Do Hard Things by

Old School Version of Toughness

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-01-29 15:18:22 UTC

I chose this song because it talks about training and having physical and mental perseverance through hard times. It also makes toughness seem like a value that only males can have and that being emotional or vulnerable is not accepted.

Magness Version of Toughness

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-01-29 16:19:19 UTC

Magness's definition of toughness is to do things for yourself and have the motivation withing yourself. Not to impress or make others happy, or to seem like nothing affects you because that's simply not realistic. Thats why I chose this song because it talks about how being tough means to believe in yourself and who you are.

Self-Talk

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-01-29 16:32:08 UTC

I'm telling myself to "take things one step at a time." Also telling myself that "Worrying is like worshiping the problem." The self-talk is working as a very anxious and over-thinking person because it gives me some perspective as to what my focus should be in class and how to breathe in order to not suffocate in my own thoughts.

Take Away

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-01-29 16:33:44 UTC

There is a line between having a drive and pushing yourself and not taking your body and mind into consideration.

Skill

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-05 20:09:51 UTC

A skill I am learning to do is to breathe when things get hard and not block myself off. I also motivate myself to keep going by reminding myself that the dance company needs my energy.

Teach

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-05 20:13:10 UTC

I will teach the skill of breathing and thinking about others needing your energy by having them recognize when they are getting frustrated and let them take a 3 second breath in and a 5 second breath out. Id also alter their perspective by making them realize that others are doing hard things as well so putting in the energy into the group in turn helps others.

Takeaway

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-05 20:14:16 UTC

Learning a skill set is important in order to prepare for a hard situation. Education should always come first before action.

Feel

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-07 03:24:22 UTC

Inner Debate

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-07 03:26:57 UTC

Urge

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-07 03:29:28 UTC

Decision

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-07 03:32:13 UTC

Feel

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-10 21:53:21 UTC

Feel

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-10 21:55:43 UTC

Envision/Reflect

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-11 21:40:39 UTC

Authentic Goal: Have a consistent triple pirouette.

Defining Judgement/Expectations: I am getting closer to my goal if I focus on not relying on the barre and engaging my core doing class.

Course Correct: I might be more tired some days and just have an off day and not be on my leg. Not getting the pirouette one day doesn't mean i won't get it the next.

Priming my mind: I will think about turns like something I have already achieved and am just simply practicing, I will try to not put the difficult skill on a pedestal. This will help me stress less and be so hard on myself. Class is an opportunity.

Takeaway

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-11 21:43:51 UTC

My takeaway is that it is important to be honest with ourselves when facing a challenge. This means that one shouldn't put a challenge on a pedestal nor brush it off as if it was a simple task. It is important to accept the fact that a challenge will be difficult but be okay with the fact of not accomplishing it. Not relying on the end goal, makes the challenge easier to face because the stress caused by not accomplishing it is lessened.

Lower the bar

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-21 00:46:09 UTC

1.Getting distracted

2.Running out of energy

3.Being unmotivated

Raise the floor

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-21 00:49:50 UTC

I have learned to distract myself when I get overwhelmed
I know how to work hard
I am realistic with my emotions and I am human

Not a strength

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-21 00:54:04 UTC

I am not the best at staying in it
I have trouble with direction changes
I am bad at having patience with myself

Accommodate

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-21 00:57:26 UTC

I use the energy of others to regain focus
I ask for clarity when learning combinations and use my focus to redirect myself
I redirect my energy and encourage others, that helps me feel better

Trust myself

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-21 01:06:07 UTC

I can trust myself to pick up choreography quickly.

True confidence song

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-21 01:07:44 UTC

Real confidence role model

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-21 01:09:19 UTC

Tate Mcrae

My Takeaway

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-21 01:10:28 UTC

Confidence is being secure of what you are good at and being comfortable not being good at some other things.

Familiar

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-27 04:05:37 UTC

A behavior I usually tend to lean towards is the give up method. Sometimes my overthinking takes over and I find it that it is better to preserve my peace rather than work through a challenge. I recognize that this is a negative pattern now, but it has helped me in the long run in some ocassions.

Exercise

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-27 04:05:59 UTC

I've used the small to large exercise in my everyday life. I first learned this in therapy when working on my anxiety. I have used this when I feel like when my overthinking and spiraling. have used this when waiting for an answer from an audition recently. I focused on what I could control like where I was and what I could work on during the day.

Leading Others

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-02-27 04:06:18 UTC

Set the constraints and let them go- Specifically in how Leah and Bayleigh teach they allow me to have the choice to do what I want with my body. There is a lot of opportunity for creativity in the class. The learning doesn't feel forced, so I actually enjoy the class every time.

