Remember that ridiculously cheery, borderline creepy scene from Mary Poppins where the children (rightfully so) complain about having to clean up their room?
(If you were not forced to watch that movie in kindergarten like every other normal child on earth, the entire song revolves around a “spoonful of sugar.”)
I was never a huge fan of the film — but I could always relate to the kids in that scene.
Why?
Cleaning sucks.
Doing things that you do not like sucks.
But looking back, I have to admit … maybe Poppins —despite being quite syrupy — was on to something.
Right before breaking into song, she declares:
“In every job that must be done, there’s an element of fun. You find the fun, and SNAP, the job’s a game.”
Let’s unpack that for a minute.
We assume that by its very nature, a job is not meant to be fun.
That is why it is called a J-O-B.
But what if a simple mental could snap you out of boredom, lethargy and negativity — and make you excited, happy and motivated?
You have to train your mind to see the good in every situation. Even situations that initially seem negative.
Here are 3 ways to start training your mind to see the good in every situation:
- Realize that success takes time. It is totally OK to be bored in the process
Something weird happens in our brains when we are bored with our goals.
First, we experience the irritating feeling of listlessness — which is uncomfortable in and of itself.
But that feeling of listlessness is usually followed by aggravation.
We are bored with our lives. Then we get mad at ourselves for getting bored. Then we get we try to think of a way to get un-bored, and the only thing we can think of doing are the things that bored us in the first place.
Kill me now!
Try this mental reframe: From now on, I want you to begin viewing boredom not as a sign of stagnation, but as a sign of consistent, steady progress — as I wrote about here.
As long as you are doing the little things that you need to do every single day in order to succeed, then success is inevitable. It is ok to be bored from Point A to Point B.
Just do not stop.
- Create a system to start tracking your progress. Sometimes, the biggest reason why we fail to see the good in everyday situations is because we lose perspective on how far we’ve come. You are missing the forest for the trees.
Remember coming back from summer vacation and seeing the people who would grown 6 inches? You did not see them for months — so their growth was quite apparent. But to them, the growth probably went unnoticed.
Point being, you have to start taking notice of the little, day-to-day improvements that you make. Over time, this will allow you to see how far you have come, and it will give you a reference point for where you want to go.
One method to track these improvements is The Seinfeld Solution, which some of the world’s best thinkers use to make consistent progress.
Using a system like this will slowly train your mind to start thinking more positively about the little wins you have on a daily basis.
- Remember that you can still make it. It is hard to pursue your dreams when your family, friends and coworkers do not believe in you. It feels good to have people that you care about support your vision.
But whenever someone tells you that you cannot do something, that a goal is “impossible” or downright laughs in your face, do not get frustrated.
Instead, train your mind to see their disbelief as a challenge.
Instead of saying, “They are probably right. I cannot do it” — train yourself to think, “Okay. Now, I will show you what I can do.”
Every time someone disparages you in an opportunity to show them how strong your vision is, turn their negative energy into your rocket fuel and blast off.
Image credit: CC by Loozrboy
