Isolate the Incident

Today’s Shine text is about isolating the incident. The example they gave is acknowledging that spilling your coffee is one bad thing in the day but doesn’t make it a bad day. 

We all have those unfortunate days where multiple bad things happen, but take a step back with each incident, take a deep breath, and push on. Try not to let it affect every interaction you have going forward.

Boundaries

Inspired by yesterday’s Shine text, “Feel awkward saying no when you’re not up for something? Boundaries shouldn’t = guilt. Today, swap “I can’t” w/ “I don’t” let’s talk about boundaries. 

It’s okay to say no to that thing you were invited to. Maybe you haven’t seen the person who invited you in a while, but maybe you haven’t had a day to relax in a while either. 

Don’t burn yourself out to keep up appearances. You don’t have to go to EVERY office happy hour. You don’t have to spend 3 hours listen to that friend vent when you only have 2 hours to spare that day. 

Control your time – don’t let it control you. 

Good Enough for You


I have to footnote this with, obviously at work you have to perform to your boss’ standards, meeting their deadlines, etc…

But I’m meaning to share this more in light of comparison – your best work may not be the same as the best work of the guy who sits next to you and that’s okay. 

Look at how you spend your time – are you striving to please someone else? 

Are YOU proud of you? 

Life Happens to Your Plans


I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “life happens to your plans.” 

My mom says it a lot because we have lots of Type-A people in the family who enjoy planning and organizing and like everything to be in it’s place and happen according to plan. 

According to the life plan I made when I was around 8 years old, this is the year I’m supposed to get engaged. Haha. I’m also supposed to have published a book and be working on my second album. 

The only thing I can tell 8 year old me I did successfully is complete the first album. But all the songs are in the demo stage, live on my phone/laptop, and maybe 20 people have heard them. 

Plans are crucial to attaining your goals, but give yourself some wiggle room for other things to happen. 

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked with who, like me, thought they would get a full time job right out of college. Because when we were younger everyone said “you have to go to college to get a job with a competitive salary.” So we thought that job and salary was the next step after graduation. 

They don’t tell you how hard it is to find said job, how it takes months, sometimes years, to get there. 

So when you find yourself off track from your plans…remember it’s okay to not have it all figured out. That’s what life is – endless days of figuring it out.