Choosing a response – not a reaction

In life, business and work, it often seems like situations arise that you have no control over, or that we have boxed ourselves in a corner, and you are right! There are many events that will challenge you in terms of your response. Your choice about the directions you take or action you apply may be limited. The choices of thoughts you think, are not. Choose well- thoughts that support you on your journey.

Think about it this way, we carefully choose what we will eat for dinner, the restaurants we go to, the clothes we wear, the programs we watch on TV, who we spend time with and we also need to carefully choosing our thoughts, and focus on what we can control.

Five tips to choosing steps to success:

• Decide that while you may not have control over what happens, you can control how you respond


• Pay attention, close attention, to the thoughts that run through your mind. When negative thoughts arise, reframe to a more positive or optimistic line of thinking


• Reframe your thinking:




• Instead of looking at why something could fail, explore the ways in which it may succeed


• Instead of justifying why you can’t do something, consider what you could do


• Rather than looking at what is not working, review what is working


• Instead of finding someone to blame, find a solution


• Change your words – and change your outcome. Avoid words like shoulda, woulda, and can’t


• Instead of asking for someone’s ear to vent to, ask for someone’s mind to help find a solution