How much you believe this... really does matter
It is less than a week until Christmas.
Depending on your
Age
Job
Physical health
List of things left to do
You may have strong feelings about that statement.
Your feelings about it… won’t change the truth of that fact.
Fact: We have MANY tubs of Christmas decorations.
Feelings: Blessed, stressed, overwhelmed, guilty.
(Note the conflicting feelings.)
Silly perhaps.
But we all do it... assign emotions to facts in life.
What emotional charge you are assigning to the FACT that Christmas is less than a week away?
Blessed- getting to be with family
Stressed- your crazy uncle is coming
Overwhelmed- you can’t possibly get everything done
Guilty-you have so much when others have less
See what I mean?
Conflicting feelings occur fast and easily.
Realizing you do it?
(You're in Phase 3 of the Success Cycle for Growth).
Where you KNOW what you don’t know (i.e. how to deal with all those competing feelings).
It’s uncomfortable.
You may even know it’s not serving you to flip flop between them.
But it’s hard to stop.
So then what?
"You can set your mind on success even in the midst of a big problem.” -Mary Morrissey.
Here's how.
By asking yourself:
What might you derive, pull from or create as a result of this problem?
By telling yourself:
I may have this situation, but this situation doesn’t have me!
By reminding yourself:
“Every adversity has the seed of an equal or greater benefit. BUT… a seed has to be
Found
Planted
Nurtured
And harvested -Napoleon Hill
In other words, what you
Think
Ask
And Tell yourself…
Really does matter!
What I think, ask myself and tell myself about my bajillion boxes of Christmas decorations....isn't something to lose sleep over.
But it is highly likely you’re in the middle of a problem that may feel like:
three channels are blaring.
you can’t even tell what each one is saying.
it's loud, messy and frustrating.
And you KNOW what you don’t know… which is how to
Fix it
Make it stop
Or go away
You're officially in the messy middle.(The discomfort felt in this third phase of growth is real!)
And it's easier to say, “never mind” ... than, “I’m gonna keep at it.”
“We need to cultivate the courage to be uncomfortable and to teach people around us how to accept discomfort as a part of growth.” Brene Brown
Here's the challenging trick.
Accepting the discomfort without letting it consume us.
“It’s human nature to rehearse, nurse and curse our situation.” -Mary Morrissey
I hate to admit it.
I have totally done that.
But here’s what I’ve found.
That just keeps me on the merry-go-round.
Going in circles rather than forward.
Fact: The pain is real.
Truth: Pain has the potential to move your forward.
IF …you’re willing to get off the merry-go-round in your thinking.
And if you’re thinking, “Does your attitude about what you’re thinking REALLY matter?
”More than you know. “NOTHING can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal. Nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” -Thomas Jefferson
It's highly likely that some fact in your life is producing a feeling.
And that feeling is negatively impacting your mental attitude.(For some super practical encouragement with that, listen to episode #95 of Growth Mindset Matters, How to Get Better At Going From Bad To Good.)
Or.... hang onto that negative emotion you've assigned to your "fact."
Here's a guarantee.
Rehearsing, nursing and cursing your pain will ensure you empower your wrong mental attitude.
What fascinates me about concepts like this is:
How readily accessible they are to EVERY human
And… how quickly dismissed they are by MANY humans
“Your mindset is your most important asset.” -Peter Diamandis
What if... you lived like you believed that as a fact?
Here's another guarantee.
Living like that will keep you:
moving forward
growing into your full potential
and living your best life!
And that's a place where you will see the messy middle for the truth of what it is.
Not just something to “grit your teeth and get through.”
But a necessary step in the cycle of your growth.