How to stay positive in the middle of an epidemic
Hey, Coach Jimmy here, and if you’ve followed me for some time, you know that investing in my mindset every morning is a huge key to my transformation not only physically, but mentally, professionally, and in my relationships. Every morning, I stand by the motto “I have to attack my brain before my brain attacks me.” However, I’ll be telling you where I’ve had to make an adjustment.
Avoiding the negative news cycle
There was a long time when I was first introduced to personal development and listening to uplifting and positive things that spoke life into me. I might have made the overcorrection of not listening to the news anymore because I heard guru after guru or personal development person after person talking about how it’s just the negative news cycle most of the time. While I agree, I felt convicted about what was going on in the world before we started dealing with a pandemic.
To add on, completely taking a blind eye to current events isn’t responsible either. It put me in this frustrating situation of “how do I start informing people without allowing a negative news cycle or primarily negative news impact my mindset and down a spiral of depression?” especially right now. There’s a lot of really daunting news out there and the fact that everybody is being encouraged to isolate, these two things can impact us when it comes to depression and anxiety. So what do we do about that?
Start your morning off on the right foot
This morning, as I was journaling and going through my normal morning routine, I was like, “what’s the solution?” and this is what I came up with. Be informed, but I’m gonna encourage you to not start your day by looking at the latest update. Do not grab your phone and say, “I need to read the latest three articles on what’s going on with this virus.” There’s always gonna be something going on in the world, so if you have a cause that you’re really concerned about and no matter how concerned you are, I encourage you to not start your day that way.
Start your day with something that’s going to build you up and allow you to put a positive perspective on something, even if you know you’re gonna be getting some bad news later. In those first 5 to 10 minutes that you’re awake, it is crucial for how you react to any negative news that comes your way for the rest of the day. So start your day with something positive.
For me, I pop on something like YouTube and I listen to something uplifting even if it’s an older message by Brendon Burchard, or I’m listening to Tony Robbins, Les Brown, Jim Rohn, or Zig Ziglar. Maybe I’m listening to Steven Furtick or a T.D. Jakes sermon. Mel Robbins is another of my favorites where I’m listening to somebody who is gonna speak life into you, that’s gonna build you up, that’s gonna tell you why it’s a great day, why you’re empowered, and why you’re more than enough.
It gets you pumped and ready for the day because before I walk into a negative world, what do I need to do to equip myself in my mind before I head into that battle that day? How can I equip myself or protect myself with some armor before I listen to some of the sombering things that day? So then you’re gonna go check and find out what’s going on in the world today. You find out what’s happening, whether it’s a health epidemic, war, people in poverty, or whatever it is that you need to check in on that day.
Double up on the positivity
But here’s the deal I want you to make with yourself because this is the deal I’m making with me and I would love for us to partner with this, however long I’m checking in on the world, I want you to commit twice as long to something positive like some kind of personal development. What I chose to do for myself includes: getting up and listening to personal development audio. I give myself 5 minutes to 20 minutes to listen to a video, and then 10 minutes to check in on the world. Sometimes I start the day with 10 minutes of that personal development where I’m reading a good book, listening to something that’s uplifting audio-wise, watching something on social media that’s lifting me up, that’s speaking life into me. For instance, let’s say I go spend more time than I had expected on a negative news cycle and what’s going on in the world because it is responsible to stay updated, right? Your safety, your family’s safety, and the people that you care about, you want to know about these things.
Let’s pretend I find myself down a rabbit hole longer than I expected, the deal you made yourself is cool. “Damn it, I just spent 30 minutes down the rabbit hole of the horrible things that are going on in the world today.” Cool, then you owe yourself an hour of something to lift you back up. You owe yourself an hour of reading that positive book, of watching that positive video, of listening to that podcast or whatever it is that builds you back up. You might be thinking, “Jimmy that seems like a long time.” It is, but you just lost 30 minutes like that without knowing it by going down the rabbit hole of why the world’s going to hell in a handbasket.
So why can’t you make that same commitment double to something positive? One of two things is either gonna happen: you’re gonna keep your same negative news cycle and you’re gonna double your positive personal development, or you’re gonna realize, hey, I need to shorten up these times. There are times to check in on the world and see what’s going on, but not necessarily sit in it longer than needed.
Avoid the downward spiral
Listen to me, stay educated, find out what’s going on, but don’t necessarily wallow in it, because we can just continue down this path. I remember when Hurricane Katrina happened and so many people went from New Orleans to here in Dallas. It was that mix of watching the news to see what was going on, and people that just sat and watched the news nonstop and the negative images after images found themselves in a hole like quicksand that’ll pull you down. So how can you help, what can you do?
In that situation, it was like cool, get informed, go listen to some personal development, something to build you back up and then go volunteer, go offer something, and help somebody. Maybe that’s the situation and maybe it’s also taking action. It’s not just mental, but it’s actually putting something into action as well.
I just wanted to share what I’m going through right now because I’m sure you’re going through the same thing and I want to offer solutions. It’s so easy to just see what’s going on in the world today, get really negative and bummed about it, and get stuck in that, specifically right now if you’re isolated. I want to let you know you’re not alone and that I’m here anytime.
Please message me, leave a comment, let me know how I can help, or even just to say hi, and know you have a friend and connection. It stinks right now needing to be isolated in the world, but how amazing and how thankful I am for technology now more than ever that can keep us connected. An online community, and the people that I work with we all plug into an online community on a regular basis. If that’s something that can help you, let me know.
My morning routine that helps me crush it!
If you just like to see what my morning routine every day is like that keeps my mindset in a positive place even in a negative world, I encourage you to go to ProductiveBook.com. Check it out! Your morning routine doesn’t have to be like mine, but take a peek at that one and see if there are some ideas on things where you’re like, “oh, I see where my negative cycle gets because I do grab my phone first thing in the morning, I’m scrolling social media, I’m plugging into the news of the day, and maybe I’m checking my inbox.”
It’s not that you can’t do any of that stuff or you can’t stay informed and educated, it’s just a few simple steps before then that’s gonna help you not have as much anxiety and not deal with the depression. You won’t find yourself crawling into that dark hole with just a few simple tips.
I’m here for you, and you’re not alone. We’re gonna get through this together one day at a time. I implore you to continue to pour into yourself and build yourself up first, continue to pay that forward to others, and we’ll get through this. My name is Coach Jimmy and if I can help in any way, please shout out, until next time.