Recently I have been in a rut.
Moving to a new place is always a challenge, trying not to blow all my money on new furniture or finding the perfect thing on Amazon to fix this niche problem I have (damn you prime day). Changes in workplace dynamics due to pandemic which I know I am not alone in. All of this registers as some type of eustress or distress. Surprisingly one of those questionnaires (think medical diagnoses not buzzfeed bullshit) is very helpful in understanding the level of life events and how much they may affect someone. This is a psychological principle that has been well researched and documented. The Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory PDF or online calculator is a great starting place because we are often not aware of how stressed out we are, especially like the high performers that are here reading this trying to better themselves.
On the online calculator taking this questionnaire right now, I scored 232, meaning I have a moderate to high chance of becoming ill in the future. Neat. I am mildly stunned at this. I feel that I am doing better than I was by a mile compared to a month ago. This complicated part of looking inward and understanding your mental health on your journey to peak performance. When trying to work through and shake off your current state, I am in I love revisiting thought exercises. Simple. Practical. Easy to implement. We are trying to reorganize what we already know to gain new insights into our internal dialogue of how we have processed the world.
In this thought experiment, you are to ask yourself “What if I were to become the worst version of myself?”. With this line of thinking it is best to write it down and use a speech-to-text dictation tool like Otter. This is also great to work out with a spouse or close friend. I want you to work through the following questions.
What would the worst version of myself look like?
What would I say or do at work? In my personal relationships?
What ideas would I shut down?
How would I act as a parent? Spouse? Son or daughter? Grandson or Granddaughter?
How would others talk about me if I was the worst version of me?
How much harder or easier would my life be?
What is the meanest thing I could say to someone I care about?
If I wanted to be in the same or worse off place for the next 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, what would I have to do?
What would the worst version of myself look like?
This seems like an uncomfortable pursuit. Why look at your worst? We want to pursue excellence, not dystopia. What is the point of this? Often when in a rut and uncertain of what to pursue next, viewing and describing what you do not want is a strong handle to grab onto. I do not want to be in a worse financial position than where I am currently. Great. How am I working towards being better than where I am financially? I then can start to piece together the momentum towards a goal. Viewing the antithesis of what we truly want can create a sharper picture in our minds-eye of what journey to excellence.
Until next time. -D
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