Yesterday started like pretty much every other day. I woke up and did not feel like going to work, but hey, I have bills to pay, right? I am far from making a living by writing.
I got up in the car, grabbed a Tim Horton’s extra-large double-double, and headed to work.
Mornings are normally pretty crazy at the office; there is always a lot going on. It’s kind of hard to keep up with time. It is mentally draining but also weirdly rewarding to solve the daily puzzle that my working days bring to me.
Photo by Johnson Wang on Unsplash
Funny enough, remember above when I said I don’t feel like going to work? Well, what I meant is that I don’t feel like going to work; once I am there, I am good. Sometimes the hardest part of life is getting started.
Have you ever been in a situation where you knew that you should go workout? But you are just not feeling it. You talk to yourself, gather all the little energy that you have left, kick yourself, and finally, screw it, let’s go workout anyway. To your surprise, after a few minutes at the gym, you are into it and working hard.
You see your internal thoughts; the words that are consistently humming in your head are your biggest friend and your biggest enemy at the same time.There is real power in learning to use your thoughts positively versus defaulting on negative thoughts (which is easier, by the way).
Here is a little morning activity. I recommend that you practice every time you are brushing your teeth. Well, I hope that you are brushing your teeth every morning and fairly early in your morning routine! Alright, so while you are brushing your teeth, say the following sentences in your head five times:
1. Today is going to be a good day.
2. I have lots of energy and will be successful.
3. One thing for which you are the most grateful.
By just doing that, you are already setting the tone of your day. You are getting mentally ready for what the day will bring.
So back to my story: I worked all morning and “found” the energy to go workout during lunch time. During my workout, my co-worker called me and told me that the team needed an emergency meeting to go over the “ongoing” situation.
I cut my workout short, showered really quick, and got dressed. I arrived at the office, sat at the conference table, listened to this ongoing situation, and worked on the problem with my team. However, I had put my t-shirt inside out when I got dressed and sat through all of the meeting in front of my peers dressed like that.
I could have let this affect me. I was a little bothered about this. I could have taken one of two possible actions here. Quickly go to the washroom and fix my t-shirt, and feel annoyed about what transpired or own it. You guess it — I owned it, I ripped the tag off my t-shirt and kept it on inside out for the rest of the day.
Funny enough, nobody mentioned anything, or maybe they were “nervous” to do so. Either way, I decided to own the situation. That said, I was wearing a black t-shirt, so it was not that hard, and probably no one noticed except me. Now, if that had happened with a bright-coulored polo shirt, self-talked or not, I would have probably fixed it, but not let it affect me mentally, because at the end of the day, nobody really cares, expect you — unless you are on live television, then that’s really funny.
Remember to practice positive self-talk to start on the right foot and be able to conquer the little problems of the day.