What to do when things don’t go to plan
A short piece to energise you
I hate it when things don’t go to plan.
I said a thing without thinking it through, and now I regret it.
I didn’t get the client I wanted.
Views are down on my articles.
I have people close to me who are struggling with mental health problems.
There’s a sharp pain that shows up in my left shoulder blade.
But here’s the thing about all of these things:
Until you decide what to do with them, they have zero meaning.
They needn’t be the source of ongoing annoyance.
There is no meaning in losing a client.
There is no meaning in things not going to plan.
There’s no meaning in that sharp pain.
No meaning.
Only data.
Only the Universe breathing.
Only particles colliding.
How I respond to those things…
Now that’s where things get interesting.
A sentient being has developed the capacity to respond and apply meaning to things.
This is what makes us human.
The meaning was never there.
You gave the thing meaning.
How you respond to events in your life determines what kind of events they are to you.
So when we fuss and fight and resist, we emphasise the negative frequency of such an event.
We make it bad. And so we must deal with ‘bad.’
And bad makes us sluggish and tired.
But this opens the question:
Can we make it good?
We have the power to apply meaning to things, after all.
Can we make it good?
Not necessarily morally good, but good ‘I can work with this’ good.
Can we make it ‘good?’
Yes. Yes we can.
We do this by asking a question.
Like unsheathing a clear, sharp blade.
The question cuts straight through to what counts.
The question is:
‘How can I use this?’
Instantly an event that had the potential to cause pain,
Has the power to brighten one’s resolve.
Can you use the setback to prompt a new system?
Can you use the back pain to motivate you to do squats in the gym?
Can struggling family members inspire you to master an understanding of the mind?
How can you use this?
By the way…
The ability to actually apply that question in real time, at the moment the setback lands, is a trained skill. It comes from having a mental strength foundation most people never build.
That foundation is exactly what I’ve bundled into ‘The Mental Strength Vault’ this week.
Six of my strongest mindset courses gathered together for four days only:
‘Untethered Mind’ (understanding how thinking actually works), ‘Let Go of the S#it That Weakens You’ (dropping the weight of what others think), ‘The Creator’s Mindset Blueprint’ (burnout, comparison, impostor syndrome, creative blocks), ‘The Procrastination Cure for Writers’ (dismantling the beliefs that stall you), and ‘The Art of Self-Respect’ (real, grounded self-worth). ‘The Likeability Code’ comes as a bonus.
This is all normally $1,062+ across all six. Right now, the deal is $139.
Summer thunderstorm sale closes 5pm ET Thursday 30 July.
Get instant access to all courses here.
Peace!
Alex
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