There is no denying that we are now living in a pretty chaotic world. At the start of 2022, we felt perhaps there was some normality on the horizon as we emerged from 2 years of pandemic talk. Just as we began to catch a breath, war erupted in Ukraine bringing us all to halt. Here in Australia devastating floods impacted thousands of Australians along our East coast. I started to notice that lots of my friends and clients were sharing this common feeling of unease, fear and helplessness.
So during all this chaos, I started to wonder how we can find some clarity and what tools we can draw on. We may not be able to individually solve any of these large global issues, BUT we can take control of how we show up in our world and the energy we put out.
At Tuesday’s Masterclass, ‘Finding Clarity in the Chaos’, I shared 3 elements that have helped me when I feel overwhelmed and at sea.
Let me introduce you to the 3C’s: calmness, curiosity and community!
- Calmness: how often are you finding moments of peace and calm in your day? This can be as simple as taking a 2-minute nano break and just doing some deep slow breathing. A short exercise like this is a great way to calm the nervous system and bring yourself back to your body. I also find great calmness when I am doing something that I love; whether it’s a sea dunk or writing articles like this or even having a boogie in the car listening to my favourite songs. Finding activities that bring you joy and penciling them into your day is a great way to ensure moments of peace. It is these little moments of bliss that make life worth living.
- Curiosity: our minds are interesting places. The thoughts and stories that crop up have a great impact on how we see and experience life. I often ask clients to get curious about their thought patterns; are they building you up or breaking you down? I heard of a great strategy recently called ‘stop, catch and change’. When you hear that old unhelpful thought creeping in, you shout out STOP and ‘catch’ the thought. Then you decide to change it and say ‘ok I reject that thought and instead I am going to believe…..’
- Community: we hear a lot of research about the benefits of choosing your tribe wisely. I also encourage you to look at your social media tribe. A lot of us could benefit hugely from ‘social distancing’ ourselves from certain social media accounts. If you do nothing else today, go onto your social media and mute/unfollow anyone who doesn’t inspire you. So often we are following people that don’t align with the type of people we want to be and it impacts our mood and the energy we are in. Instead, if we want to feel good, we need to follow accounts that excite and inspire us.
So this weekend, my challenge for you is to:
- Pencil in moments of calmness into your day
- Get curious about those thought patterns instead of being hard on yourself
- Make a conscious effort to give your time and energy to those that bring you joy
The world can feel like a heavy place right now. All we can really control is how we show up everyday. Don’t underestimate the power of your energy and the ripple effect it can have on those around you.
With love,
MC