How to Reframe to Make the Most of Your Day

Are you busy, tired and need to reframe your situation?  Here’s how I tackled this reframe approach.

These past two weeks have been pretty intense.  Work travel started to increase and we are pursuing several projects at various phases.  My wife started working again, after taking a few months off to stay home with our newborn. 

Our 10 year old continues to work hard at school, but still struggles from time to time.  Spring travel soccer started and we now travel on various weekends.  We have also been helping family with a small renovation project.

Needless to say, I feel tired.  I am really excited about all of these different opportunities with my family and work.  This keeps me motivated to push through the mental and physical challenges of being busy. 

It is hard to stay positive with all of these different responsibilities pulling on you.  I made a choice that every time I feel like life is getting hard, I need to REFRAME my situation.  You can use this approach as well.

Please find three ways below to reframe your situation to stay positive.

1. Control your thoughts.  Your thoughts control your actions.  If you have negative or self-defeating thoughts, your actions will reflect those notions.  You tend to become what you dwell on.  Focus on the positives in your current situation, think about where you want to be in the future, and implement actions that reinforce your positive goals.  This will help keep your thoughts on the right track.
2. Eat a frog in the morning.  If you are in a difficult situation, tackle your biggest challenge related to that situation first thing in the morning.  You may not solve all of your problems that day, but you will make progress and start to control your destiny.  Do not allow this world to push you around.  Once you have knocked out an action to address that problem, the rest of your day will be reframed and it will be more enjoyable.
3. Life is a gift.  I believe life is a gift and not a right.  You are a steward of your body, family, friends and resources around you.  Make wise investments in your family, fitness and finances.  You will have to manage your time, so that there is balance in your life.  It is easy to focus on work and miss out on other areas of importance.  Step back, reprioritize, and focus on the gifts of your life.  Cherish and nurture those gifts.  Your life will be more rewarding than you can imagine if you can maintain this mindset.

Is life hard?  It can be, but you have to move through the challenges to get to the rewards.  I once had a mentor tell me that the quickest way through a storm is straight forward.  Do not stand in place during a storm or what appears to be a storm in your life.  You need to move quickly with action and you will see the sun on the other side.  Storms will pass.

What are some different ways you could reframe your situation to focus on the positives?