Five Strategies For A Positive Mindset

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to start your week with a coach. I am your certified high performance coach, Sean Butner. And this week we're talking about five mindset hacks to help you generate a positive attitude and a positive mind going forward each day, each week, each month, and each year. Start your week. Great. Start your week with a coach. I'm your host, certified high performance coach Sean Butner, and. And we're gonna talk about something that'll help you advance in your life this week. So let's go. We've all gone through quite a lot these past few years, and as a coach and as I've been working with people this year, I've noticed that there are a whole lot of people that are stuck in survival mode, are stuck in feeling trapped or feeling constrained or feeling like they can't take chances, they can't take risks, they can't bet on themselves, they can't invest in themselves. And it's. It's heartbreaking. You know, I think if you're stuck there and you can't move on, then, you know, you're really going to miss a huge opportunity. As we start to shift out of uncertainty, as things getting a little bit more certain as we figure out the whole, like, economy thing, as organizations start to perform a bit better after we've had a lot of people, a lot of organizations shook out of the economy for a whole variety of reasons the past few years. So, you know, it used to be that you put in hours or, you know, do your job and then, you know, work all sorts of crazy hours, do a long commute and you come back and, and we're now in a world where that's not necessarily a case depending on the type of work you do. So if you're a knowledge worker, if you're someone that uses expertise, it doesn't require, like a physical footprint. So if you're not a mechanic or line worker at a factory or service member, cashier, bank teller, those types of things, you might need to be physically at your job to work. The world is your oyster, and the world has shifted. And the organizations and folks that can take advantage of being able to work from anywhere, you know, being able to move their family to where housing might be cheaper so they can have a higher quality of life, or people that realize that people can be more productive and impactful if they're not dealing with a long commute, five days a week, seven days a week, or that, you know, we don't need to load up people with busy work just to have them you know, idly contribute when, if they focus on getting the important things done, that's going to drive real value and real, you know, sales and real, you know, impact with customers and your business. So as we're in this, this new world and, and you know, we spent the last year probably figuring it out, you know, how to do zoom, last two years figuring out zoom, the digital world, how do we want to set up our teams? What kind of work do we really want to do? It's become extremely important to one, have those skills. But it's important to, at this point in time to start to push, to start to progress, to start to make big moves for yourself and your family. Because this is the best opportunity, right? I have not seen opportunity like this since 2007, 2008, after all the housing stuff happened. Because there's a lot of pain and hurt that happened in the economy worldwide and in the US here, But there's also a lot of companies that came out on top then, right? Because if you think before 2007 and the financial crisis, there really wasn't an iPhone, YouTube really wasn't a thing. Facebook was relatively unknown. You know, so a lot of these tech companies really accelerated their. Amazon still wasn't the giant that it is today. You know, it was Walmart, you know, it was Target, it was, you know, Best Buy still had a pretty big presence back then, and those players couldn't adapt to online, couldn't adapt to the new mobile market, and were left behind for the people that were able to take that chance. And I think we're in that type of zone here today also. So what is going to prevent people from really putting themselves on their line doing the things that are, you know, investing in the skills that they need today to really ride that, that wave that I think we're going to be seeing here in the next year. And that ultimately comes with one of the very basic things in personal development that is mindset, right? So we need to be thinking about mindset and how do I feel, how you do day to day? And is that optimistic? Is it keeping me on task? Is it serving me towards, you know, readying myself or catching a ride on that wave as we go into the future with all these probably a bunch of companies we don't even know will start to explode, you know, so how are we preparing ourselves for that? How are we maintaining healthy mindsets during the week, during the month and, you know, during this year, especially when there's a lot of uncertainty, especially when, you know, it could be scary or you could find yourself in a bad spot if your work doesn't go all that well. So I want to say that, you know, as a coach, I work with mindset all the time with folks. But personally, like, I had. There was a time early on in my career in tech where I was. It was right after 2007, I think it was 2008. It was my second actual official year working after college, and I was burning out. You know, I would wake up, jump in the shower. You know, I'd have an automatic coffee make drip coffee maker. So, you know, I'd go, you know, dump a bunch of coffee into my body, into a big cup. As I had a cup, while I was, you know, rushing to get out the door, feed the cat. And then, you know, I had it down to, like, in 15 minutes, I could be in the car, probably more like 20 minutes in the car, washed, you know, made up, and ready to sit in front of a computer for 12 hours or whatever. And so with that kind of like, jump into it process. And then at work, I never felt like I could control my work. You know, there's always a fire. There was always something more important than the project work that I was assigned to, you go and tackle. So that at the end of the day, I was exhausted. And I always felt like I was falling behind in my work. And maybe you've felt that way in your life. And so, you know, ultimately that started to get