Making Shift Happen!

As a recovering overthinker, I still occasionally have to catch myself on when I lapse and start trying to figure out every conceivable outcome of a challenge. What I then have to do instead is mindfully remember to trust myself, because I know I can deal with anything. And how do I know this? Because I always have; and so have you, haven't you? Let me explain what happened this morning...

Because it doesn't matter how masterfully tutored you've been in the theory, how sound your critical thinking and strategy may be, or how good you are at the game in general, the pigeon is always going to knock over the chess pieces, crap on the board and strut around like it won anyway.

Procrastinating by the pool, you will have a dozen voices in your head saying "Don't do it, the water is cold!", and a dozen voices saying "Do it, the water's lovely!" - so which of the voices do you listen to? Listen to the "Do it!" voices, because...

Jim Rohn once said: "You cannot take the mild approach to weeds in your mental garden. You have got to hate the weeds enough to kill them. Weeds are not something you handle; weeds are something you devastate" - which helped me to solve an old problem with new thinking, like new light through old windows; let me explain.

Today, let us discuss the lower end of the anxiety scale, the type of anxiety which does not (yet) require medical intervention or pharmaceutical support, such as exam anxiety, an imminent court appearance, a job interview, or grave concern about how to make ends meet during a cost of living crisis. How can we relieve this level of anxiety quickly and independently?

Can you control yourself in all circumstances, be it resisting cake or an invitation to an argument? Do you move forwards mindfully and steadily towards your goals, or do you thrash about making a lot of mess and noise, having to deal with the consequences later? Do you think things through enough, do you "game out" scenarios you're faced with through to the end, or are you a what-the-hell merchant? How is that working out for you? Do you know what you want and how to get it? Are you the master of your emotions, or are you the victim of your weak impulse control? If you believe you have achieved self-mastery that's great, keep learning and keep practicing. If you don't believe you've achieved self-mastery, here are a couple of first steps you can take.

Is what you're doing, what you're trying to achieve, how you're choosing to live your life worth the effort you're putting into it? Would your energies and resources be better spent pivoting towards new directions, because if not now, when? Because procrastination is the disease of the poor, but let me explain...

... by taking the time to prepare yourself a delicious and nutritious beverage, you're tacitly telling yourself you're worth the pause, you're worth the effort, and all whilst slowing down during the process, living in the Now and not mindlessly hurrying into the unknowable Next. We can't know what comes next, so why the hurry to get there? Wouldn't it be better to make more of the Now?

If you're a ten gallon person who loves deeply and gives everything you've got to a relationship, but you have chosen a one gallon person to give your heart to, then... well, you need to listen to this.

What can you say to yourself when you feel that you are failing... whether in the moment, in a relationship, at work, during a project, or with life in general? How can you pull your mindset out from the pits of potential despair, or from the perceived precipice of defeat? The answer is simple.