I noticed that being upset at life doesn’t work well.
It feels natural to get upset when things don’t turn out as I expected.
With money, with work, with love, with family, with health.
And, because it feels natural to get upset, – I suspect that the ability to get upset is a hidden gift that nature gave us.
It seems like we got the ability to get upset, so that we can calm down and reflect on what happened.
The challenge is that, – to get upset comes natural, but to reflect doesn’t come natural.
And, when I miss the opportunity to reflect, then my ‘upset’ mood continues to spread negative thoughts in my mind (kind of like a virus.)
The interesting thing is that – this process can become an automatic habit.
There were times in my life when I was upset for several days, and sometimes weeks. It sucked.
But… then I began to notice that the opposite is true as well.
I discovered that it’s possible to create a habit of reflecting.
When I reflect at the right time, I help my mind to process this emotion of “being upset”.
And, instead of getting sucked into being upset, – I get insights about actions I can take to improve. It’s pretty cool how it works.
Here is the trick – if I wait until I’m upset to reflect, then it becomes too hard to snap out of it.
So instead – it’s better to make a habit of reflecting daily, or a few times a week.
(I began to think of it similar to healthy eating. Its easier to eat healthy each day, instead of waiting to get sick and changing your diet then.)
Give it a try yourself.
For the next 10 days, answer these 3 questions each evening:
- When was I the man / woman I want to be today? List 3 items
- When was I not the man / woman I want to be today? List 3 items
- What am I thankful for today?
(You can set a reminder on your phone for every evening, at a time when you usually wind down.)
