Before you know it, a series of small lapses has snowballed into a full-blown relapse–or a return to an old behavior or pattern. In this episode, we talk about how to process and rebound from those inevitable slips.

Takeaways

- Lapses happen to all of us–even those who seem like they never struggle.
- A lapse can be an opportunity that makes us even stronger.
- Telling yourself that you “always” sabotage yourself is a particularly unhelpful story.
- The more you can learn from a lapse, the better you can rebound from it–and make future lapses less likely.

Lab Experiment

- When you realize that a lapse has occurred, stay calm and be kind to yourself.
- Remember that a brief lapse will not erase all of your progress.
- Remind yourself of all the positive steps you have made. Don’t put all your focus on the one negative step.
- Reflect on your purpose in beginning this journey.
- Remember that giving up never moves you any closer to your goal.

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