With negative stimuli appearing all around us, remaining positive can seem a difficult feat. We either must choose what we let in or decide how we absorb and react to it. A positive personality may be a trait we are born with or not, but we can still control how we process the information coming at us.
We can take a narrow view of our current situations and only see that we are stuck at home and can’t do anything. Or, we can focus on how productive we can be and still have extra time to reflect on our goals. I’ve decided to use the time to improve myself and get organized. Want to know how?
Don’t focus on the things you can’t change; instead, look around and see what you can change and improve. Now is the perfect time for those daunting tasks you may have put off because they seem intimidating or merely a lot of work.
- Legal: When was the last time you reviewed and updated your Estate Plan, Powers of Attorney, Living Will, and Healthcare Directives? Contact an attorney who specializes in estate law to help you get these in place. Do you have an organizer with life insurance information and any other information your beneficiaries may need if something should happen to you? Do you need to obtain life insurance or other policy types? Are all your beneficiaries on existing accounts and policies up to date?
- Financial: Do you have a financial advisor who listens to your goals and communicates effectively with you? If not, now is the time to find one as it is a relationship that requires trust and communication. If you have lost your job, you may have a retirement account to rollover. Has your portfolio been assessed for risk? Are the risk levels of the investments aligned with your personal views on risk? Now is also an ideal time to consolidate straggling accounts such as multiple IRAs, and 401(k) accounts still held with former employers.
- Personal: What goals have you had for yourself that you have not put into action? Online courses make it entirely feasible to pursue your MBA or a different graduate degree, or perhaps even finish that bachelor’s degree. Maybe it is something as simple as registering for an online art course or foreign language program. Take the time to reassess your goals and take the first step to accomplish them.
There are a lot of voices out there, focusing on what we can’t do. You have the capacity to reframe your own narrative to what you CAN do.
As Dr. Carol Dweck wrote, “Small shifts in mindset can trigger a cascade of changes so profound that they test the limits of what seems possible.” Trigger your changes now.