[Alicia Davis] Have you noticed, either for yourself or your team, your mind focusing on the things that are negative? Or the things that are – you just feel really stuck when you think about them? If so, we’d love to share a couple of thoughts with you about that.

[Stacie Watson] Yes, you know, as you and I share some of the conversations that we have with our client organizations, it feels like the steam has been going on and on and on. And if you’re listening, you probably can relate. I think it has been and continues to be, a challenging time. And not only are we dealing with sort of lingering effects from the COVID pandemic, but sort of layer upon layer of new challenges and actual trauma, that we’re all trying to sort of process and it can really negatively affect us in ways that show up at the workplace, for sure.

[Alicia Davis] For sure. And the great thing about it is that a lot of times it’s something that we have control over because we’re the only ones that can control or notice our own thoughts.

[Stacie Watson] Right.

[Alicia Davis] And that’s where everything begins. Right? So it begins when we’re thinking about something – if we are worrying about things, right, like that is a common pattern that our brain gets stuck in and I, I think one of the things that we want to make sure that people know is that this is perfectly normal.

[Stacie Watson] Right. Absolutely.

[Alicia Davis] That when we are in, right, when the brain is in this place of overwhelm, that all it wants to do is stay there. That’s what it thinks it needs to do. Right? So we wanted to offer – I was just with a group down in Virginia, and it was a group of amazing women who provide services for families in their homes. And they were – when we were talking about mind traps these ruts or patterns of thinking that we get stuck in, it was really profound for them, because it just happened so automatically, Stacie, that you don’t really notice it, right?

[Stacie Watson] Totally.

[Alicia Davis] So as a leader, if you notice that you or your folks are “what-iffing” a lot – I call that awful-izing and catastrophizing because when we’re “what-iffing,” where our focus is, is on the future, right, but what are we thinking about Stacie? space?

[Stacie Watson] Well, we’re thinking about perhaps what’s happened in the past or hasn’t happened in the past as well. Right?

[Alicia Davis] Exactly. So it hasn’t happened – what happened in the past is it going to happen in the future? And so one of the ways to shift that it’s so simple. It’s kind of like breathing. But it’s just focusing on what is – what’s in front of you right now? What do you have control over? And really keep bringing your mind back to focusing on that. And, you know, part of it is that we are just so scattered in our attention – everybody wants something, we’ve got email, we’ve got social media, we’ve got all the things. So simply bringing your mind back to what’s in front of me, what do I have control over… That can be really helpful.

[Stacie Watson] It really can. Absolutely. And these mind traps, I think, you know, we have several that we’re sharing here, you know, we can experience one or all of them at any given point, right? Another one that comes up often is exaggerating the negative in discounting the positive. This is when we’re sort of hyper-focused on what isn’t working, as opposed to noticing when something is working. And sometimes it can be as simple perhaps as changing the way we talk, you know, the language that we use, can be helpful in sort of just trying to shift that pattern or that mind trap.

[Alicia Davis] That’s right. So we wanted to bring that as a possibility and maybe this week, you know, something that you might notice is, when you are thinking about what’s gone on in the past or the future, how can you just bring yourself back to this moment. Focus on what you have control of, focus on a solution versus a problem, and take one thing at a time?

[Stacie Watson] That’s right.

[Alicia Davis] So I’m Alicia Davis.

[Stacie Watson] I’m Stacie Watson.

[Alicia Davis] We are the founders and co-owners of Transformative Leadership Strategies and we love doing wellbeing and leadership training and support. And you can email us info@tlstransforms.com or follow us on Instagram @TLS_transforms, and thank you so much.

[Stacie Watson] Thank you.