Many times we have to practice patience even when we don’t want to…we are waiting to hear a decision, receive a confirmation or acceptance. In some cases, you anticipate a denial.
But ultimately, where does your mind wonder? What do you fixate on?
Where you fix your mind, determines your mood.Too often as an Engineer, I have contemplated all the negatives. You probably read performance reviews by skipping over the compliments and highlight the areas for improvement. (Ouch! I felt that one too)
But why? In the waiting, think of it just like a performance review (the right way). Acknowledge the negative outcomes, but don’t fixate on those. Instead envision the positive outcomes. Prepare for the positives, delight in them.
Now, you are probably thinking that you are setting yourself up for possible disappointment, but are you?
Rather think of the positive outcomes than to dread over the negative ones. I’d rather be surprised about a negative outcome than to have spent a great deal of the waiting time concentrating on all the scenarios of how it could go wrong. That’s time wasted with no value.
Now that I have your wheels churning, next time you have to wait, ask yourself are you focusing on the positive or negative outcomes?