Reflection

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-03-06 23:32:19 UTC

The main difference that I find between naming an emotion and the physical response is that the physical response isn't optional. For example, I might cry and then realize that I'm crying because I'm frustrated instead of sad. Ther not any emotions I find difficulty in separating their reactions from. On way I can practice separating the 2 is journaling.

A song that represents being emotionally overwhelmed

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-03-06 23:33:35 UTC

A song that represents being at peace with emotions and reactions

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-03-06 23:36:19 UTC

Helpless Child

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-03-10 17:33:10 UTC

My helpless child appears when a choreographer gives choreography too fast and does not go back or explain things. My helpless child would say, " I don't want to do this anymore, it's not fair!"

My caring older sister self would tell myself to take a deep breath and take things one step at a time.
My loving mother self would say "Don't be too hard on yourself, you can do it!"

Switching Self Talk

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-03-10 17:35:39 UTC

This experiment was a bit hard for me to do, because I often have an inner monologue that only uses the first-person point of view "I" . While switching to "you" everything I told myself felt harsh and more demanding. On the other hand, using third person was more soothing, because it felt as if I was narrating my own story. I felt in control but not overwhelmed.

Self Talk

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-03-12 02:44:28 UTC

I think that elf talk can be both beneficial and negative. I am the type of person that is pretty good at being their own cheerleader and I am proud of that. I am able to talk and motivate myself with self-talk by telling myself " Keep going!" "You can do it" "Childhood you would be so proud." Unfortunately, this positive mentality can change rather quickly when I feel like I am not good enough or I feel uncomfortable in my body or situation. Words in my mind come out as " Why are you so stupid?" " Why can't you do what you have to do?" "You're not good enough." I think positive self-talk is what motivates me the most. Neutral self-talk is something I use to self soothe, and negative self-talk is just bad for me in general.

Experiencing without reaction

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-03-29 02:37:59 UTC

I tried to remain clam without meeting my inner dialogue bother me. I tried it for a day. In a way it made me lose my personality I didn’t enjoy it. My inner dialogue gives me my personality. Id rather accept the these inner thoughts rather than suppress them.

Takeaway

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-03-29 02:39:23 UTC

I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I am better than I think.

Visual Zooming

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-04-04 18:09:30 UTC

This exercise helped me calm down and gather my thoughts when I was overwhelmed.

I liked that I could choose the object and that just simplifying my thoughts to just what I am seeing lets my other senses rest.

Takeaway

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-04-04 18:13:12 UTC

Something I wanna take away from this chapter is that my struggle is a part of growth, and in a way i should enjoy the struggle because something good will come out of it.

Interview with Dad

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-04-18 02:37:46 UTC

I chose to interview my dad because he is a hardworking and successful person I look up to. In the interview I asked him three questions: How do you achieve your goals? How do you push past burnout? How do you keep yourself inspired? To summarize his answer, he said that he uses his internal drive to pursue what he wants to pursue. He says that he is the type of person who once he wants something he doesn't stops util he gets it, which I found to be similar to me. To push past burnout, he told me to seek outside inspiration, to think outside the box and in that way new things can excite you past your burnout. For the last question he said that he seeks out new activities and friendships, connecting to people and disconnecting from technology is what inspires him the most. Something that I took away from the interview is the fact that me and my dad have very similar personalities, but he has lived through more experiences, so his advice fits perfectly into my life. It felt good to have this type of conversation with my dad, especially since it is the end of the semester, I definitely needed the advice he gave me.

Takeaway

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-04-24 21:20:43 UTC

A takeaway of something that resonated from this chapter is reframing discomfort. I have been using this kind of changed perspective before even reading the book and was surprised to see that it is an actual thing. In moments of hardships or in challenging dance classes rather than focusing on the negative I try to focus on how much I'm growing and what lessons I'm learning.

Big Picture

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-04-24 21:20:50 UTC

Something Ive learned from this book that Ive worked on that resulted in a change in the way I do hard things is that I have removed the pressure I put on myself when face with a challenge and rather think about the skills I’m gaining and what Im learning while in the process of achieving, or going through, or practicing this s thing. I lessen the pressure an increase my support.

Long View

paulinacuenca30 — 2025-04-24 21:21:22 UTC

Something I’ll continue to use that I got from the book is chunking when facing a challenge. Breaking a challenge into smaller pieces helps my stress and clarity in my mind when going through hardship.