Thanksgiving week is the week when many people see their bank accounts shrinking and their waistlines expanding, but I want to talk more about your thinking this week. Let’s step back and take a look at your thoughts this year. Did anyone ask you what you were thankful for this year and you looked at them and thought, “Are you crazy? There is nothing to be thankful for in 2020.” Well, let’s look at ways to see a situation and re-frame it from a shrinking thought to an expanding thought.
I recently attended a Tony Robbins seminar, and among the greatest insights that I took from that event was that I had been shrinking myself to fit into my limiting beliefs. I had been reacting to situations instead of looking at them as gifts. I had been choosing to limit my options because I felt like others would like that better. I had been stepping farther and farther away from my authentic self. I worked through a lot of my limitations last weekend, but the overall gift that I want to share with all of you is to notice when you are shrinking instead of expanding.
A great example of a shrinking thought is that you “have to” do something one way because that’s the way it’s always been done. Anyone going through this with their families right now? The holidays look a lot different this year, and while it might not feel great to change things, maybe there is a way to start a new tradition. If you can’t all meet for a meal this year, maybe you can create a family cookbook with all the holiday recipes to share with each other and future generations. Maybe you send out a newsletter with all your family updates and some things you have found to keep you sane this year. Maybe you send out care packs to your family with things they can use to relax and refocus, like some aromatherapy oils or candle, a soft blanket, a board game, a great book, some emergency chocolate, a gratitude journal, or whatever else you know they would like.
Maybe this is the year you stop to ask yourself if your family has been caught up in the need to purchase gifts for everyone, even when you don’t know what to give someone or don’t have enough money to make it something they would really like. Could you start a tradition of donating money to a charity of their choice? Could you pool the money into an account for the family to spend on an item they would all use? As someone who worked in marketing, I definitely got sick of seeing people buy just junk (I’m looking at you cheap nail grooming sets and potpourri in a bag holiday sets) and knowing that the money was wasted just to fit into a limiting belief of having to give presents to people when they don’t want or need them. Expand your definition of the holidays. Instead of sharing gifts, you could share your favorite story or memory of each other. Everyone wants to feel significant and loved, so knowing they had an impact in your life will feed their soul far more than another tire kit or bathrobe.
And yes, this year has been downright awful for many reasons, but if you look hard enough I know you found at least a few ways to expand, including your knowledge of zoom, skype, gchat, or some other remote work system! The gift of slowing down is something that I bet all of us needed. I know you will appreciate things a little more when you can leave the house and not have an arsenal of personal protective gear with you. Oh to be on a plane flying over an ocean is going to feel magical to me when I can do it once again! I might even complain a little bit less about how swollen my feet are as I step off the plane in a new country. I promise you that you have the choice to make 2020 a year of limitations or a year that taught you to be resourceful to find ways to expand. (I know you have time to read that book since you can’t go out to meet your friends at a bar) It’s all a matter of shifting your thinking!
Where have you focused on limitations this year? Need help shifting to a more expansive mindset? I’m here for you! Please reach out with questions or if you are interested in a coaching package. Time to turn this dumpster fire of a year into a S’mores-making party!
Let me know if you shift your holidays this year or where you are shifting your thoughts to be more expansive.
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