Decide to Move
David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer

Last week, while traveling, I was listening to a podcast called, Making Bad Better. As I reflected on that podcast, one simple teaching stuck with me: decide to move. I have a post it note that hangs on the vision board next to my desk; written on it are three questions that I ask myself anytime I learn something new:

1. Where can I use this?
2. When can I use this?
3. Who needs to know this?

Life is filled with good and bad experiences. As much as we’d like to, we can’t change that, it’s just a fact of life. We’ll have days filled with sunshine and beautiful blue skies, and days filled with clouds and rain, or sometimes even storms. While we don’t get to decide if bad things will happen, we do get to decide to make the move from going through something to growing through it. Here are five steps we can take to make that move:

1. Decide to make the move: The biggest step is deciding to take a step. You must be very intentional to shift your thinking from enduring a situation to growing through it.
2. What can you learn from this: Once you’ve decided to grow, ask yourself “what can I  learn from this?” We decide what we learn, and when we learn it. By turning negatives into learning experiences, we can ease the adverse emotions and turn them into positive experiences. A simple question might be, “how can this crisis make me better?” Or “how can this crisis make my team better?” The same questions can be used in our personal life.
3. Catch up on things: I don’t know about you, but I get really stressed when I’m behind on things. Take time to catch up on your to-do list. Just the act of crossing things off our list releases dopamine in our brain, and fuels us with more positive emotions.
4. Add value to someone else: Have you ever noticed that when you do something kind for someone else, your situation seems to get better? Being kind reduces stress and anxiety, boosts our immunity, and improves our health. Plan to encourage one person each day, and if you’re wondering who in your life needs encouragement, just ask yourself, are they breathing? If so, they need encouragement.
5. Improve your thinking time: Make time in your schedule to think. Use this time to reflect on the blessings in your life and what you’re learning. Think toward the future, and to what you’d like your life to be in five years. Once you’ve had time to think, sit down with those closest to you, share your thoughts with them and ask for their feedback. You might be pleasantly surprised by the encouragement you’ll receive from others.

As much as we might wish that we could be spared difficult times, it’s those hardships that make us who we are. It’s tough moments that move us out of our comfort zone and catapult our growth to levels we never thought possible. The key is to decide to make the move.