me to, like, feel a lot more insecure, like, am I. What am I doing here? So there's a little bit of imposter syndrome that came up. Maybe you've had that and your career or an area of your life. I started to really, you know, just hate my job. Right? There's a lot of resentment in not feeling like I was in. In control of what I worked on and what I focused on, honestly, you know, and it's not that you have to have 100% control when you work for another organization, but it's also to say, like, I can't carve out three hours to focus on my project work, to get something done each day, because there's all these other demands going on. And so I would wake up and, you know, fill my giant pot, you know, get the pot of coffee, dump it in my big cup, have a cup and feed the cat all the time, being like, man, I hate my job. Man, I hate my job. Oh, I really hate this job. And I noticed after a while I was super stressed, super just exhausted, right? And so eventually I figured Something had to give, right? It was either I was going to, like, have a mental breakdown or I was going to figure out a different way. And I chose to at least do the nerd thing and research what I could do. I knew that part of my problem too, because I was burning out, is I wasn't working out. So I signed up for a marathon at that time, and I started to do journaling. And that was one of the first big breakthroughs I had in my own mindset, you know, coming up. And that was just, you know, doing a positive reframe of that. I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job. It was, I don't love my job yet. I don't love my job yet. And that subtle shift of language, especially if that was the thing it kept repeating in my head over and over, you know, the whole day while I was at my job, helped me feel a little bit less upset about what was going on. And that gave me the space to start to shift and figure out what I needed to do to get into a place that was really great. So it's so important that we tend our mindset. It's so important that we create a positive mindset. Because that thing that creeped in my head about I hate my job just, I don't remember actively, like, willing that to happen. It just kind of happened because I wasn't intentful on how I wanted to feel. And so it is so important that we have habits and we have routines and we have tools that can help us create a healthy, positive mindset. Because as soon as I got that mindset fixed, I was able to shift in the organization where I was working, which was Walmart at the time, Walmart corporate, and found a job that was more suited to my skills, you know, from all my education. So I felt a little bit more confident there. And that little bit of confidence went a long way in being able to talk to software engineers, being able to talk to people in the business, get them to communicate a bit better or at least have some better clarity for each other so that the project would be run a lot smoother. And I was really, really awesome and great at that. And so. But it started with a mindset shift. You know, it started with me figuring out that I can't feel miserable every day and, and something needed to change. So today I have five different mindset hacks or mindset strategies that can help you really shift your mindset and generate that positive, optimistic mindset. So if you are feel like you're struggling if you feel like you're underwater, you feel like you're always stressed, you feel like you hate your job every day, that you can shift, that you can turn that ship and get to a space where your mindset's right, so that your actions and your feelings and your behaviors will then start to shift and get you to where you need to go. And hopefully that is where you are again, you know, working towards that big goal that you have for yourself to provide and have more abundance for yourself, your family, to really make a bigger impact in your community, because that's what this is all about, you know, have that underlying meaning in your life. So, okay, here are the five different mindset hacks or strategies that I have for. I hate the word hats. I'm gonna call it strategies from here on out. But. And as you're going through this, you know, grab something to take some notes with and think of each of these strategies in time. Right? What can you do today? What can you do this week? What can you do every month, and what can you do every year to kind of help solidify this habit in your life? Because a lot of times it might seem like common sense. I have a mentor that says common sense isn't always common practice. And I. I love that quote. So as we're talking through these, again, you know, think about how you could implement this, even if it seems really simple or maybe you already do some of these things, and I want to cheer you on, to say, like, how could you do it better or more efficiently or have it create a bigger impact in your day to day so that you see and feel that mindset shift. Yeah. Okay. Habit number one is a gratitude journal. Like, this is, like Personal Development 101, but just we're so focused on the negative. A lot of the times our brains are wired to pick that stuff up because it used to be survival. Sometimes it can feel like, you know, super stressed because you're not surviving. You know, our brains can kind of trick you into feeling like that person that snubbed you in the meeting at work, you know, is threatening your life for being, you know, ostracized from the group, when really, in reality, it's just that person's a jerk or it's not going to get you kicked out necessarily. Right? So the gratitude journal does a bunch of really great things for your brain. The first thing, if you can accomplish it, first thing when you get out of the bed in the morning. My buddy Michael Seeley shared this habit with me on my podcast, the Meaningful Revolution. Which go check out if you haven't yet. I'd love to have you there. But he talks about his work with athletes, he's a psychologist that works with athletes and that so many athletes have a gratitude practice. And so his practice that he shares with his clients and he learned from his folks is to before you go to bed, you get a piece of paper, you write, I am grateful for. 1, 2, 3, go to bed, you wake up. The first thing you do when you wake