Wherever You Go, There You Are!
Last time we spoke on the power of the reframe as a first step towards shifting our workplace frustration to joy. Today, we will continue on this journey with the rewrite. “Wherever you go, there you are” is an axiom attributed to multiple sources including Confucius and Jon Kabat-Zinn, and serves as the perfect backdrop for today’s discussion on how to best adjust your mindset. Recall that not too long ago I was in the exact place where some of you now reside, trapped in a negative relationship with the environment that is work and bombarded by daily thoughts that only serve to disempower me. What is it about our thoughts that we allow to imprison us? To answer this question, let’s take a trip upstairs and visit the inner workings of our mind.
Our thoughts dictate how we perceive the world and manifest as the experiences which unfold in our life. Peel back the layers of the mind, and the picture becomes even scarier. We see with our mind and not with our eyes. Why is this the case? Because anything less will render us incapable of handling the agglomeration of information that flows through us. Our conscious mind processes between 40 to 200 bits of information per second, while our nonconscious mind handles a massive stream of 400 million bits in the same period. Imagine if all of this information was allowed to flood our awareness at once. Dwell on this the next time you feel overwhelmed and give thanks to your Reticular Activation System (RAS) for coming to the rescue as the situation could be far worse. Our RAS filter is the mechanism by which our mind attributes significance to the information we process. What does all of this mean for you? Well, at the end of today you will have processed over 60,000 thoughts, of which 95% will be a replay from yesterday, and over 80% of these will be negative. By now you hopefully see the magnitude of the picture which our thoughts paint on a canvas we call our emotions. Our emotions are simply a reflection of our mind reverberated throughout our body.
Clearly, that which colors our perception is largely automatic, and the only way to take back control is to:
- Become Intentional
- Become Habitual
- Become Balanced
This recognition and accountability are where the fight to reclaim our work fulfillment must initiate. Distractions in life are everywhere, and it is necessary to train the mind to create the perfect day you wish to live. This process starts with the first environment you enter, otherwise known as the new day. How did you show up this morning? Did you grab the remote or your phone as you opened your eyes? This desire to catch up places you on someone else’s agenda for your day. Before you are even aware, your thoughts are influenced by the transgression of the world, and you have already lost the battle for your day.
You have to become intentional about making a claim for how your day will play out. What is important for you to accomplish? More importantly, how best can you show up in life to see this goal to completion? Having a morning routine is a must if you truly intend to start your day in the right direction. This practice can include journaling, meditating, exercising and so on, all of which help to create balance. With this foundation set, you are now ready to enter all of your environments, including that of work, with a mental disposition where you are at cause rather than effect. In this paradigm, you are the one now shaping your life by rewriting the software which has been running unattended for way too long.
Grab a copy of my Three R’s book today for an in-depth exploration of how you too can shift your workplace frustration to joy by following my journey back to a better place in life, both at work and at home, by remembering that wherever you go, there you are!
