The middle of the year has finally propelled itself into view and who better to celebrate this with than our own flight-goggled viewfinder – Bhoomie New View! June can be a great time to reflect on the things we set out to achieve for the year, kind of like a middle point to see if we’re on track, but doing so can also be demotivating especially if we haven’t managed to get started on the things we listed.
For example, in a post I wrote at the start of the year I shared with you that I was going to focus on writing my first novel. Although I have made a start, I am nowhere near where I believed I would be at this stage and the realisation of this has played havoc with my self worth. I confided my dilemma in a friend who shared a post with me by Martha Beck (yes we do love her wise words in Bhoomieland!). From it the following words stood out like an elephant in an anthill:
“The next time you find yourself in a situation where you feel worthless, think about the most powerful hero you can imagine, and how they would react in your place.”
My friend then shared with me the superhero exercise challenge that she undertook following this post, which was – writing her morning pages as a superhero. The first one that came to mind (her ‘default’ superhero as she calls it) was Mr Incredible and she said this viewpoint completely changed her perspective for the day. Not only did her responsibilities for the day change dramatically, but she also found that as she chose a male superhero, her more masculine qualities changed the way she looked at problems. This can be a great tool to use if you need a change of view for the day ahead.
Another great tool, with a very similar concept then flew its way into my life through a TED talk – Amy Cuddy’s suggestion to do a ‘power pose’ whenever you’re faced with an uncertain situation, her favourite in particular being the ‘Wonder Woman pose’! I have tried this a few times now before sitting down to write and instead of feeling deflated about what I have written I have found myself feeling more empowered to write.
So the next time you feel your self worth trickling downstream take 20 minutes and write your day out as your default superhero, or if you’re stuck for time strike a pose for 2 minutes as Wonder Woman and see what wonderful adventure this newfound perspective sends you on.
Capes at the ready!
Zellie xxx