An important note to begin with: What follows is not meant to apply to people suffering from depression or similar mental health conditions. As anyone who has lived with such an illness (or someone with one) knows, you can’t simply cheer yourself up under those circumstances.
OK onward…
As I blogged yesterday, motivationally speaking, I had a pretty crappy day. My poor mood carried on unabated until I got home in the evening, had an hour in bed (properly in bed, under the duvet and everything*) and something to eat. I did feel better afterwards though and so resolved that today would not be the same.
It hasn’t been either.
So far it has been great! So what’s changed? I still have:
- A very quiet (read “boring”) working environment because lots of people are on holiday**
- The mundanity of a full week in my office
- Lots to do that I don’t really want to do
However, crucially, I had decided ahead of time that I would not be in a poor mood today. I have chosen instead to focus on even the smallest positive thing. A good cup of coffee. A text from a friend. Plans for an interesting meeting in a couple of weeks time. The sunny weather. A traffic-free commute. The weekend ahead.
And I have to say that it has worked admirably. I feel far more positive – genuinely back to my extroverted, happy (and probably too noisy) self. I’ll post more another time on Jon Gordon’s “One Word” idea for this year, but my word for 2018 is “Joy“. I spent too much of my life last year feeling like I did yesterday. I was robbed (or robbed myself) of too much joy and so I promised myself in January that enough was enough.
I chose my mood this morning. I chose to be happy, to be positive, to be a blessing to those around me.
Choose your mood.
* I never normally do this during the day. It was however a rare and very welcome experience.
** I’m a total extrovert and, while I like my own company, feel the need to speak to someone every so often (like, at least half-hourly!)
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