How are you doing? How is your mindset today? I want to give you a mindset hack to take you out of any bad mood so you can be Front-Row Positive in a sometimes balcony negative world. First, take a moment and write down something that is bothering you. What is aggravating you about your life? Write it down. Before I give you the hack to shift your perspective about what you just wrote down, let me tell you why this topic today. I was speaking to a group of speakers where an audience member asked about overcoming resentment or jealousy of other speakers. A woman spoke up saying she is a diversity trainer, speaking about physical challenges after having lost a leg. She had doubts about her worthiness, comparing herself to another speaker who spoke on similar topics, but had no legs, thus feeling less worthy as she only lost one! This to me was a good illustration on how we allow doubt and comparison to others to creep into our minds and prevent us from feeling valued. SHIFT your perspective. Instead of comparing yourself to others to make yourself less worthy, why not look at all that you have going for yourself? Look at how unique you are and celebrate THAT. And, if you want to really put things into perspective, try this idea. In a previous post I spoke about books and how I love to collect and sometimes read self-help books. What about movies? Do you watch inspirational movies of people who have overcome huge obstacles? Or people who made a mark on this world despite their circumstances? I remember being on a flight that due to weather, had to land in a remote town, to wait out the storm. All the passengers had to deplane, sit around the small area, and waited indefinitely for the announcement of when we would be leaving. As you know, when there is uncertainty, people stress out. I looked around at the other passengers and there was a lot of stressed-out people. However, on this day, I was calm. I was relaxed. I was not going to let this event that I had no control overtake over my energy or my mindset. Why? That day, I happened to be watching a movie that was extremely powerful. The movie was “The Diary of Anne Frank”. While watching that, there was no way I was going to let a delayed flight have power over my mind. Whenever I am tempted to be frustrated or aggravated, especially around travel, I just think of Anne Frank, and that day I kept my calm because I was grateful for so many things, one of which was that I was alive.
So here is the mindset hack: Instead of comparing yourself to others, seek out stories of people who overcame horrendous odds to make a difference in the world. Shift your perspective about what you are concerned about and be grateful for all that you have.
On this Front-Row Friday, cross out what you wrote down, and replace it with one or more of these quotes by Anne Frank.
“Those who have courage and faith shall never perish in misery.”
“Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.”
“I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”
Have a great Front-Row Friday –
