Laura Hansen’s 5-days of Life Exercises to get your life on track!

Laura Hansen’s 5-days of Life Exercises to get your life on track!

Based on her book, Hand Me a Wrench, My Life is Out of Whack, these exercises will give you a boost to help you get back in balance with you!

Day 1

The Energy of Love:  The Small Thing v The Big Beautiful Thing.

Every day we choose the small damaging thing over the big beautiful thing. We dissolve long friendships over gossip. We end marriages over money. We choose pain over love. We give up what we wish for most because it didn’t meet our expectations of true love.

In your most important relationships, how much do you accept yourself and the other person? How many times have you chosen the small thing over the big beautiful thing? The below exercise is designed to help you acknowledge how you’ve built the foundation of your relationship, and how you can strengthen that foundation with acceptance and love.

This exercise has been simplified and shortened from the version you will find in the book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life Is Out of Whack.

Using paper and pen/pencil, choose a relationship you’d like to work with for this exercise.

1.    Divide the paper into three vertical columns. Title the columns left to right: “Love it,” “Drives Me Nuts,” “Why.”

2.    In the “Love it” column write down one thing you love about your relationship.

3.    In the “Drives Me Nuts” column, write down one thing you don’t like about your relationship.

4.    In the “Why” column write down why you feel the way you do.

5.    Turn the paper over or get a new sheet. Divide the paper into three vertical columns. Title the columns left to right: “Small Thing,” “Big Beautiful Thing,” “New Decision/Behavior.”

6.    In the “Small Thing” column, write out your fear/judgment/expectation/sadness that surfaces when the other person does the thing that drives you nuts.

7.    In the “Big Beautiful Thing” column, write out what part of your love or acceptance of yourself or the other person is blocked by the small thing.

8.    In the third column, write out the new choice you are going to make so you can be side by side addressing this problem, instead of putting this problem between you.

It’s possible that your new decision will be a change in behavior on your part that doesn’t require any discussion. Other types of problems will require the two of you working in supportive partnership to solve it.

When you introduce the subject, talk about how the other person’s behavior affects you rather than point out that their behavior is wrong. Remember, the goal is to do this side by side. No one is going to be right in this discussion, but you both can be loved.

Find this and many other themes and life-affirming exercises in Laura’s new book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life’s Out of Whack: Understanding the Decisions We Make and Discovering the Power to Change.

Available on her web site: www.HandMeAWrench.com to download a preview chapter as her gift to you.

Day 2

The Energy of Wellness:  Breaking a habit using free will, instead of will power.

Successfully breaking a habit requires that you understand why you established the habit in the first place. More than likely you adopted this behavior as an emotional protection or painkiller, or to bury deep-seated fears. There are other reasons, too, but these are a few of the main ones.

In order to change your behavior, you’ll need to remember what the original situation was that formed the habit, so you can go back and change that original decision. That’s why breaking a habit isn’t about willpower. Because the will you are going up against is your own – your will “now” versus your will “at the time” you chose to form the habit as a way of coping with the situation. It not about overcoming your will, it’s about freeing your will from a past decision, so you have the freedom to make a new decision now.

In terms of energy, you are shifting your life force from one thought to another – a very powerful spiritual movement.

This exercise has been simplified and shortened from the version you will find in the book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life Is Out of Whack.

On a sheet of paper, or your journal, write out the answers to the below questions:

1.    What habit/behavior do I wish to change?

2.    Why do I wish to change it? How does it affect my life?

3.    What behavior/habit would I like to put in its place?

4.    At what age or how many years ago did I start the habit/behavior?

5.    What was happening in my life at the time? What situation triggered it?

6.    Can I remember what I believe were my choices at the time?

7.    At the time, how did adopting this behavior help me cope with the situation?

8.    Does this situation still exist in my life?
a.    If not, how did I remove myself from it?
b.    If you are not, then how does your current situation support the habit/behavior you’d like to put in it’s place?

9.    Or, are you in a similar situation now that reinforces the habit?
a.    If you are, then what first step can you take to change your environment to one that supports the habit you would like to put in its place?

Find this and many other themes and life-affirming exercises in Laura’s new book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life’s Out of Whack: Understanding the Decisions We Make and Discovering the Power to Change. Available on her web site: www.HandMeAWrench.com. To download a preview chapter as her gift to you.

