How do you keep motivating yourself and moving forward during difficult times?
If I ask “How are you doing these days”, how would you respond?
I hear some people discussing about how bad the economic situation is, that gas prices are going up or that there is no gas, houses do not sell, banks do not give out loans anymore, etc. Others, however, are trying to look for good things and take advantage of the opportunities even during these turbulent times.
Where are you now? Do you see a glass half empty or half full?
Everything depends on how you choose to view things. Yes, you may not believe what I just said, but this is true. It is all about what you say to yourself, what’s in your head, whether you choose to react or respond to the situation, whether you prefer to complain and see only bad things coming to you or you are able to stop for a minute and “smell the roses”, see a thread o of sunshine through the clouds and enjoy the view it as much as you can.
It is all about the CHOICES. It is all about your perception and how you view the world around you.
Have you ever heard about Positive Reframing?
Reframing is about SHIFTing your perception so you could see things in a different light.
I often wonder… why we so seldom take advantage of positive reframing. This can be a tremendous step towards the positive thinking, improvement, effectiveness, better results, even happiness. Of course, depending how we reframe situations, we may become empowered or restricted.
Let’s say you lose a job. You may view this situation in a negative light – as a loss and a negative impact on your life. Yes, you might have lost income, lost great workplace, a wonderful manager and coworkers, opportunities to work on interesting projects, etc. You name it… you can find lots of negative points about the situation.
However, where would you end up with this kind of thinking?
What if you tried to look for positive things in the same situation? I already hear you saying… ‘You must be crazy trying to find positive things in a job situation.’
Trust me, things are often not as bad as you first think. The way you perceive things will most likely determine the end result and where you will end up. If you, just for a brief period of time, think what other opportunities this job loss has opened for you, I’m sure you’ll find a lot of positive about the situation.
Always ask yourself… was I really happy with this job? Maybe it was time for a change? What experience and knowledge did I gain there? You can always apply your skills and knowledge in different environments. What do I love doing? What are my dreams? Could I pursue my hobby as a new career opportunity? Was I putting off certain things I loved doing?
If you could just give yourself permission to dig deeper and see what good things you can take from the situation, your life would be much brighter. We often cannot change the situation, but we can change our thinking which in turn will change how we view the situation.