up is to fill out three things that you are grateful for that you are thankful for, that you appreciate about your life. And it could be big or small, right? And this is a really good daily habit, so we'll talk about that habit. But during the week it could be, you know, your day to day could just be things you're grateful for every week. It could be things that you're proud that you accomplished, you know, and if you're not proud that you accomplish things, it's things that you are proud to have done or people that you are proud to have, you know, supported or helped that week. And so having that daily review, that weekly review, thinking about things that you are grateful for the past month, on the first of the month, you think of the last month, what was I the most grateful for? Going through all those notes. And then every year reviewing those notes that you took daily and weekly throughout the year can make a ton of difference just how you feel every day. If you start that day thinking like, yeah, I'm a pretty lucky guy or a pretty lucky gal and you know, I have a spouse that loves me, I got healthy kids, I got healthy family, I got a job that I best tolerate or I have a job that I absolutely love, which is even better, then you are rocking and ready to go. And if you again, if you can't, this is a great again exercise to push yourself. And I as your coach am going to push you to do this. So if you could make sure you do this, try it for the next week and I think you'll see a huge shift in just how your outlook is each day. And the longer you can do it, the better. Again, it's a simple technique, super powerful. Okay. Second mindset strategy that can really help you is if you, if you have awareness of the things that you tell yourself every day. Like for me and my story was I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job, right? Having a, a way to positively reframe that isn't lying, isn't sugarcoating it, but you know, can Change the emotional impact, because words have emotionality behind them, whether or not. And hate is a very strong emotion that conjures that. That. That idea. So just shifting like, I don't love my job yet was kind of embedding. Like, oh, I sh. You know, I can love my job, you know, so that's possible, number one. And number two, like, you can get stuck in the hate, but if you're like, I just don't love this yet, it gives you an out, right? And so other people are like, hey, I'm too old to switch jobs or to get hired at this place. And the positive reframe is you have a lot of experience to bring to this particular job that, you know, can make you super impactful. Because even if it's true, like, it, a company is super unethical and will not hire you because you're above a certain age. You don't need to take that on. Right? You don't need that negative juju. You need to make sure that you, you know, have that perspective. Like, oh, I have a lot to offer. I have a lot of experiences. I have a lot of different areas of life. Maybe you're going into software and used to work in finance. And so you have that financial knowledge and how money works and, you know, the financial system, and so that could be really good. And just understanding how a company is working. So you have a lot to bring to the table. Your experiences make you uniquely qualified and in a way that a lot of people aren't. I firmly believe each of our experiences is valuable and can be super valuable. So especially if you're in an area or team that doesn't have a lot of diverse experiences. So positive reframe is so important. It's like Indiana Jones swapping out the gold statue for the sack of sand in that one movie that he did. And then he runs away from the giant boulder trap, Right? So we want to be able to switch those and positively reframe those negative thoughts. Okay. Third mindset strategy is to just physically burn out your emotions, Right? And what do I mean by that? That means that moving your body, taking care of your body sometimes can be enough to help you feel better. And when you feel better, you'll think better. Right? So it's kind of a different angle on improving your mindset, but it is super important. Like, when I was super stressed with that job, I signed up for a marathon to train. That's how stressed out I was. I'm like, you know, it sounds like a good idea. Really, really struggling over 26.2 miles and feeling that pain is less than the stress that I was going through. So it's really important that. And I, I found out that, like, as I was training, you know, you get to like, for me, it was like after three miles, three, four miles, like, the brain, like, gets focused and clear. That, that tight feeling of stress in your chest or elsewhere in your body kind of relaxes and you're just kind of breathing and in the moment. And it's such a, a gift if you are highly stressed out. So how can you go for a walk if you're not into running, how could you lift some weights or just do some body squats or whatever? Great for your body, right? Like, talk to your health professionals before you start anything new. But, like, get into it, get moving. You know, as a high performance coach, we're always talking about how do you get beat, consistent results without hurting your relationships and without hurting your health and wellness. And so sometimes if you've been neglecting that wellness part or that health part, that can really help shift your head into a more positive space. So super, super powerful ingredient. So what can you do every day? Or do you have like a weekly cadence of training or, you know, how are you grading yourself over the month and year, Day, week, month and year on a scale of 1 to 10, like, how healthy was I? How well did I move? With 10 being like, I was always moving, never sat down, and one being like, I never got out of bed. Right. You know, assign a number for you yourself each day and review it each week, month and year. And give yourself three words on why you assign that value to why you gave yourself a seven that day. Right? Could be good, it could be bad, but. And then think, what could I do about it? And just that simple assessment, that simple intention to maintain your health can be all the difference you need. That's how I went from not being able to run five minutes in a row over