I just finished my workout in the gym and am thinking about a conversation I had yesterday with one of my clients. I want to share some of that conversation with you.
He’s going through a tough time, as I have, as we all have. Some of the things he and I talked about yesterday may sound familiar to many of us.
CAN YOU RELATE TO THESE THOUGHTS?
You know how it starts. Something terrible happens, or maybe you’re just going through a rough time. Things get worse, and maybe you don’t know what to do. You start to self-destruct, almost without realizing it. You lose focus and you lose clarity.
WE BLAME, WE QUESTION, WE DOUBT
You blame yourself for what is happening. You believe that you are the sole cause of the problem. You think to yourself, “This is because I’m not good enough. I wasn’t paying enough attention to detail. This is because I suck, or because I’m not good enough….”
YOU JUST NEED TO Z-O-O-M
One of the things that I discussed with my client is that when bad things happen in your life, you need to ZOOM OUT.
What does that even mean? What is ZOOMING OUT? Is there also ZOOMING IN?
Stay with me, and check this out.
ZOOMING IN: THINGS GET BIGGER
When you ZOOM IN on something, it gets bigger. Much bigger, bigger than it needs to be. It becomes enormous, until all you can see is the looming problem.
But when you ZOOM OUT, it becomes smaller, and you can begin to see the bigger picture.
When bad things are going on in your life, you need to ZOOM OUT from the negative perspective so you can see the full picture.
When you ZOOM OUT when things are not going your way, you can see the problem with a better sense of proportion. You might even realize the problem is smaller than you thought, in the grand scheme of things.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
It’s important to ZOOM OUT because it brings you focus, among other things.
It will keep you motivated.
It will help you stay positive.
It will give you a better perspective.
It will enable you to have the right attitude to persevere through the challenging times.
Many of us self-destruct because we focus solely on the negative thing that is happening right now in our lives, and completely overlook all the good things that have already come our way.
HOW DO I ZOOM OUT?
One of the best ways to ZOOM OUT is to take time to reflect, but not on the problems at hand. Instead, reflect on:
the progress you’ve made as an individual
on all the good things that have already happened to you
your great accomplishments
all the positive things you’ve experienced
SNAP OUT OF IT!
There’s a better alternative to throwing your hands up and saying, “Well, I screwed up. I messed up. I didn’t do what I was supposed to do,” or whatever. That is not helpful!
What you need to do is to snap out of it! It doesn’t do you (or the people around you) any good for you to throw yourself a pity party.
GET READY TO ZOOM BACK IN
What you need to do is ZOOM OUT, get refocused, reflect on the good things that have happened in your life, and realize that this isn’t the end of the world.
Once you do that, you can begin to ZOOM IN to find creative solutions to the problems at hand.
ZOOM IN on the positives.
ZOOM IN on the things that you can control.
ZOOM IN on the things that you can do.
Ask yourself: What steps can I take toward a solution? What will improve my situation? How can I achieve my goals?
STAY CONSISTENT, THROUGH GOOD TIMES AND BAD
Consistency counts! Being consistent is one of the most important things you can do to dramatically improve all aspects of your life. It’s important to ZOOM OUT during the hard times, but it’s equally important to stay focused by ZOOMING IN during the good times. It’s about smoothing out the bumps in the road during the tough times and planning ahead to keep it that way!
THINGS ARE BETTER NOW… FORGET ABOUT ZOOMING IN AND OUT, RIGHT?
Not really. When things are going badly, ZOOM OUT and focus on the positives. Give yourself the perspective you need to solve your challenges.
But when things are going great, don’t forget to ZOOM IN!
When you feel like you’re on top of the world, and you feel like life can’t get any better, that is the time you need to move your behind and ZOOM IN! When you start to relax and pat yourself on the back, that’s when you are most likely to slack off.
Stay focused on the things that are producing results. Otherwise, it’s easy to get caught back up in the same cycle that produced the problems to begin with!
KEEP ASKING THE HARD QUESTIONS
ZOOM IN on the areas that need improvement. Be meticulous about the details and pay attention to what comes next. Ask yourself these kinds of questions:
Where can I see that improvement is needed?
What can I do differently?
What can I do better?
What would keep my challenges from occurring again?
IT’S HUMAN NATURE
The way people react when things aren’t going well seems universal. We tend to focus on the negative, but guess what that does? It sucks away your self-esteem, it sucks away your motivation and it kills your ambition and drive.
When things are going well, we really want to just relax and take it easy; live it up and celebrate! But those are the times when we need to keep focused, when we’re the most likely to forget about the details that can matter so much.
KNOW SOMEONE HAVING A TOUGH TIME?
I hope you found this helpful. Maybe you know someone who needs to hear the message, somebody who is going through a hard time and needs a better perspective, somebody who needs you to send this to them in order to hear, “Hey, snap out of it and focus, it’s not the end of the world.”
Tell them to get up and focus on the solutions, get a better perspective on your life and regain your motivation. And, if someone’s feeling great and things are going great, tell them to read this, because they need to be warned, “Hey, if you want things to keep going great, stay focused and ZOOM IN on the things that you need to do better.”
Let me know if you have any questions.
Until next time, guys, you are awesome – adios!
