DBT TOOL · PAYING ATTENTION ON PURPOSE

WHAT and HOW

When your mind is everywhere but here, and the day is running you - this brings you back to the one moment in front of you.

WHAT and HOW, defined

WHAT and HOW, defined WHAT and HOW are the simple skills of paying attention on purpose. The WHAT skills are what you do - observe, describe, participate. The HOW skills are the way you do them - without judging, one thing at a time, aiming at what works.

Never a straight line. Your attention wanders, you walk it back - and that walking back is the skill.

21 DAYS TO REWIRE A THOUGHT.
21 WEEKS TO REWIRE A LIFE.

You do not have to fix everything at once. You just have to be here for this one moment. Notice one thing. Put a plain word on it. Give it your whole attention. When your mind bolts, walk it back - kindly, again and again.
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DBT TOOL · THE MOVES

The moves

Plain and small. Tap any move to open it.

1 · Observe

Notice what is here - sights, sounds, the feeling in your body - without chasing it or pushing it away.

2 · Describe

Put plain words on what you noticed. A tight chest. A loud room. Facts, not the story about them.

3 · Participate

Throw yourself fully into this one moment - the dishes, the walk, the conversation - instead of watching from outside.

4 · Non-judgmentally

Drop the labels of good and bad. It is what it is. Judging it only adds weight.

5 · One-mindfully

Do one thing at a time, with your whole attention. When your mind wanders, walk it back.

6 · Effectively

Do what works, not what is right or fair. Aim at the outcome you actually want.

7 · Step back and tell the difference

Observing and judging blur together fast. Step back and check - am I noticing what is actually here, or already labelling it good or bad? Use the prompts in the record to tell it apart.

See one full pass
OBSERVE
The kettle, the quiet kitchen, my shoulders up by my ears.
DESCRIBE
I am tired and wound tight.
PARTICIPATE
I made the tea slowly and just drank it, nothing else.
DISTRESS
Eased from 7/10 to 4/10.
Nothing about the day changed. I came back to it. That is the rep.
DBT TOOL · YOUR TURN

Walk it through

Fill it in the moment, or just after. It works on paper too - no buttons needed.

My WHAT and HOW
Where I am right now
Observe
Describe
Participate
Non-judgmentally
One-mindfully
Effectively
Step back and tell the difference
Noticing, or judging? Step back

Observing and judging blur together fast. Step back and check - am I noticing what is actually here, or already labelling it good or bad?

Distress before/10
Distress after/10
Say it
Your statement builds itself here as you work down the record.
Recover. Rebuild. Renew. · myMove21.com

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Being present is not a trick of the mind. It is meeting the moment you have actually been given, and the One who is already in it with you.

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10 · NIV
Why it works

Coming back to the present quiets the mind's wandering default network and settles the constant self-talk - read the research.

A general mechanism, not a guarantee. This supports good care; it does not replace it.