Yesterday, my Toastmasters friend Karen Phelps reminded me of something very important: “Embracing the suck” and paying attention to what is good is a great combination. Here is what I mean by that.
Transcript
Greetings, Dr. Stephie here. ”Embrace the suck” and pay attention to the good. That is what I was reminded of yesterday when I attended a Toastmasters talk by Karen Phelps in Southlake, Texas. It was a great talk. She talked about how to press on. In fact, the word press is an acronym she came up with:
- The P stands for pick, prepare, plan. She suggested picking just one thing. Exactly. So many times, we pick too many things.
- Then get a reinforcer. That’s the R.
- Then expect and embrace failure. She says that in the military, it’s often stated as “embrace the suck.” (Karen has a daughter who’s in the military.)
- Then the S is for stubbornly pursuing the item you picked.
- Then the other S is set to your mind daily.
I want to talk to you about “embracing the suck” and paying attention to what actually is good. Tell me, do you have that experience? 10, 20, 30, great things happen, some more pretty decent things happen, but one thing or maybe two bother you. Often, these one or two negative things get all the focus.
Embracing the suck and paying attention to what is working and good is a great combination.
On one hand, you’re telling yourself that not everything is going to be wonderful. Let’s face it; we don’t have control over everything that happens. For example, we don’t control other people’s behavior. We can’t control all the circumstances. That means we need to “embrace the suck” at times.
The other part is to really look at what is working and what is good. Journaling is such a great way of doing that because you’re writing it down. You have an internal conversation with yourself and say, “Hey, look at what good things happened today.“
For example, if you might be frustrated about something that might not work as well as you’d like, be it at work or with the family. Still, you notice all the other things that are great. It makes you feel so much better. It makes it so much easier to embrace the suck of what might not be working so well. You realize that the suck is relatively small compared to all the other things that are really quite wonderful.
Which “suck” do you need to embrace right now? What can you do to actually pay attention to the good that is happening in your life?
I’m Curious
So which suck do you need to embrace right now? What can you do to actually pay attention to the good that is happening in your life?
Dr. Stephie
P.S.: I appreciate you commenting and sharing this with others. Thank you!
