Last year, the world experienced unprecedented pandemic-related change. An understatement. Now, for a new year! You can keep finding new ways to adapt. Pivot. Grow stronger. Better. Improve your skills and habits. How you think. What you tell yourself. And—move forward.
Here are 3 ways to optimize your self-talk during times of uncertainty, ambiguity, and change—to better adapt and feel a sense of control. You can’t know yet what this new year will bring. But you can choose what you focus on. You can create your best life in 2021.
These will help:
1. Acknowledge in your thoughts and words the positive aspects of your life.—Focus on anything that is going well and anything you are looking forward to. Notice opportunities (for growth, innovation, learning, service, and enjoyment) within your current situation.
2. Recognize the constants in your life.—Choose to think about the important people, places, and things (nature, music, art, books, pets, hobbies) you still have in your life.
3. Appreciate what you have choice or control over.—Value your ability to decide how you dress, what you eat, what you believe, or be grateful for your capacity to see, smell, hear or talk, and if you can drive, walk, or brush your teeth.
As Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and author of the extraordinary book Man’s Search For Meaning, said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Truly, no matter what you are going through—you can choose to work on your self-talk. Your thoughts. Your attitude towards life. What you choose to focus on will powerfully impact how you feel and what you accomplish in 2021. The choice is always yours.
I’m rooting for you!
AWARENESS: Who is one person you are grateful for? Why is the person meaningful to you? What is one thing you are looking forward to this year? Today? (Can you plan in something to look forward to today?) What parts of your life are currently in your control? (Pro tip: think of the micro, daily decisions you make. Might seem small, but what if you weren’t able to make them.)
ACTION: Identify 3 positive aspects of your life as it is right now. If that feels challenging, identify 3 decisions you’ve already made today—that you are glad you were able to make for yourself. For a bonus boost: Write those 3 aspects or decisions you identified on a Post-it Note. Put it somewhere you can easily see—as a reminder that you can choose to focus on thoughts that will help you be your best.
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
—Maya Angelou
“Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”
—Gilda Radner
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