Resourceful States of Mind

When everything goes wrong, it’s easy for your mind to spiral. But you have the power to shift your mindset and show up strong in a resourceful state—no matter how the day begins.

You’re late for work and you rush out of the house, only to realize after the door locks behind you that you’ve forgotten your keys. It starts to rain, unexpectedly. You step in a puddle on the way to the train. Now you will have one soggy foot for the entire day. You imagine having that important meeting, where you’ve got to be on your game, with one squishy sock. Still determined to make it a good day? You now discover that today was the day that the train schedule changed, and you’ve missed your ride into the city. 

How’s that working for you?  Do you feel capable of taking anything on or do you feel more like “If one more thing goes wrong I quit!”? Each of those events has drained your resources a little more, taken away a little more of your good will and energy. It has all conspired to create a very unresourceful state inside of you. You don’t have the emotional bank account to afford any good will or the energy to feel good about anything. You don’t have the strength to be optimistic. If you had to sing “Happy Birthday” now it would sound like a funeral dirge. How do you think the rest of the day will go? Would you feel confident in taking on something important? Of course not. 

Life has put you in a state of mind that is anything but bountiful. You wouldn’t expect to do your best work from this state of mind and you’d be right. Contrast this with a day that you’ve woken up from a great dream, feeling like a million bucks. It’s a sunny day. Everyone you meet is all smiles and happy to see you. You feel like you can take on anything! You’re invincible. Now, this is a resourceful state. 

The reality is, we are constantly creating one of these states of mind or the other, and we don’t realize it.

You have no control of your circumstances but you do have complete control over your state of mind. Is that confusing? Let me clarify: Shit happens, but your experience is determined by how you react to the situation, not by the situation itself. Depending on your outlook and your mental discipline, you can have misery in a mansion or happiness in a one-room shack. It all teeters on your interpretation of events.

Take a moment to reflect on the last time you were happy, really happy.

Close your eyes and picture that time until you feel yourself connecting with those emotions. Fill up on this emotional experience and then add other times when you had real joy, real satisfaction. Dwell on your last win and let yourself revel in it. See yourself victorious and feel that set of emotions. Now when you open your eyes, you are in a resourceful state. 

What are some examples of resourceful states of mind? Joy, enthusiasm, excitement, inspiration, curiosity and contentment; these are all resourceful states. Gratitude and appreciation are also valuable. Whenever you are down or feeling negative, reach for these states of mind and you will change your experience to positive, almost immediately. 

What is the benefit? Well, in these mindsets  you are smarter, healthier, more optimistic and more capable of taking on the challenging  parts of your life.

You are more creative, more resilient and yes, you’re even funnier! Make no mistake: it isn’t positive thinking to create and dwell in these resourceful states. You are directing your mind to produce the effect that you actually want, and consciously and deliberately making your life better. Start each day of the following week creating a resourceful state, and if your life doesn’t get better, I give you permission to go back to being miserable. Remember, whatever state you are in, that is the state that you are creating, so create mindfully.

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