Top 67 Russ Harris Quotes
#1. Success in life means living by your values.
Russ Harris
#2. If you're living a goal-focused life, then no matter what you have, it's never enough
Russ Harris
#3. Accept it. Take effective action to improve it.
Russ Harris
#4. But wanting to get rid of something is quite different from actively struggling with it.
Russ Harris
#6. In ACT, our main interest in a thought is not whether it's true or false, but whether it's helpful; that is, if we pay attention to this thought, will it help us create the life we want?
Russ Harris
#7. This is where someone who does his job competently and effectively believes that he's just an impostor; that he doesn't really know what he's doing.
Russ Harris
#8. We call these "control strategies" because they are attempts to directly control how you feel.
Russ Harris
#9. One in ten adults will attempt suicide, and one in five will suffer from depression.
Russ Harris
#10. Never set as your goal something that a dead person can do better than you.
Russ Harris
#11. Stop trying to control how you feel, and instead take control of what you do.
Russ Harris
#12. Too often we react to our thoughts as if they are the absolute truth or as if we must give them all our attention. The psychological jargon for this reaction is fusion.
Russ Harris
#13. We start trying to use defusion as a control strategy, as a way of trying to make our experience different than it is.
Russ Harris
#14. Adopting this definition means you can be successful right now, whether or not you've achieved your major goals.
Russ Harris
#15. Today's middle class lives better than did the Royalty of not so long ago, and yet humans today don't seem very happy.
Russ Harris
#16. Rule 1: The actions of confidence come first; the feelings of confidence come later.
Russ Harris
#17. Rule 3: 'Negative' thoughts are normal. Don't fight them; defuse them.
Russ Harris
#18. The world is full of people who are trying to purchase self-confidence, or manufacture it, or who simply posture it. But you can't fake confidence, you have to earn it. If you ask me, the only way to do that is work. You have to do the work.
Russ Harris
#19. In ACT, whether a thought is true is not that important. Far more important is whether it's helpful.
Russ Harris
#20. The mind never stops telling stories - not even when we're asleep.
Russ Harris
#21. Letting the radio play on without giving it much attention is very different from actively trying to ignore it.
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#22. It's a sense more of resignation than of acceptance, of entrapment rather than freedom, of being stuck rather than moving forward.
Russ Harris
#23. NAMING YOUR STORIES Identify your mind's favorite stories, then
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#24. This particularly tends to happen with depression and anxiety. With anxiety you tend to get hooked by stories about the future, about things that might go wrong and how badly you're sure to handle them.
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#26. Fusion Excessive expectations Avoidance of discomfort Remoteness from values
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#27. Another way of putting this is that your thinking self produced some thoughts, and your observing self observed them.
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#28. it's pretty well impossible to create a better life if you're not prepared to have some uncomfortable feelings. However,
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#29. If your mind says, "I'll fail!" then simply acknowledge, "I'm having the thought that I'll fail!
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#31. There's an ancient Eastern saying: If you don't decide where you're going, you'll end up wherever you're heading.
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#32. Myth 1: Happiness Is the Natural State for All Human Beings
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#33. The more we try to avoid the basic reality that all human life involves pain, the more we are likely to struggle with that pain when it arises, thereby creating even more suffering.
Russ Harris
#34. The fight-or-flight is often triggered in situations where it is of little or no use to us.
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#35. What do you most dislike about yourself?
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#36. Fear is not your enemy. It is a powerful source of energy that can be harnessed and used for your benefit.
Russ Harris
#37. In the words of the great leader, Sir Winston Churchill: "Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." Redefining
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#38. Fulfilment does not mean our difficult emotions disappear; it means we change our relationship with them.
Russ Harris
#39. The more useful approach is to ask, "Is this thought helpful? Does it help me take action to create the life I want?" If it's helpful, pay attention. If it's not, defuse it.
Russ Harris
#40. A major concept in ACT is the idea of workability.
Russ Harris
#41. Some people call this "staying in your comfort zone," but that's not a good name for it because the comfort zone is definitely not comfortable. It should be called the "misery zone" or the "missing-out-on-life zone." In
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#42. Myth 2: If You're Not Happy, You're Defective
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#43. The fact that you can act with love even when you don't feel love is very empowering. Why? Because whereas the feelings of love are fleeting and largely out of your control, you can take the actions of love anytime and anyplace for the whole rest of your life.
Russ Harris
#44. Having negative thoughts and feelings means I'm a normal human being.
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#45. Commitment isn't about being perfect, always following through, or never going astray. Commitment means that when you (inevitably) stumble or get off track, you pick yourself up, find your bearings, and carry on in the direction you want to go.
Russ Harris
#46. The feeling of love comes and goes on a whim; you can't control it. But the action of love is something you can do, regardless of how you are feeling.
Russ Harris
#47. To get to the values underlying a goal, you need to ask yourself, "What's this goal in the service of? What will it enable me to do that's truly meaningful?
Russ Harris
#48. So by all means, have your beliefs - but hold them lightly. Keep in mind that all beliefs are stories, whether or not they're true.
Russ Harris
#49. The more importance we place on avoiding unpleasant feelings in life, the more our life tends to go downhill.
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#51. Thoughts = words inside our heads Images = pictures inside our heads Sensations = feelings inside our bodies.
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#52. Values describe what you want to do, and how you want to do it - how you want to behave toward your friends, your family, your neighbors, your body, your environment, your work, etc. The
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#53. Unfortunately, many people walk around with the belief that everyone else is happy except for them. And - you guessed it - this belief creates even more unhappiness.
Russ Harris
#54. Psychological flexibility is the ability to adapt to a situation with awareness, openness, and focus and to take effective action, guided by your values.
Russ Harris
#55. Therefore, it makes sense to put your life's energy mainly into action and attention.
Russ Harris
#56. Anytime you're feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed, ask yourself, "What story is my mind telling me now?" Then once you've identified it, defuse it.
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#57. Rule 2: Genuine confidence is not the absence of fear; it is a transformed relationship with fear.
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#58. When wood and fire combine within the hearth, they provide us with a wonderful experience of warmth. And when purpose and presence combine within our heart, they provide us with a wonderful experience of privilege.
Russ Harris
#59. Our thoughts are not the problem. Our thoughts do not create the psychological smog. It is the way we respond to our thoughts that creates the smog.
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#60. Despite everything you've tried over the years, isn't it a fact that your mind still produces unpleasant pictures?
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#61. And yet, they are nothing more than words, which is why in ACT we often refer to thoughts as stories.
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#62. We need to pay attention with a particular attitude: one of openness, curiosity, and receptiveness.
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#63. Basically, expansion means making room for our feelings. If we give unpleasant feelings enough space, they no longer stretch us or strain us.
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#64. The mind loves telling stories; in fact, it never stops.
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#65. The most important thing is sailing toward shore.
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#66. Any search for a "pain-free existence" is doomed to failure.
Russ Harris
#67. Building a good relationship with ourselves is essential for inner fulfilment, especially when we run into a large reality gap.
Russ Harris
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