Warm weather is finally here and we are all coming out of our self-inflicted winter hibernation. Besides warmer temperatures and green grass the spring season also brings to mind renewal and fresh starts. We spring-clean our yards, closets and windows. Spring is also a terrific time to freshen up the way we go about our jobs. Our minds are a lot like our homes, they get cluttered with old habits, attitudes and thoughts that can leave us stuck in a place that we don’t like very much but we’re so used to it we don’t do anything to make changes. Just like our homes, our habits could use a good spring cleaning. Here are some ideas to get started.
Evaluate – Just like spring cleaning your closet the first step is to take a look at things and assess what’s working and what isn’t. What’s slowing you down? Which activities are helping you work toward achieving your goals? What bad habits would it benefit you to break both professionally and personally? If you find you’re really not liking yourself, your life or your job right now, figure out why and start changing it into something you and other people enjoy.
Dust off your mind – Are you still holding onto that time when someone stepped on your toes, hurt your feelings or criticized the way you were doing something? Maybe the words of an angry customer or over critical boss is eating away at your self-esteem, or are you they type who’s mind becomes their own worst enemy by feeding you a diet of negative thoughts and talking you out of things you know you should do. Now is the time to kick those thoughts and feeling to the curb. After all, this time it really is all in your head. The next time you catch yourself in a negative thinking pattern choose to release it and replace it with something positive.
Sweep away procrastination – The habit of putting things off until later sets you up for a life lived in fear and frustration. You’ll find yourself constantly scrambling around and trying not to get caught. Is that really what you want? Make a new habit of staying on top of tasks you need to do or you’ll miss out on all the good things going on right now.
Lighten up – Yeah, yeah, yeah…life is exhausting, scary and hard. But remember that in your world you are in charge every day! You get to decide when to laugh. You get to decide what to think about. You get to decide how to react and what to feel. Choose to be a little more light-hearted, laugh and have some fun every day.
Give yourself time to sprout – It takes time and nurturing for lasting changes to take root. Keep an open mind about doing things in another way. If you’re willing to put the work into your head-space and cultivate your organizational skills in a different way than you are used to you’ll find that you’ve created the work-life you really want and not just the one you end up with.