Day 3

The Energy of Strength: How to swap out merchandise at your Decision Store.

The choices in your life are as tangible as merchandise on a store’s shelves. Your choices exist as energy thought forms within your spiritual self. You have the ability to discard decisions, invent others, take your time deciding which one is right for each relationship or situation, and so on. You can continually re-evaluate and make changes to them.

This exercise has been simplified and shortened from the version you will find in the book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life Is Out of Whack.

On a piece of paper write down one decision you keep making that you would like to swap out with a better one. For instance, maybe every time you talk to a particular co-worker you find yourself deciding to talk as judgmentally about others as he/she does. That is a “product” you sell to this co-worker for some reason.

Now, evaluate the ingredient list for this product and the percentage of each ingredient. For example:
·    Want her to like you: 70%
·    Fear she’ll talk about you behind her back if you don’t act like her: 25%
·    Kind of like to gossip: 5%

Now, make a new product out of ingredients that support your vision of your life. Throw out the old product by ripping up the piece of paper you worked with or actually create a product symbol out of clay, paper and crayons, an old dish you can tear up, smash, etc.

Have fun.

Find this and many other themes and life-affirming exercises in Laura’s new book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life’s Out of Whack: Understanding the Decisions We Make and Discovering the Power to Change. Available on her web site: www.HandMeAWrench.com To download a preview chapter as her gift to you.

Day 4

The Energy of Peace: Finding grace in your Banana Peel moments.

Treating each misstep as important an action as a correct step acknowledges the value of all your thoughts and movements. Doing so gives you the opportunity to reflect, understand, and repair relationships. Admitting and valuing a mistake can deepen trust within you and with others. Grace is possible in those moments of honoring your actions and their effects.

This exercise has been simplified and shortened from the version you will find in the book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life Is Out of Whack.

I recommend you do this exercise as if you were cleaning someone else’s house. Identifying the useless knick-knacks and old mementos that make the house look cluttered and unappealing is easy to do in someone else’s house, right? So, assume the role of a friend whose been asked to help throw stuff out.

1. Divide a piece of paper into three vertical columns:
“Mistake/Year”, “Holding On”, “Replace With”.

2. In the “Mistake/Year” column, write down the mistake that still burdens you and the year you made it.

3. In the “Holding On” column, write out how the consequences of this decision affect your ability to make better decisions in your life now. Ask yourself: “Is there anything more I can do about this?” If not, then let it go. If the answer is “yes,” define what you are going to do and your plan for doing it. Then, let the burden go as a way of closing the book on that life experience. Move forward with your plan.

Find this and many other themes and life-affirming exercises in Laura’s new book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life’s Out of Whack: Understanding the Decisions We Make and Discovering the Power to Change. Available on her web site: www.HandMeAWrench.com. To download a preview chapter as her gift to you, click on the icon below.

Day 5

The Energy of Joy: Creating the moment we all life for.

When a person sees past your physical appearance, insecurities, quality of your clothes, and past your mistakes, failures, cruelties, fears, social status – they skip it all – straight to the beautiful part of you shining through the weather of your life.

The moment someone recognizes you to the depth of your soul. The moment when time stops, your heart expands, old pain stirs then melts away. You remember who you are. That you are not just a body going through the motions of your day. You are more.

These moments that we give each other are wonderful. You may not know why, but you feel great. You forget your problems for a second, just seeing all the possibilities within you.

This exercise has been simplified and shortened from the version you will find in the book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life Is Out of Whack.

Sometime during your day, stop for a moment. Take a slow breath. Feel your feet on the ground. Feel the sun on your head. Feel the air on your face. Look around you. Watch people live their lives for a few minutes. Remember, they are doing what you are doing. They’re trying to love themselves, and trying to love through what they do with their lives.

Catch someone’s eye. Smile with compassion and understanding. As you go through your day, take time to acknowledge the value in the small interactions you have with people.

We all want what you want. We all have what each other needs. Let it shine through.

Find this and many other themes and life-affirming exercises in Laura’s new book, Hand Me A Wrench, My Life’s Out of Whack: Understanding the Decisions We Make and Discovering the Power to Change. Available on her web site: www.HandMeAWrench.com. To download a preview chapter as her gift to you, click on the icon below.