My life used to feel like a day after day drama of scrambling to get to the bottom of a to-do list.
Some days I would be lucky to cross off one or two items.
“I don’t have enough time, and I have so much to do!” was my constant refrain.
I’ve been both coach and student throughout my professional and coaching career.
Many years ago I lamented to my coach that I was always so busy that I didn’t have time for some of the most basic things that needed to get done each day.
During that period in my life I was a single mother to two elementary school aged boys, and I ran my own chiropractic practice.
No doubt, I did have a lot on my plate.
I was trying to run a full-time business on part-time hours, and I was trying to do all the things that parents love to do with their kids.
Read to them at night. Go to their soccer games. Eat home cooked meals together. Help with homework…
And did I mention I was an over-achiever?
Driven practically to tears one day, my coach calmly gave me one simple instruction.
He said, “Christine, from now on I want your song to be ‘I have so much time and so little to do.’”
“I have so much time and so little to do.”
You see, I had been living each day singing the song of having too much to do and so little time. So of course, that is what became true for me.
The very first time I said, “I have so much time and so little to do,” I instantly felt the tension release from my body. My shoulders seriously dropped about an inch!
Did it sound silly? Of course it did!
Did it mean I didn’t have to treat my patients, complete my paperwork, drive the kids around town and make dinner?
Nope. I still had to do all those things, but I was able to do them with a heightened sense of ease. I also seemed to become more efficient, and the gaps between tasks expanded.
The Universe is going to respond to the song you sing.
I was focusing on having too much to do, so that was my experience.
When I focused on having all the time I needed to get the things done that I really needed to get done, that was my new experience.
When I began declaring that I had so much time and so little to do, I was singing a new song.
What songs are you singing? We sing them without even realizing the power behind our thoughts and words.
Pay attention today to some of your “autopilot” thoughts and flip them upside down, even if it feels completely ridiculous.
Ditch thoughts that fall into the category, “that’s just how it is.”
Turn any thought that you don’t want to be true for you into its opposite.
Sing a new song. After you try this, be sure to write me of your experience!
As ever, I wish you all the best!
I made a 5-day Guide to Mastering Happiness, and it’s yours for free! Click here to get the guide for free!
Visit me at www.christinebradstreet.com
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Originally published at medium.com