Three Maybes

You know when something bad happens…

…Like a client terminates, or someone says something mean about you…

…And your mind immediately goes to all the reasons it could be your fault?

That’s the time to try what I call the 3 Maybes.

It’s a game.

That you play with yourself.

It makes you feel better.

Here’s how you play:

Step 1: Take the thing that happened to you.

Step 2: Your mind jumps to a reason… but before it can settle into whatever emotions that come with it, go to Step 3.

Step 3: You think of 3 random other reasons why that could have happened, one after the other.

Here’s an example:

• A client terminates your contract
• Before you can think of all the reasons why you may have screwed up, you think:
• “Maybe they’re feeling insecure about their abilities and pumped the brakes”
• “Maybe they’re going through something at home and it’s making them behave rashly”
• “Maybe an alien is experimenting on humans and they chose him today”

By the third one…

…Poof. You’ve intercepted the emotions associated with your knee-jerk response.

You win.

Well done, you winner you.