Negative thoughts were not anything I prepared for after an incredible European vacation.
I knew coming back from a 24 day trip around Europe with my daughter as a way to celebrate her college graduation even through her battle with MS was going to take a bit of adjustment time.
My mind was still on the other side of the world jumping off cliffs in Croatia, or tasting wines while listening to traditional music in Hungary, lifting a stein yelling “Prost” at Oktoberfest in Germany or savoring every single bite of pasta in Italy.
After being home for three days, the jet lag was subsiding by Sunday. But my mindset was still experiencing a little turbulence. Multiple times that day I found myself saying, “I am dreading tomorrow.”
Tomorrow was back to the office. Back to demands and deadlines and high heels. It was traffic and chatter, the hustle and the bills. It was catching up, hoping no one was upset I was gone for so long and could not perform and produce content at the pace I normally do because wifi was spotty all over Europe. For an entire day, I was stuck there.
By Monday morning I was shuffling my feet down the hall to get ready saying the same thing to myself in my head… ”I am dreading this.” Suddenly, I stopped dead in my tracks. I stood there and in one split second caught myself mid thought. I could almost hear screeching breaks of negativity coming to halt. The next thought was , “What the hell are you doing?! Are you really going to keep reinforcing negative thoughts, literally reinforcing dread?”
I am one of the most positive people I know. It is rare that I get stuck in negative thinking patterns that effect my behavior or my goals let alone steal an entire day from me that could have been spent celebrating. Celebrating what? Well, life in general to start with.
I marched straight to my bathroom, looked myself square in the eyes and swapped out the word dread with excited.
“I am excited about today.”
Then I continued…
“I am excited to be a woman business owner.”
“I am excited that I am smart.”
“I am excited that I have the opportunities that I do.”
“I am excited to be able to earn a living doing what I love.”
I am excited that I get to travel the world on the income I make.”
“I am excited I have a car to drive, a home to live in, an office to go to that I decorated and pay for.”
“I am excited about life, and being who I am.”
“Michelle, you are blessed. Live in gratitude every single day, be excited and go out there and kick some ass. You got this!”
Everything shifted.
By choosing to reset my mindset, focus on being positive, recognizing all that I have in my life to be excited about, I began, in an instant, reinforcing all that is good. My meetings went incredibly well. I felt so much love going back into my office and seeing everyone, sharing stories of our travels. I realized I missed being in my office space that reflects so much of the hard work my business partner and I have done to grow our business. From gripping the wheel driving down the freeway to editing videos for hours, I was back on track and not a single thought of dread entered my mind that day or since.
Is it normal to feel overwhelmed, get behind and think of something being dreadful to face? Yes. The difference between success and failure, however, is how long you allow yourself to stay in that space and if you choose to dig deep enough to gain value, knowledge, and insight to take with you as you move forward and through it.
How long do you stay stuck in a negative mindset?
My advice: Fine tune your listening skills. Not listening to other people, but listening to yourself so you can stop negative self-talk before it stops you from being the best version of yourself every day.
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Michelle Renee
VERB Media Group
Founder | CEO
Michelle@VERBMediaGroup.com
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