This was a game-changer. I have been struggling with consistently showing up to be creative and to work on a passive income idea. I decided to change my narrative.
First, I wrote out my struggle. Then I wrote out the negative thoughts I have about it. Next, I wrote down what I usually say to myself in these situations, and realized it does put too much pressure on myself.
When I wrote out a story I can believe, it really lifted a weight off my shoulders. I didn't have to try to jump back in blazing saddles. I can take little bits, do the fun part of it first, and pace myself. It just renewed my confidence and got me excited to keep going! Thank you so much for this article. It really helped.
There is a counselling approach called Narrative Therapy which is totally about finding alternative more nurturing narratives. One exercise that might help find a more positive narrative is to think about someone who knows you and believes in you and thinks you can get the thing done (maybe it is your friend, maybe it is your dog😊). Then you start exploring why that person might think that. Have they seen you manage something in the past? Do they know about skills and abilities you have? Do they know how important to you getting this thing done is? Asking these questions builds you up, strengthens the positive narrative, weakens the negative narrative and can give you new places to start.
Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I like the way this approach echoes the idea of challenging unhelpful thoughts by asking: “what’s the evidence? Is there another way of looking at it?”
But you need evidence to support your alternative narrative and listening to someone else (at least in your mind) describing the evidence they can see is really helpful
I love the concept of realistic optimism that you’ve demonstrated well here. Way to reframe optimism into a believable perspective for anyone. Good stuff
I find, for myself, that it helps when I include a statement about having compassion for myself if I get off-track. That I can start again and the outcome isn’t all-or-nothing. Progress vs perfection.
This was a game-changer. I have been struggling with consistently showing up to be creative and to work on a passive income idea. I decided to change my narrative.
First, I wrote out my struggle. Then I wrote out the negative thoughts I have about it. Next, I wrote down what I usually say to myself in these situations, and realized it does put too much pressure on myself.
When I wrote out a story I can believe, it really lifted a weight off my shoulders. I didn't have to try to jump back in blazing saddles. I can take little bits, do the fun part of it first, and pace myself. It just renewed my confidence and got me excited to keep going! Thank you so much for this article. It really helped.
There is a counselling approach called Narrative Therapy which is totally about finding alternative more nurturing narratives. One exercise that might help find a more positive narrative is to think about someone who knows you and believes in you and thinks you can get the thing done (maybe it is your friend, maybe it is your dog😊). Then you start exploring why that person might think that. Have they seen you manage something in the past? Do they know about skills and abilities you have? Do they know how important to you getting this thing done is? Asking these questions builds you up, strengthens the positive narrative, weakens the negative narrative and can give you new places to start.
Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I like the way this approach echoes the idea of challenging unhelpful thoughts by asking: “what’s the evidence? Is there another way of looking at it?”
But you need evidence to support your alternative narrative and listening to someone else (at least in your mind) describing the evidence they can see is really helpful
I love the concept of realistic optimism that you’ve demonstrated well here. Way to reframe optimism into a believable perspective for anyone. Good stuff
I appreciate the framing for this! It’s incredibly helpful for me.
I find, for myself, that it helps when I include a statement about having compassion for myself if I get off-track. That I can start again and the outcome isn’t all-or-nothing. Progress vs perfection.