William’s Reviews > The Happiness Trap > Status Update

Harris takes us through exercises to discover our values and to select goals appropriate with our circumstance and resources to move forward. Specific actions that support deeper values.

How to practice what to do when you get hooked by a thought, and how to direct your attention towards your five senses, the present moment, and what’s important to you.

In today's reading, Paris defines mindfulness as paying attention to the present moment with openness and curiosity. The rest of today's reading spent time doing 30-second exercises to practice the skill. At the end, he guided people through a short body scan exercise.

Exercises for dealing with difficult thoughts and emotions.

Defining Values. Making a conscious decision to move towards values that are important to you makes life better. The science that backs this idea. Example practices. What matters to you?

Talking about the difference between the thinking mind and the observing mind. Exercises.

Most people want to eliminate toxic thoughts. But what do you do when the thoughts won’t go away no matter what you do? This chapter dealt with what to do when thought suppression doesn’t work (and thought suppression rarely does work)

Harris talks about how you interact with thought and internal stories becomes part of the problem and how to solve it in a science backed way.

This section guides you through a cost benefit analysis of your thought control and avoidance strategies, keeping long-term results in focus.

I am in a middle of a discussion about why and when thought suppression and control strategies tend not to work (and what does work)