in: Holistic Business
by: Sabina Hitchen
Switch your mindset from “Worst Case Scenario” thinking to "Best Case Scenario" thinking.
This means before you even begin working on any project or task you should focus on all the things that could and will go right. Anytime you feel your mind veering off into that space that houses a long list of all the things that could go wrong, you need to consciously make an effort to stop doing so and shift onto the list of all the ways the outcome could be, well, awesome. Ruminating over what could go wrong doesn't serve you. Remember: If it doesn't ever happen you wasted major brain space and time overthinking it, if it does happen, you've now lived it twice, and that isn't how to live a positive life.
Examine and change your style of self talk. Treat yourself like you treat other people.
Down with self-deprecating thoughts, they work against not only your attitude but on your overall well-being. Here's a powerful way to do this:
Think about the things you're telling yourself or saying about yourself on a daily basis: would you say this to a close friend or family member? Would you say this to your own daughter or son? There is no reason why you should treat yourself any differently! Become hyper-aware of how you talk to and think about yourself over the next few days, and be sure it's full of praise and feel-good statements. You should be the first and most regular recipient of compliments and encouragement in your life.
Replace the time you spend complaining with time spent giving gratitude.
Complaining is a waste of energy that has absolutely no positive result and only drags your attitude and overall energy deeper and deeper into a pool of negativity. Easy ways to flip your complaining script? Literally switch your thought process as it happens and turn your complaining time into time to give thanks. Several people (including myself) find keeping a gratitude journal helps them ensure this is always part of their day. No matter how you do it, try to aim to find at least three things you’re grateful for a day. No gratitude is too small nor too big. There is always something to be grateful for in every day. Find it.
Stop worrying so much about what other people think about you:
Often what people say or think of you is a reflection of their own thoughts, situation in life and history, not yours. It’s a projection of their reality not you or yours, meanwhile it's holding you back from fully living your life and running your business. Letting go of caring what people think about you is one of the most freeing and powerful things you’ll ever do for yourself. The amount of “real estate” in our brain we spend obsessing about what others think about ourselves is a giant waste. Also, by ending this behavior you’re opening yourself up to doing greater things with your job, your free time, your mind and your life.
Here’s another thought to commit to memory in this situation as well: people are often thinking about you far less than you think, we just assume they are. Stop assuming. They’ve too busy taking care of their own life!
Learn to "Recover" from Bad Situations and Mistakes Positively:
The rules of life dictate that things won't always go our way. We'll make mistakes, things will go wrong we will be wronged from time to time. Though we can't prevent these things from happening we can learn to react and recover from them in a healthy way. Here are a couple of phrases to keep in your brain and pull out when things like that happen:
- Well that didn't work and my behaviors and actions didn't serve me. The next time this comes up I'll do XYZ instead.
- This is a challenge, let me get my head down and find a strategy that will help me get out of it on my own terms.
- I made a mistake and it feels bad, but I'm going to forgive myself, move forward and create a different way to deal with this person/circumstance/client/project in the future. I'm still awesome, I'm just a work in progress.
