My alarm did not go off this morning, so I woke-up late. Because it was pouring rain my teenage son asked me to take him to school instead of riding the bus. My daughter forgot her flute and asked me to drop it by the school for her… This was just the beginning of my morning.
Needless to say I was struggling to get out the door and make it to my client meeting on time – especially because I had a 45-minute commute!
In order to accommodate the last minute changes, I cut-back on personal prep time and actually left the house on time. But then… I noticed that the garbage and recycle barrels were not out (that same teenage son who wanted a ride did not take them out!). When I arrived at the middle school to drop off the flute they still had the main entrance blocked off by cones for the car-rider drop-off line, so I had to drive ALL THE WAY AROUND THE SCHOOL LOOP!
Then… yes, my story goes on… I realize that I am definitely running late. I switch my client meeting to a video call and decide that I will do it from the local coffee shop. This will still allow me enough time to drive the 45 minutes to the networking group I was also supposed to attend this morning. As I rounded the corner onto the road to the coffee shop the traffic is stopped! I can see flashing lights up ahead!
At that moment I decided, “I NEED TO MAKE A U-TURN!” As I pulled my car around, I realized that I was gripping the steering wheel with a death grip. I could feel my pulse pounding through the roof and my mind was racing.
[box] As my car turned around I made the decision to also make a U-turn in my mindset![/box]
As my car turned around I made the decision to also make a U-turn in my mindset! It’s at these times I go into self-coaching mode. I have to remind myself that living a life of white-knuckle gripping of the steering wheel is not how I choose to live anymore.
Notice what I said there:
Living a life of white-knuckle gripping of the steering wheel is not how I CHOOSE TO LIVE anymore!
Like many of us out there, I have muscle? nerve? attitude? memory that takes me right back to my old ways of STRESSED OUT living. It’s so easy to get caught-up in the busy-busy of the day in general, let alone when things don’t go according to plan. For tips on how to “Break Your Busy” check out my Breaking Busy series.
It can take a conscious effort – some self-coaching – to change your mindset and break the cycle of being on “Stress-Autopilot.” Making the physical U-Turn in my car helped me to make the mental and emotional U-Turn I needed in my brain.
I already knew that I did not have to rush to get to my client meeting on time. I also decided that I would just go to the Starbucks in town (instead of my local coffee shop) to have my client call. Thus, I didn’t have to worry and I didn’t have to rush.
I also still made it to my networking meeting on time! Again, I did not have to worry! And, I did not have to rush.
I did have to make-up for lost time though.
My original plan was to drive the 45 minutes, attend my client meeting, go to a Starbucks nearby to check my email and then attend my networking meeting.
What had to change was that I ended-up having to check my email after the networking meeting because my morning was sort-of cut-up. But, truly that is okay. I still waded through my email, and am writing this blog, all in time to get back on the road before traffic.
Sometimes our mindset U-turn, and the subsequent stress-relief, will cause us to add-on or rearrange our day. What I have found in my experience is that when I undertake the rearranging with a relaxed mindset it all goes easily and flows well.
On the other hand, when I undertake rearranging my day with a stressed-out, rushed mindset, things keep going wrong OR they just don’t flow. This will result in my being exhausted at the end of the day! Well…. Truthfully, it will result in my being exhausted within a couple of hours!
The Moral of The Story
The moral of this story is that when our days go wonky, or if we just wake-up in a wonky mood, if we make a mindset U-Turn from rushed and stressed to flowing with ease, we will have much happier, healthier day!
There are so many examples of when and how we need to make mindset U-Turns in our lives. My day today is only one of many!!!
If you would like to hear about more of the U-Turn moments in my life and how I handle them in a Peaceful Living way check out my Facebook/ YouTube videos with the hashtag #gowiththeflow. These are short videos recounting moments when I, or a friend or client, chose to, “go with the flow,” and it how worked out much better than if they stressed-out.
I would LOVE to hear your stories about when you have done a Mindset U-Turn! Share them in the comments!
And if you would like to some individual support and motivation to help you learn how to have more Mindset U-Turns in your life, book a coaching consultation with me!
And of course don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Facebook!
Love & Light,
Jen
