How are you feeling today? Dress for yourself to kickstart your day on the right foot.
I must admit I go through many emotions through out the day. There are times where I feel calm, strong, ok and then all at the sudden deep fear creeps up on me about all the uncertainty that lies ahead.
Staying strong in the midst of a crisis requires me to manage my thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.
To remember how to stay strong during Coronavirus challenges, I follow this A-B-C formula:
1. Accept reality.
Acceptance doesn’t mean agreement.
Accepting reality is about recognizing what’s within your control. When you can’t control the situation, focus on controlling yourself.
🤜 Since I work from home now as everyone else I tend to get dressed for it. There are days where I like to put on a dress and other times it is smart casual. Yellow is one of my favourite colours, so I try to include it where ever I can. It always makes me feel happy.
2. Behave productively.
Accepting reality helps me to manage my thoughts and regulate my emotions—which are key to my productive behaviour and where I make choices about how to respond.
Unproductive behaviour, like complaining or feeling pity for myself, will keep me stuck. Those behaviours are just toxic to my mental strength.
So, when deep fear is creeping on me and starting to mess with my mind I am asking myself “What’s one thing I can do right now to help myself?”- A question that served me well since I can remember.
3. Control upsetting thoughts.
Our mind can be your best asset—or your biggest enemy. If I give in to my negative thoughts, my self-limiting beliefs will prevent me from moving forward – or just staying calm and strong what is the best we only can do right now.
Some food of thought: When you dress for yourself you will carry this “ success feeling” on to your next task and will feel better when doing it. Dressing up for yourself is like showing up for yourself – and this behaviour you automatically internalise for the rest of the day.