Last Tuesday I set off to work with my normal drive and determination. Only to realized when I got to the office ten mins later I’d left my phone at home.
Hubby did a lovely thing and sent me an email, letting me know it was there…..so being that it was only ten past seven I decided to hop in the car and drive home to get my phone.
I got home to a dark and locked up house……without any keys I couldn’t get in……so I drove back to the office. Hubby in the meantime had got in the car and drove to the office to give me my phone. Seeing I wasn’t in the office he drove back to the house.
Back and forth we both went in opposite directions, missing each other at both locations. Hilarious!
Sat back at the office I opened to computer to see he had messaged me a third time. The polite version was ‘Giving up. Your phone is at the house. Going to work.’ You can imagine what it really said. This little episode could have set a miserable tone for the day. However, I decided to embrace what happened.
Firstly, I sent a note to hubby to say how much I appreciated him going out of his way to help me. (I was so grateful - he really did have to drive in the opposite direction to work.)
Secondly, I decided I was not going to jump in the car and get my phone, I was going to have a phone free for a day. (I got quite excited about the distraction free day I could have.)
Thirdly, I sent a note to my clients, associates, stakeholders letting them know I didn’t have my phone and if they needed me to email or whats app. (That way, I wasn’t going to miss anything.)
Then I got on with the day with a small smile on my face. (It turns out I didn’t miss a call all day and I got loads of work done.)
You see it’s our job to set the tone. It’s how we react to the things going on around us that affect our day. We are the reason we have a good or bad day. Not the train, not the traffic, not the rude person on the bus in front of you, not the shop assistant who is in a bad mood or the colleague that won’t help.
We have complete control over how we feel.
It’s our reaction to the things that happen in the day that cause our mood. You can do it; decide today to always see the positive not the negative in each situation.
Here is my step by step way to turn that frown upside down.
Be aware of the negative thing happening
Acknowledge what it is
Accept life isn’t always perfect or going to go the way you planned.
Have a little smile to yourself. Congratulate yourself on spotting the problem.
Decide not to react. Smile again because you haven’t reacted.
Change your perspective. What might the problem give you an opportunity to do….EG being stuck in traffic might give you an opportunity to think over a business challenge or listen to some great music or enjoy the scenery.
Enjoy the new focus, the extra moment.
Go about your day remembering you did something amazing.
Be thankful. At the end of the day by reflecting a little, learn from the situation and remember you had a great day.
Why not try this today? Let me know how you get on.
You make your day! Let’s decide to have a good one and as Taylor Swift says ‘Shake it off. Shake it off’.
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