THIS IS EASY

Oops. I forgot to post my June 15 blog. Here it is...


I’m sure you know, you can get your own Staples “Easy” Button. It’ll look good on your desk and upon seeing it, most people will give it a tap. Fun? Yes. Good idea? Maybe. Flawless? Not so much. Why not? One small but significant technicality: Staples accompanying statement “That was easy!” puts its power in the past--after the fact. 

I suggest we promote their tagline to the present tense, “This is easy!” and expand upon the idea just a bit. Why? Because right now, in real time--when you and I are in the thick of whatever we’re doing or thinking--we can use it to shape-shift our thinking in a very positive and helpful direction.

I’m a “To Do” list person. Have been all my life--until a few years ago when I realized I’d created my own list monster: Dread. Over time dribs and drabs of dread had seeped into my daily “To Do” list so that I no longer had one. What I’d created instead was a “To Dread” list. I always dreaded some (and on some bad days all) of the items on my list. About that time Staples came out with its “Easy” button. I took advantage of their idea, tweaking it and my old “To Do”  (aka: “To Dread”) list became my “This is easy!” list.  After all, I realized, it was not the actual doing of an item on that list but how I PERCEIVED THE DOING OF IT that determined how I thought/felt about it--whether I should dread or dream it into completion. In short, the dread was all in my head.  

Why make this conversion in our real-time thinking? It instantly improves our attitude--which in turn unlocks our creativity. It de-stresses us. It focuses the full extent of our energies and abilities upon the task to be done. It enables a playful approach to doing things we don’t necessarily want to do. It brings up the needle on our “I love my life!” meter. And most importantly, it gets us out of ourselves and our penchant for constant ego gratification. By converting, we bring our best selves to the external circumstances of our lives--both personal and global.

I know it can be hard wrapping your head around this one. May sound a bit fluffy. And unfortunately, you can’t take my word for it. You have to consciously (literally, audibly?) focus your “This is easy!” thinking on whatever’s on your list. And you have to do it enough times to begin to retrain your brain. (But even this is easy--if you approach it with a “This is easy!” attitude.) One of the great things about making this seismic shift is how quickly you will discover that if you’re feeling stress you’re not applying “This is easy!’ thinking to it. Then--and only then--can you do something about it. 

Do I always remember to use this level of thinking? No. But every time I do--every time--it makes a difference. And the more I use it, the more applications I find for it. Funny, I’ve noticed that once I commit this approach to some task--especially one of the unpleasant ones--I often find I make an audible, though unconscious, sigh of relief. Hmm.

TODAY.
DO YOURSELF & THE WORLD A FAVOR.
TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOU THINK.