Practice7 min
A week of small choices
A gentle practice for noticing and expressing tiny preferences.
Rebuilding a connection to your own needs often works best in small, low-stakes moments — not the biggest decision in your life, but the smallest ones, repeated often.
Try this for a week
- 1Pick one low-stakes choice a dayWhat to eat, what to watch, which route to walk.
- 2Pause before defaulting to someone else's preferenceEven a few seconds of pause counts.
- 3Voice it, if it feels safe to"Actually, I'd like..." — practising the words matters as much as the outcome.
- 4If voicing it doesn't feel safe yet, just notice it privatelyNaming a preference to yourself is still valuable practice.
- 5Notice how it feels afterwardsWithout needing it to feel entirely comfortable straight away.
This isn't about becoming demanding or difficult — it's about restoring a muscle that trauma made it necessary to set aside.
You might explore these in your own words — there is no right answer, and stopping partway is completely fine.