Self-Care Challenge Day 16: Squash the ANTS

“Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves.”
– Nathaniel Branden

? Hello and welcome to Day 16 of the 21-Day Self-Care Challenge.

? Each day for 21 days we give you an action to complete that will help you to take care of yourself so that you can better take care of the other aspects of your life effectively.

Each of our tasks focuses on either physical, mental or emotional self-care.

You can either follow the tasks as specified or individualize them.

We suggest scheduling off some self-care time in your diary each night so that you keep your meeting with yourself.

DAY 16

Today we are going to focus on some mental self-care.

✅ Squash the ANTS.

✅ How did you find this exercise? Share with us in the Self-care Challenge Community Group on Facebook.

Your actions define your future.

What does “squash the ants” mean? It means we are going to quash any Automatic Negative Thoughts that pop into your mind.

ANTs stands for:

• Automatic
• Negative
• Thoughts

The idea is that as soon as something negative (or doubtful) pops into your head, you look for a way to squash it immediately.

Ignore it. Push it away. Change your environment. Distract yourself. Do something to prove it wrong. Take back control.

Squash the thought.

Then, replace it with something more positive.

As we go through life, we develop these stories about who we are based on our past or current experiences.

For example, if you’ve been shy and introverted in the past, you might think that you will always be shy and introverted in the future.

Or, if you’ve failed on your diet in the past, you might think that you will always fail on your diet in the future.

Or, if you never really played any sports as a kid, you might think that you will never be a sporty and active person in the future.

Or, if you’ve always had trouble sleeping properly, you might think that you will always be like that for the rest of your life.

The thing is, your past does not have to define your future.

Your actions define your future.

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