Mindset Shifts
Do you ever get into a certain mindset and then there is a change in plans or turn of events?
I would like to share with you an event that recently happened that made me think about how the subtle changes in our daily lives can really have an impact on how we react and move forward.
Recently, I had a camping trip planned and my partner and I were going to spend about a week in the mountains. No phone, no internet, no electricity. We knew that once we got there we had nothing to think about except maybe which trails to check out and what books to read.
Everything was prepared, the food was ready, the bags were packed…and then there was a cat urgency. Not necessarily an emergency, but something bad enough that required immediate attention. So there we were just a few hours from departure and we realized that we had to take the cat to an urgent care clinic.
This is where we had to practice that “mindset shift” everyone talks about. My partner and I quickly came to terms that we were not going to make it on our camping trip to the mountains this time around. We acknowledged our feelings of being disappointed and grateful; sad and optimistic. Instead of going on vacation, we would be at home for the week catching up on different things than we anticipated, but at the same time, we were grateful we didn’t leave and have something catastrophic happen while we were away.
We were disappointed that we couldn’t go on our vacation and it took a little time to just readjust our brains and bodies so we could jump back from “vacation mode” to “staying at home mode”, but we knew that we had a healthy family, we could go camping again at a later date and we didn’t have to cook all week because all of our meals were already prepared!
At any given time, we may have to shift our mindset based on the situation we are in. The way in which we look at or perceive things as they are happening makes a difference in how we approach a situation - especially if it is unexpected. However, we get to decide how we want to view things and how we want to move forward.
When we anticipate things might be happening one way and they end up happening another, our mind and body have to readjust to process what is going on. The mind has to catch up to what is actually happening on the ground. Therefore, a shift in mindset is not necessarily automatic.
Sometimes we have to recalibrate to get ourselves into the “right” mindset for what we want to accomplish or how we want to proceed. We all have different approaches or ways of shifting our mindset. Furthermore, we each have different tactics or processes to make a shift to know that it will stick. This is all to say that shifting your mindset may take time and it may also take practice.
My example of a canceled camping trip may seem pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it just goes to show that each day we have to make these shifts in how we think about things and how we approach life’s unexpected situations.
If we don’t understand how to shift our mindset during the small unexpected events, how will we know how to do so when something big happens?
Each day we have so many things that can throw our minds into a tailspin. We have to constantly be shifting how we think so that we are in the “right” mindset. That means something different to everyone, but the more we can practice, the more we are able to deal with what life hands us and continue to move forward.
Join my email list to get periodic news, tips and updates from me. You can also stay connected with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Interested in Coaching? Part of the coaching process may be about helping you shift your mindset so that you can move on and move forward. If you are interested, set up a free 30 minute intro video chat with Dani.
Please forward this email on to any friends and colleagues who may be interested in coaching.
