Ever had one of those days where everything that could annoy you, does? In this episode, April Shprintz gets real about a time when her mindset completely derailed, even while flying first class to a life-changing workshop. She shares how she was focusing on the little frustrations instead of the incredible opportunities right in front of her. But here’s the thing—she caught herself, turned it around, and reminded herself that she had everything she ever wanted. If you’ve ever found yourself in a negative headspace, this episode is for you. Tune in to hear how she pulled herself out of that funk and how you can, too!
—
Listen to the podcast here
That Day April Was An A$$hole
I am so glad you’re here. I am super excited about this episode because it is one of those episodes. There are a few where I tell on myself when I really screwed the pooch when it comes to mindset. In the title, you saw it’s that day, April was an asshole. It really was. The great thing about having a fantastic mindset is that most of the time you live this charmed, amazing life. Most of the time you are happier than everyone else. Things go better for you than everyone else. Everything is just better.
In the spirit of full disclosure, the other thing is every once in a while, you just like everyone else get into a bad mindset, a negative mindset, an attitude, and it’s an absolute shit show. The reason it is, is because you are so not used to the pain of being in a bad place that you notice every single thing that you’re doing to make things worse. This was me, just not even a week ago. I was flying to San Diego because a wonderful client and friend had invited me to a workshop that I got to go to as a guest.
I wasn’t even paying for a workshop that turned out to be absolutely life-changing, but I didn’t even know that then. Not only was I going to this wonderful workshop in San Diego at a beautiful resort that I had not paid for, I was flying first class, which if you’ve known me for a while, you know I grew up in poverty and being able to fly in first class is a huge thing for me. To this day, I am still grateful and excited and I love doing it. Except, when I’m in a really crappy mindset, which I was on this particular day, I cannot even tell you why.
The Negative Mindset and Its Impact
I was grumpy, I was a little stressed with the travel, and I noticed once I got to the airport that little things were really annoying me. I started to focus on the little things that were annoying me. Someone’s loud shoes in the airport, someone putting their bag where my bag was supposed to go when I was in the lounge before going on the flight. By the way, I was in the lounge and this is why I say I was an asshole. I was having all these great things, all these great experiences, yet still, I was focusing on the things that I didn’t like.
How often do we find ourselves doing that? How often do we find ourselves in a situation that a month, a week, a year ago, we would have prayed for? We did pray for. We wanted so badly. Now we’re in it, but we’re still finding things to focus on that we don’t want. We’re still looking at things the wrong way. We are telling our unconscious mind, “Show us more things that annoy the hell out of us because we’re choosing not to be grateful for where we are and what we’re experiencing. We can stop it.
First, we have to recognize that we are starting momentum. Down a road, we don’t want to go down. I told my best friend that I was traveling with, I am so grumpy, I am in such a bad place, I am focusing on everything that I don’t want and finding so many ways to be pissed off. I have got to stop. He was kind and said, “The good news is other people can’t tell. I get it, I can tell you’re grumpy, you’re not being mean to anyone, but you got to figure this out before you start manifesting stuff you don’t want.”
Turning Around a Negative Mindset with Gratitude
He, like me, knows that we get more of what we focus on. I had to pull myself out of this. Here’s what I know, and here’s what I will tell you firsthand. When you get on a roll like this, and you just keep noticing annoying things, you will create more things that bother you. Your day can get worse and worse unless you pull yourself out of it. For me, the only way to pull myself out of it is to find a way to focus on what I’m grateful for. When I’m in this bad place, when I am this damn grumpy, I can’t just list them in my head.
The only way to pull yourself out of a bad place is to find a way to focus on what you’re grateful for. Share on XI’ve got to write them down. It may sound silly, but sitting down and taking the time to write all the things you’re grateful for. Usually, you’ve got to take it past the day you’re in, past this situation, because you’re so focused on the crazy things that are happening. Mine was being grateful for Cowboy, my dog that I love, being grateful for my best friend, being grateful for my other half, being grateful for all the things that I have in my life, and realizing I have everything I ever wanted. There is nothing that one inconvenient day, one or two inconvenient things can take away from me unless I let it.
The next time you find yourself on one of these rants, on this momentum of being in a bad place with your mindset, I want you to just take a moment and take 5 minutes, 10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes. It won’t take long, but list all the things that you are super grateful for because that is the best way I know of to pull yourself out of being an absolute asshole, like I was, and get to the place that I did by the middle of the trip, which is, “I can’t believe I get to do this. I can’t believe this is my life.” You can turn it around. No matter how irritated you are. I encourage you to do it because you all deserve to be in your best mindset as much as possible. Here’s to your success.
