The First Class Mindset Part III: Fix What Ain’t Broke

This is the third is the First Class Mindset series. Be sure to check out Part I: Love and Part II: Worthiness.

Have you ever done something the same way year after year believing it was the most efficient or effective way, then had someone come along and show you an alternative that worked better? Maybe you were relieved and grateful! Or, maybe you felt stupid. Maybe you felt embarrassed. Maybe you even rejected the new way at first because it was easier to handle emotionally than admitting you’d been wrong.

All these emotions are normal. However, ultimately the logical mind should win out, and you should begin adopting the new way in order to make your life easier or better.

You didn’t know you were doing it wrong, or not doing it the best way. That’s ok! We’ve all been there. None of us showed up on this planet with things already figured out. Maybe your way had been working out ok for you. Most of us have heard the old axiom “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” But sometimes the best thing to do really is to fix something that ain’t broke. It’s ok to change your mind, change your ways or adopt something new when presented with new information. In fact if you are faced with game-changing new information and fail to act upon it, you are living in denial and will ultimately experience some negative state from the resulting cognitive dissonance. We should be striving for thriving instead of living an existence of resistance.

I used to allow myself to wallow in sour moods. Typically this involved a lot of blaming others for whatever situation I was stewing over. My boss, my ex-husband, that horrible person on the freeway, the arrogant client, etc., etc. Taking responsibility for my role in these situations was rare, especially if I felt I had really been wronged. But I began to change the way I approached these occurrences after watching the movie The Secret.

The Secret is a film discussing the law of attraction. It basically states that you draw into your life the things that you have dwelt upon the most in your mind, whether good or bad. It was a bitter pill to swallow at first to accept that I could have any responsibility for the wrongs done to me. This is not to assign blame or to be guilty or deserving of negative life experiences, but to understand that your thoughts color your experiences which guide your decision making. Your thoughts also put you on a frequency that makes you pick up on others who are thinking or feeling on the same frequency.

It made things really make sense for me. I was feeling abused and like a victim, and so I became abused and victimized. On the other hand, I prayed for God to send me a friend, feeling the bonds of friendship in my heart, and this friend was delivered to me in mere weeks. She was also needing someone and had been through similar experiences as me. We became best friends, roommates, co-workers, and business partners. She is still my most treasured friend even though we now live many miles apart.

I took the principles shared in The Secret to heart. As difficult as it was, I owned up to my role in everything that had ever happened to me, good or bad, and resolved to learn from those experiences instead of let the negativity fester in my soul. The resulting personal growth has been astounding. When some unfortunate or difficult event happens, instead of blame my first response is now to ask myself how and why did I bring this into my life today and how can I learn from it? It changes the experience entirely. I would still be dwelling in the darkness of many a bad day, week or year if I had not been willing to open up to a new idea and change my mind.

We all know someone who is so stuck in their ways that they refuse to change, even to their own detriment. How do we feel about those people? Sadness? Pity? Is that first class? Heck no! First class says bring on the new ideas, the new information and if it makes sense, I’ll adapt! If it doesn’t make sense or doesn’t fit, first class says thank you for the information and moves right along. No arguing or defensiveness is required! Try on a new thought or idea today and see if it improves your life.