When the world feels OVERWHELMING bring your focus back to what you can control, and close a loop.
An ‘open loop’ is an unfinished task or project, an unresolved disagreement, a story or TV series not yet finished. It can be those pyjamas you’re still wearing, the unmade bed, the unwashed dishes.
The more open loops you have in your life, the more ‘loopy’ and out of control you feel. You unconsciously need to close those loops and so will mentally return to them over and over again until resolved or healed. There’s a reason ticking items off your To Do list is so satisfying, along with binge-watching a series!
The pandemic is a massive open loop none of us can close alone or with a single action. Accept that it will be a work in progress for quite a while to come. The loop won’t magically close at the end of 2020, so shift your focus, planning and dreams past that date.
Start bringing back a sense of control into your life, by mending or closing one loop at a time in your immediate surroundings and responsibilities. As your sense of control increases and your stress levels reduce, you’ll be able to work on closing larger or longer-term loops.
Remember, your Life will continue ticking over whether you choose to really live (& enjoy) it or not. You choose to turn your home into a sanctuary or a prison with your thoughts and self-talk, which in turn impact on how you feel and consequently act. Your happiness starts and ends with your choices.
If you need help clearing head trash out of the way so you can more easily close loops in your professional and personal lives, then book in for a complimentary chat with me about your needs and options.
P.S. And while we’re talking loops, use them to engage your team in meetings and presentations by opening a loop (a story, a promise of exciting news) and not closing (finishing, revealing) until the end. It’s a skill worth learning and polishing. That’s how I use my own adventurous travel tales as a framework for my presentations on mindset and lasting behavioural change.