Let’s face it: we all encounter obstacles when improving our mental and spiritual well-being. Today, we’re diving into a powerful tool that can revolutionize your growth journey. It’s all about identifying the hidden obstacles that are sabotaging your progress. Let’s get started!
What is holding you back? When you look at the areas you want to change, what barriers get in your way? When do you tend to fail, and why? The key to making real progress lies behind questions like these.
Understanding Our Hidden Obstacles
Our walk with God teaches us to guard against forces that may lead us astray. The same principle applies to our brain health. The HALT and SBR frameworks highlighted in Debra Fileta’s book Reset helps us identify seven common obstacles:
The HALT SBR Framework
– H: Hungry
– A: Angry
– L: Lonely
– T: Tired
– S: Sick
– B: Bored
– R: Reward
The successful 12-step recovery group Alcoholics Anonymous teaches the HALT acronym to help people identify their enemies. Let’s take a look at these and how Debra Fileta’s SBR framework helps us better understand potential areas of vulnerability.
H: Hungry
- Causes irritability, mood swings, and poor decision-making.
A: Angry
- Causes questionable decisions and regret.
- Suppresses the ability to think clearly.
- It tends to trigger the fight-or-flight response.
There are typically emotions behind the anger, such as fear, hurt, insecurity, or shame.
L: Lonely
- It causes people to feel they lack support and concern from others, which can lead to feelings of desperation and unhealthy decisions.
Examples: Excessive time on social media, unhealthy relationships, affairs, unhealthy substance use, pornography, shopping, gambling, etc.
T. Tired
- Often impacts moral judgment & decision-making abilities.
- It makes it difficult to distinguish healthy & unhealthy choices.
S: Sick
- Sickness causes people to make decisions they usually wouldn’t make.
B: Bored
- Boredom causes people to overeat, misuse substances, & make poor choices.
R: Reward
- Using a harmful behavior as a reward
- It causes people to overeat, misuse substances, & make poor choices.
Why it Matters
These obstacles can make us vulnerable to poor decisions and cause setbacks in our brain health journey. It’s essential that we have a basic understanding of each one and how it impacts us personally. This insight is a first step towards addressing these hidden obstacles in a healthy way.
Breaking the Shame Cycle
Remember, healing is not linear. It’s a cycle of growth, learning, and trying again. When you fall, resist the urge to shame yourself. Instead, embrace God’s grace and forgiveness. Romans 8:1 assures us, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Take Action: Identifying Obstacles
1. Map Out Your Day:
- Note the time of day for unwanted behavior, decisions, actions
- Describe any observations
- List times of vulnerability
2. Which of the obstacles listed sabotage your growth or goals?
3. A. Write out the acronym HALT SBR
B. For each letter, create an action plan. Pay special attention to the areas you struggle with.
Check out this week’s exercise in the Overflow Community discussion space.
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