Deal, Turn, Take In
Meet difficulty, find real resources, and hardwire the useful experience
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 98%
Deal, Turn, Take In is Hanson's three-part roadmap for meeting life. Deal with the bad by acknowledging the facts, accepting your current feelings mindfully, showing yourself compassion, and taking practical action where possible. Then turn to the good—not to bypass pain, but to notice people, strengths, functioning systems, and possibilities that can resource a better response. Finally, take in the good by slowing down a useful experience for a breath or more. That final step matters because a passing positive state may leave little durable trace; sustained attention gives firing neurons time to wire together. Repeating the cycle reduces unnecessary reactivity while gradually building resilience, confidence, gratitude, and other psychological strengths.
Origin
Rick Hanson summarized his positive-neuroplasticity approach as dealing with the bad, turning to the good, and taking in the good; Hala Taha linked it to the phrasing let it be, let it go, let it in.
Core principles
- 01Face what is bad before looking for what is good
- 02Use genuine positives as resources rather than bypasses
- 03Sustain useful experiences long enough for learning to occur
- 04Let it be, let it go, and let it in
How to run it
- 1
Deal with the bad
Acknowledge the challenge, accept that this is how you feel, offer yourself compassion, and do what you can inside your mind and in the world.
Pro tip Ask, what can I do about it now?
Watch out Fighting the existence of a feeling can make it persist.
- 2
Turn to the good
Notice what is also true: available support, strengths, what still works, and remaining possibilities. Use these positives to resource an effective response.
Pro tip Look for the flowers still blooming alongside what fell apart.
Watch out Do not use positivity to bypass pain or practical action.
- 3
Take in the good
Hold a useful positive experience in attention for one to three breaths. Feel it rather than merely thinking about it.
Pro tip Slow down moments of grit, healing, determination, or simple well-being.
Watch out A positive experience that passes unnoticed may not produce much lasting learning.
- 4
Repeat in small doses
Apply the cycle whenever difficulty and useful resources appear. Let repeated small experiences gradually change your resting state.
In the wild
You admit the disappointment, review what failed, and send the necessary follow-up. You then notice that a colleague offered useful feedback and that your core skill remains intact. For two breaths, you feel the determination to improve before returning to work.
→ The setback produces practical learning and a reinforced sense of capability rather than days of rumination.
Common mistakes
Skipping the bad
Jumping straight to positives can become a bypass that leaves the real challenge untouched.
Not marinating
Recognizing a positive intellectually without sustaining the experience skips the learning step.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for recovering from ordinary adversity without denying what went wrong.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when immediate safety action must take priority over reflection.
From the transcript
“deal with the bad turn to the good take in the good”
“turn to the good not as a bypass not as a spiritual or other kind of bypass of what is the bad the problematic and…”
“slow it down to receive it to yourself”
From the episode
Rick Hanson: Rewiring Your Brain for Happiness and Resilience
Rick Hanson