ABC+D: an Example

This morning, writing my pages, I felt tired. I didn’t want to continue. This happens frequently, and when it does, I almost always stop writing and do something else. Instead I decided to Do the Metawork and analyze what I did.

Goal: easy. My goal is to write.

Activating event: I’m tired.

Consequence: I don’t write.

Conclusion: I have counterproductive beliefs. They need to found, and disputed. What are my beliefs?

“I’m just too tired to write.” Dispute: “Can you sit in a chair? Can you move your fingers? Then you’re not too tired to write.” “OK, I can write. But….”

“If I write something when I am tired, it won’t be good.” Dispute: “If you don’t write it, you’ll definitely not produce anything good. If you write, you won’t know if it’s good or not until you write it. There’s a good chance that some part of what you write will be good.” “OK, it might be good. And it’s true, I won’t know until I do it. But…”

“If I write now, I won’t enjoy it.” Dispute: “You might not enjoy it. But what would make you feel better: writing something even when you are tired, or giving up and not writing at all.” “OK, OK, I’d rather face up to my tiredness, and write.”

So I wrote. A lot.