Break the "Same Old" Cycle
Go In A New and Better Way
Another day… *sigh*
How often do you hear that from friends or colleagues? How often do you say or think that?
It’s easy to fall into a bad rhythm. It’s easy to get stuck. It’s easy to keep doing the same old thing.
A recent graphic from @sunsamahq on Instagram reminded me of this. Follow them for great visual reminders!
You can get caught in a cycle unless you gain consciousness of it and make the choice to get out.
In today’s YOU Not Me Letter, I will help you create awareness around the “same old” cycle and show you how to break free from it by going in a new and better way.
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Patterns and Processes
Repetition is part of the reality of life. People build their days around patterns and repeatable processes. Most of us like familiarity, and it’s for good reason.
Novelty and change often intimidates us. Think of the first time you tried something new. You maybe felt some level of nervousness or anxiety. Why? You hadn’t been there before.
And while familiarity can benefit us by giving us something predictable and comfortable, it can also breed complacency and passivity, which leads us to take things for granted.
In my book The YOU Not Me Mindset, I give an example of this.
Much of the “street noise” that a tourist perceives goes unbeknownst to the man who has worked on that street for ten years. You grow accustomed to marriage, jobs, pain, and the rhythms of life. You grow numb to what surrounds you when you lose focus on what matters now and day-by-day intentionality fades away.
The Same Old Cycle
Old habits reinforce old mindsets.
Old mindsets ensure the same old results.
Aren’t you tired of the same old results? Isn’t this what drives most of your complaints and produces most of your frustrations throughout the week?
This kind of cycle becomes a whirlpool that pulls you in. This is what “stuck” looks like.
After you’ve been in this kind of mindset for a while, that’s when you find yourself sighing, “Again…”
Results reinforce mindsets, and then mindsets reinforce behaviors.
If Bob from sales always spouts off about his problems when you meet him at the water cooler or after a conference call, you assume that he will just do it again this time.
If you always have to clean up the kitchen after dinner, you expect that it’s just going to be another dreaded 15-30 minutes of your evening spent when you’re already tired.
If your teammate always loses the ball when you pass it to them, you can already feel yourself preparing to get annoyed over their mistake.
But, it doesn’t have to be like this.
A New and Better Way
It’s time to go in a new and better way.
YOU Not Me takes the ordinary and mundane things of life and turns them into opportunities for significance and success.
It starts with a new mindset - a YOU Not Me Mindset.
A new mindset becomes a catalyst for new habits.
New habits create new results.
Note that events or circumstances aren’t part of that graph. That’s because you can’t always control them. But, you can make a choice to Shift Your Mindset towards the circumstance or event in order to move forward in a better direction coming out of it.
Sick of the stale conversation on the conference call or by the water cooler?
It’s not just Bob from sales spouting off about his problems. It’s a chance to make someone feel seen, heard, and valued. It’s a chance to help Bob see the positive things he’s doing. It’s a chance to express your thankfulness for him as a colleague.
Tired of cleaning up in the kitchen after a long day?
It’s not about the activity itself. It’s about serving your spouse and giving them a chance to take a moment and do something they enjoy. It could even develop into a time to connect with another family member or roommate as you take care of everything.
Annoyed with how often your teammate loses the ball?
It’s not about their mistake. They might even lose the ball so often because they fear negativity and criticism from others, which shatters their confidence. See it as an opportunity to encourage them to react well to it and model grace and a rock-solid mentality to your other teammates.
Can you be the one that sees potential in them? Can you see that your encouragement and belief might bring out their best?
It all starts with a simple choice of mindset each day. This one small choice determines how you live and what your life produces. What will you choose today?