Rerouting thoughts to empower ourselves
With constant exposure to all forms of information nowadays, it’s easy to become negative or jaded to the world around us. I’ve learned over the years that only we can control our thoughts and reactions to certain situations. It’s important to stop those negative thoughts that sometimes creep their way into our minds and practice ways to remain positive as we go about our daily routine and tasks.
In a recent post on the Leadership Now blog, executive coach and CEO Jody Michael talks about choosing thoughts that empower us as leaders. In the post, she emphasizes the influence of our “perceptual lens” on past experiences and how that can shape the way we view everyday experiences.
Michael then goes on to explain that when coaching her clients, she asks them to talk about their most important beliefs that they hold regarding themselves, their family, work, money, and more. This helps them better understand their overall perceptual lens of themselves and the world around them.
She uses examples that are common “lenses” and how they can be reframed:
- Rather than “I’m an impostor,” think “I can build confidence.”
- Rather than “I am successful because I work longer and harder than others,” think “How can I achieve balance?”
- Rather than “I’ll do it myself,” think “I can create a safe, secure, and supportive team.”
By integrating this reframing practice into our daily routine, we’ll be able to positively influence our reactions to situations that initially appear to be negative, in all aspects of our lives. This will declutter our thoughts and give us more time and energy to focus on successfully leading those in our organizations.