nine months into, you know, training and accomplishing a 26.2 mile run. So it is possible and you can do it. And I'm sharing Yan. So there you go. Okay, number four, the fourth strategy for your mindset is to really work on that aspirational future for you, which is just thinking about how your life could be better in the future, could be different in the future. And it doesn't have, like, you can go crazy and really, like, it doesn't have to be super based in reality, but it'll help you if you can see a path towards that. So you know, there is some type of journaling or aspirational, like envisioning where you can imagine and kind of escape, which is sometimes fun, and why we do movies and books and stuff like that. But it's a little bit more impactful if you're like, what's my ideal house? You know, what's in the yard? Like, how many fruit trees is. Long driveway, short driveway. Now let's go through each room of my ideal house, right? Or it could be, what's my ideal career? Like, what am I doing? Who am I working with? Who am I helping? What impact am I living? What legacy am I leaving and just connecting with that dream again? You know, I think so many of us had our worlds shrunk this last few years. And if you got stuck there and you didn't start, like, pushing on the boundaries to see, like, oh, yeah, I don't have to just live in my house or live in my town, like, maybe it's time to go see family again. Maybe it's time to go see friends. Maybe it's time to get out in the world again and feel confident that you can manage that. Right? You know, I've heard this idea that so many people feel like they forgot how to interact with people. And it's kind of funny. Like, I think people are more crabby, and so it's kind of a cop out, you know, and it's an excuse. But now we're hardwired to interact with folks. And so even if it is a little weird, that's benefit of the doubt. It's weird, right? It's still cathartic. We could still work through it. We can, you know, notice it and make fun of like, nobody's wearing pants because they got used to not wearing pants on zoom. You know, stuff like that. I thought that was funny. Anyways, okay, so that aspirational thinking can really help you create hope or create a sense of like, oh, like, if I want to change my career and get to a place where I feel like I'm growing and contributing and collaborating and in a great environment, and it's helping me, you know, take care of what I have to for, you know, surviving and eating and providing for the family, like that in itself could generate a lot of positive feelings, a lot of positive outlook on life, which is the whole idea for these. Okay. And the fifth and probably most underutilized strategy for generating a positive mindset is what I call resilience planning. Right? And all that is is thinking about, like, this week, what do I need to accomplish and what could go wrong, right? So it's like, I have this big project I'm working on. I know that I need these three people on it. And I know one person was just traveling internationally and might be sick, right? What am I going to do if one of the people calls in? How am I going to react as a business owner or how am I going to manage if, you know, my spouse ends up working late and misses our date night? Like, how am I going to handle that with Grace? How am I going to make that night still special if we don't get to go to our favorite restaurant or do the special date thing? You know, it's this pre planning. So it's like, if. Then, if this happens, then we do this. And it can be like night and day. When you plan for something, you think, like, what would be the worst thing that happened in this particular situation? Like, if this happens, I will do xyz. Like, knowing what you have to do and having it planned out before, even if you don't go into it too much, can really help you handle it much more coolly. And you're not like, freaking out trying to, like, figure it out, you know, like, oh, no, I know what to do. And that certainty, that clarity of what to do next is the magic of that resilience planning. And with the caveat that of course, you can't plan for every different thing that could go wrong. But, you know, I think it was Eisenhower said that a plan is worthless, but planning is invaluable. And it's just the more you practice this muscle of being flexible, of like, oh, okay, like we can figure this out in a different way, the more positive you'll be that you yourself can handle any situation. And that is super powerful. So, okay, guys, so we got these five mindset hacks for you. My mindset strategies, you know, the gratitude Journal, Positive reframing, physically burning emotion off, you know, thinking about your aspirational future, and then resilience planning. I'm sure if you don't do any of these, any one of these would be really helpful for you. If you're just starting out, I would say the gratitude journal is the easiest. And there's tons of other resources online for people that can really help you out with that. So I think that would be super impactful for you. But, you know, how is the time to be getting your mindset straight? Like, like I said, like, we have this world shift that has happened and, you know, we know that personal development all starts with mindset, which is why we're talking about this today. So get your mindset right. Try this out this week. You know, do the gratitude journal, you know, every day this week. See how that feels. Guys, let me know how what works for you or what doesn't. You know, reply back to the email. If you're on the newsletter, that would be great. Or you can email supportenbutner.com and we'll get back to you, cheer you on. I do have a new community that I'm working on and I should have live in the next couple of weeks. So keep on the lookout for that because that'll be a new way for y' all to interact and you know, let's meet each other and cheer each other on and build a really great community. I'd love to do that for y' all and I hope you all would want to be a part of that. So. Alright, guys, that's it. Go out there. Live with more joy, more personal growth and more impact in your communities. This is Sean Butner saying, let's be positive this week, guys. You got this. I know you got this and we'll talk to you then. Take care. Sa.