My weekly emails are for you if you want a transformational SHOT OF POSITIVITY that makes you think, gets you laughing, and sparks a positive change. Start each week inspired.
Rita's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
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Reader I BLEW it! Has this ever happened to you?? It's time to turn off the light and go to bed. I pop open the calendar on my phone to see what my day holds. Oh good, nothing until my massage at Noon so I can go to pickleball. Fastforward to 10:45 the next morning. I grab my phone to see if there's enough time to play one more game and I notice the missed call. I pop open the call log and see it is from my client. I do the mental head slap. "Oh, $h!t. Was my meeting with her today???" I click over to my calendar and see the meeting at 10:30. I quickly text her my apology and offer to reschedule for the afternoon. I play my final game and head home. As I exit the shower I think about my upcoming massage. I start answering emails and move my morning meeting to the afternoon. I quickly realize that I've confused my Wednesday and Thursday schedule again and my lunchtime massage is tomorrow. I actually have a 2:00 p.m. appointment today, but it is near my rescheduled meeting from the morning, so it shouldn't be a problem. And then my 2:00 runs late. I immediately text my client to announce my delay. She suggests rescheduling to the next day and I readily agree. As I sit at the traffic light I update the invitation in my calendar. Now it is 8 pm and I am checking my schedule for the next day. I immediately realize that I forgot about my Noon appointment and I've now double booked myself. I'm thinking, "Holy cow, Rita. You are so lucky she's a longstanding client," as I text her with yet another apology and request a phone conversation instead of in person. Reader, Miranda (my inner critic based on the Meryl Streep character in The Devil Wears Prada) was giving me the look Embarassing, unprofessional, sloppy, inattentive All of these labels are true. So is human. None of us want to be measured and labeled by our worst days, yet we fall trap to a psychological bias known as Fundamental Attribution Error—a tendency to overestimate the degree to which somebody’s behavior is determined by their personal characteristics, attitudes, or beliefs. The truth is that I have no simple explanation for my continuous confusion about the day of the week yesterday. Although it is true that pausing to look at my calendar would have avoided the issues, it is not my habit because these are not errors I regularly make. What I remind Miranda is simply this. I can't undo, I can only move forward and do better. Clearly I'm very distracted at the moment as I prepare for my two week vacation with my hubby (the first we've taken since we had our kids). So for the next few days I'm being more vigilant about my schedule and using alarms to keep me from missing appointments. I must really need this vacation and a mental reset. I don't plan to do any work other than attend the Tech for Good Summit. For you, Reader, I offer the following lessons from my horrible, terrible, very bad day.
I'm off to vacation. See you in two weeks. PS - I'm planning Season 2 of The Story I'm Telling Myself podcast. Who should I invite to the show? Please send your recommendations and wishlist of guests The BEST Review of Show Up Positive Ever
My 5-point System applies the latest insights from neuroscience and psychology to deliver: LONG-TERM RETENTION: Retain the best people without the added cost of perks. COST SAVINGS: Retain institutional knowledge and reduce the expense of talent replacement. PERFORMANCE: Full discretionary effort from employees and resilience in the face of any challenge.
Catch Up on 'the story i'm telling myself' podcastGive us a 5-star review and share an episode with a friend: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music Episode 1 with Karen Laos: Are You Enough? Finding your inner powerEpisode 2 with Gail Kraft: Is Your Fear of Abandonment Running the Show?Episode 3 with Sandra Adeyeye Bello: Am I Worth It? A question too many are afraid to answerEpisode 4 with Leslie Minchin: Are You Busy or Just Avoiding Your Life?Episode 5 with Srivatsan Aravamudan: Broken, Dirty, Not Enough? The journey to self-acceptanceEpisode 6 with Vivian Blade: How Do I Say "I Lost My Job?"Episode 7 with Angie Redmon: Who Am I Letting Down? The hidden costEpisode 8 with Debbie Potts: I Refuse to Settle: Rewriting my story after a life-changing diagnosisEpisode 9 with Tandra Price: Can I Do That? Unleashing your inner powerEpisode 10 with Ronda Berns: Am I the Prey? Overcoming fear and mastering salesEpisode 11 with Carmen Alvarez: Can Joy and Grief Really Co-exist?Episode 12 with Melissa Robinson Hussain: Who Do You Want to Be? Coaching Yourself to Radical TransformationEpisode 13 with Tiersa Hall: Is This Risk Too Big—Or Just the One You Need to Take?Episode 14 with Gary Spencer: Why You Should Pause Before Your Next Big Move (A Million-Dollar Lesson)Episode 15 with Susan LePLae Miller: Did I Abandon Myself Again?Episode 16 with Sharon Summerfield: I'm being undermined, now what? Episode 17 with Misha Safran: Am I Just a Wilting Flower? Episode 18 with Elisa Juarez: If Not Me, Who? Episode 19 with Leanne Elliott: What's Really Stopping You From Asking For Help? Episode 20 with Susan Collins: Will I Be As Good? Episode 21 with Tracy Borreson: From Leavable To Limitless Episode 22 with Kelly Charles-Collins: What If You Stopped Leaving Yourself Behind? Episode 23 with Karen Taylor: Am I to Blame? Episode 24 with Sabrina Victoria: Go Big or Go Bigger? Episode 25 with Olivia Fitchett: From Anxiety to the White House Episode 26 with Andrea Bjorkman: Too Old to Start Over? Episode 27 with Jenn Whitmer: Obedience Isn't Enough Episode 28 with Liz Dehart: Choosing Grace After Job Loss
The Story I’m Telling Myself is for anyone who wants to overcome the limitations of self-doubt and live a life of purpose and fulfillment. Through candid conversations, you'll discover:
Real-life stories of courage and resilience: Gain inspiration from everyday people who overcame their negative self-talk to live a life of purpose and fulfillment. Listen to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music. |
Rita Ernst, Positivity Influencer
My weekly emails are for you if you want a transformational SHOT OF POSITIVITY that makes you think, gets you laughing, and sparks a positive change. Start each week inspired.
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