Changing Your Mindset by Changing One Letter

I’ve been reflecting on a concept recently that has started to change how I view my day-to-day life, and I don’t share this lightly, as I do now consider myself to be pessimistic when it comes to this sort of thing.

I have been right through the 'motivational video' period of my life and have landed in a space where they make me feel worse not better. I have ended up at a place where I think to compare myself to 'everyone else on the planet' is just too soul destroying for my fragile little ego to handle. 

You see I consider my mind to be my worst enemy. For most of my life, I've been caught in a mental spiral - a mix of feeling grateful for what I have and yet battling with anxiety, stress, my own ideas around who I should be and an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction. On the surface, I have what many might consider a perfect life; I own a company, my finances are stable, I have the most incredible loving supportive relationship. I am so fantastically fortunate in many ways. So, why do I still sometimes feel anxious, confused, or at times, even depressed? 

Having "everything" does not mean you are immune to feeling lost or overwhelmed. I'm someone who tends to overthink, who worries about every little detail, who feels pressured by an invisible blueprint of what life should look like. It is not something that can simply be turned off just because it is inconvenient or does not fit the narrative of someone who should be happy. 

This idea, however, has really helped me reframe things, and I am not pretending the idea is original because let us be clear, I have never had an original thought in my entire life! It came from a simple quote I stumbled upon, but it has stuck with me because of its simplicity, and in a complicated world, simple is good for me. 

You can change how you feel just by changing one letter.

This simple idea suggests that instead of saying I have "got to," I reframe my thoughts to I "get to." Instead of feeling the burden of daily tasks like I have “got to go to work” or I have “got to walk my dog,” I am determined to try my best to flip that script to I “get to go to work,” I “get to walk my dog.”

This small shift from 'got' to 'get' reframes these tasks as opportunities rather than obligations and it is just flipping the O to an E and it is that simple thing that changes how I feel about everything. This approach has helped me to recognise the privilege in being able to do these things that may sometimes feel mundane or overwhelmingly essential. This small change makes you aware of how easily these 'chores' could be taken away, and suddenly they do not seem so burdensome anymore.  

This realisation has helped me to be more present, and to understand the value of what I have right now. Yes, I have a lot on my plate, and yes, there are pressures from running a business or maintaining relationships, but what is more important is that I get to do these things. I get to interact with colleagues, I get to engage in meaningful work, I get to spend time with my family, I get to walk my dog who one day will rip out my heart when he is taken away from me, and I even get to tackle any challenges that come my way - bring it! 

There is a danger in thinking that just because you have a good life, you are not allowed to feel anything other than contentment, but being grateful for what you have and still feeling anxious or overwhelmed are not mutually exclusive. The concept of “I get to,” has really helped to ground me.  

It reminds me that life is precious, and the things I often take for granted are not guaranteed.  In good times and bad, tough times and easy, with money or without, if we are all honest every one of us could have our feet swiped away at any moment and it is only when we are on the ‘autopilot’ of life, that we fail to remember that. 

One day, I might not have the chance to do what I do today. One day, I might lose the ability to walk my dog, talk to my colleagues, go to work, see my family, sit with friends and put the world to rights, complain about it all and yet the reality is, everything in life is temporary and it can all be taken away from any of us in the blink of an eye. And recognising this simple fact makes me constantly reminded to be grateful for the present. 

This is not about being overly optimistic or ignoring life’s challenges. It is about changing the narrative you tell yourself. You cannot always control your thoughts, but you can control how you react to them. Your brain is not you; it is just part of you, and it is what you do with your thoughts that defines who you are. 

Embrace the mindset of "I get to" and see how it changes your life. It is about appreciating the present and understanding that every moment, even the challenging ones, are usually opportunities. 

#mindset #mindsetmatters #mentalhealth #reframing