winds of change

AND THE TOP 3 MENTAL SHIFTS I TELL MYSELF WHEN I’M STUCK

letter.09 December 14/2021

“They are the lads that always live before the wind." -Herman Melville

I used to hate the wind. 

Blowing. Smacking. Pushy. 

The worst: gassing up the car in winter. 

You turn off the car and open the door and leave all that warmth behind only to grab a cold metal handle and stand in a blustery tunnel of chill. I’ve had moments where I take wind personally - even yelling at the wind to ‘Stop! And leave me alone!’ If I could avoid the wind - I would. And were God to give me His powers I would have removed wind from the weather altogether. How selfish. 

*Past tense. 

This was all before my mental shift. 

An experience with wind entirely changed my perspective. 

I went surfing. 

Unlike ocean surfing, fresh-water waves require - you guessed it - wind. In fact, lake waves are entirely wind-generated. Excessive. Pounding. Pushy. Blowing. Blustering. Smacking. Wind. 

 Wind = swell = surf. 

Without wind, there are no waves. Without waves, there is no surfing. I love surfing and therefore I have learned to love the wind! It follows: I went surfing -> loved it -> learned that you can’t surf on a lake without wind -> MENTAL SHIFT -> wind isn’t so bad (!) = a new appreciation for wind. What was once a nuisance is a joy! My life changed! I’ve started using wind apps. I read wind reports. Watch for wind directions. Wind speeds. Look forward to storms. Hope for force. Consistency. Track their trajectory and length. And like all west-Huron surfers, I find myself longing for a northwest wind. The creme-du-la-creme for swell. I no longer avoid the wind but run, er - paddle - straight into it! And a small mental shift was all it took.

My example may be trite but the principle stands. 

Small mental shifts can change your life. 

It’s been a few weeks since I launched my first legit product: STORY-IN-A-BOX. From its conception to rollout I made just about every mistake you could make in: design, timing, marketing, calculating shipping costs, calculating taxes on shipping costs, printing costs, wholesale sourcing, etc., etc., etc…

The list is long.

Many-a-times I wanted to ‘throw in the towel’ and ‘give up’ and ‘call it quits. The I-can’t-do-this mantra played loudly in my mind. *remember the wind* But I worked hard to rewrite the inner narrative - rework the inner script - and rather than succumb to despair I employed a series of mental shifts.

‘I am a total failure’ -> mental shift -> ‘I am learning!’

‘I am a chaotic mess’ -> mental shift -> ‘I am a budding entrepreneur!’ 

‘I can’t do this’ -> mental shift -> ‘I can and am doing this!’

These mental shifts changed my path. Affording new perspectives, ideas, and solutions. They gave way to new experiences, innovations, conversations, and ideas for the future. These mental shifts changed my course, my product, and my approach to business. And while I stand to make zero dollars from my costly mistakes, I have profited richly from what I have experienced. More, I have learned that I can change my path with a shift in perspective. 

I am no guru. It takes work to remain positive. It is work not to get stuck. But when I am overwhelmed, frantic, or frustrated - tempted to fall into despair - I stop, recall, and shift my thoughts:

I am learning.

I can and will figure this out.

There are about a million possible solutions to this problem.

If you find yourself stuck - try it! Make one small mental shift and see how things turn around. Happy living! 

-amos