Momentum Muse: Untangle - From Tight Knots to Loosened Strands (#3)

Where are you? Where do you want to go? + Clarity

Momentum Muse is a weekly ADHD friendly invitation to check in with yourself and try flexible and compassionate strategies to approach your days with intention and kindness. Learn more about it here.

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Before we get started, I want you to know:

1. There are no rules; this is your space to check in.

2. Reflect on as many questions as you like; you can stop at any point.

3. Don’t have time right now but want to do it? Schedule time on your calendar.

4. Worried about getting sucked in? Set a timer.

1. Waypoint. A gentle check in: Where are you now? What’s working and what isn’t? What’s happening around you?

1. What went well last week?

2. What didn’t go so well?

3. What are your ideas for change? What do you want to continue doing? (Once you have a list, select one or two items to commit to.)

4. What are you particularly proud of handling well?

5. What transitions, events, or changes are coming up? How might those impact you?

   

2. Pathfinder. Where do you want to go and how do you want to get there?

1. What are your top 3 priorities for the week?

   1. What makes them important right now?

   2. How many spoons will those cost you?

   3. When will you celebrate? When you start or complete them? How will you celebrate?

   4. Is there one more thing you want to pull up, maybe not because it “should” get done, but because it will bring you joy and will feel good? (Get curious - what’s the reason this one didn’t make it into your top 3 in the first place?)

2. How do you want to approach your priorities? What are your intentions for next week?
   List up to three phrases. Here are some ideas:

   
   be present
   learn something new and embrace trying over perfecting
   self-compassion
   take action
   less is more
   connection
   ask for support
   gratitude
   …
   
   How are these different or the same from last week’s intentions?

3. Strategy to try: Let’s do “PINCH” again - Work with ADHD motivators. For one (or more) of your priorities, how can you use your interest-based nervous system to motivate you? Brainstorm some ideas to incorporate passion/play, interest, novelty, competition/cooperation/challenge, and hurry.
   
   Passion and Play - How can I turn this into a game or make it fun?
   Interest - How can I connect this to my interests?
   Novelty - How can I infuse some novelty into this so it sparkles?
   Competition / Cooperation / Challenge - How can I turn this into cooperation or a friendly competition (with myself or others)?
   Hurry - How can I create a sense of urgency?
   
   You can find some examples for inspiration here:

   How to Experiment with ADHD Motivators and Self-Compassion

4. What is your first next step?

3. Quest. A place for deeper introspection.

Before we move on, check on your time and energy. Are you sure you want to continue? Be gentle and kind, there is no award for completing this. Another reflection question will be in your inbox next week (if you subscribed, nudge nudge!), and you can always come back.

What questions have been going through your mind that you want to untangle and get clarity on?

Sometimes, what stops us from doing the thing is not just that we don’t know where to start, but that we don’t even know what we want to do about it. It’s less about an action, but about gaining clarity. Do you have one of those you want to focus on?

Be gentle with yourself; before we have clarity, we often feel confused and anxious - what if we don’t have the answer? What if we don’t like whatever answer will emerge? It’s normal for it all to feel like a big, scary, tangled mess.

1. Try phrasing it as a question. What question(s) do you want answered?

2. What are some related questions that come up? Write down as many as you can think of. Give yourself time.

3. What answers do you already have? You might notice that some answers are surfacing already. Trust your intuition - if you have a gut feeling about something, make note of it.

4. Pause and notice what’s happening already - do you feel calmer by writing it all down? Maybe energized or creative?

5. Let’s get back to the open question(s) now. What is standing in the way of you having an answer? Missing information? A conversation? Something else?

6. How could you go about finding the answer? What resources do you have available? Who could you ask for help?

7. What are you going to do next?

8. Bonus: What has this process revealed for you? What is it like to still not have all of the answers, but to have considered the question, to have spent time with it? What did you learn about yourself?

"You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” — Brené Brown