It’s a funny thing. Most of us know that when we’re engaged, time passes more quickly. We’re in flow, so we’re not watching the clock, so we’re surprised when we look up and see that an hour has passed.What we don’t quite always manage to implement is our own control over this phenomenon. We moan and complain about something we have to do, firmly setting the default intention that we just want to get through it. That really determines our experience; it is almost impossible to see past the elements we thought would be annoying or arduous or boring to experience what might be different or educational. When we hang onto the default intention, we are deciding that we will be bored and annoyed.
Not to be all Pollyanna or whatever, but if you know you have to do something, you may as well find a deliberate positive intention. If you have to write a report because the colleague who was supposed to do it went home sick, you can be irritated, take longer, and do a worse job, or you can look for something, no matter how small, to make it worth your while.
The great news is that we have opportunities to practice setting these intentions every day. What’s the thing you have to do that puts you in a bad mood? What can you do to find some measure of deliberate, positive intention in that task? For me, I really hate all the paperwork that comes along with my job. Contracts, invoices, expense reports…just knowing that I have those kinds of items on my to-do list weighs down my day. There’s something about the detail-oriented nature of those tasks that just makes me grumpy.
I have to practice setting a positive intention on paperwork day. I have to change my inner monologue from “uggggh, why do I have to do this it’s so stupid I hate this I’m irritated at myself for still being annoyed by this after all these years; I just want to get it over with so I can do something else” to something more conducive to actually getting the work done.
Here’s what I’m trying: “It’s time to send out contracts and invoices and expense reports. This is a chance for me to be as intentional in the logistical part of our work as I am in our coaching. Let me see if I can find some cool ways to integrate this part of our work into the rest of it.” This is the kind of challenge I need—it takes the task out of the mundane and elevates it to be a crucial part of how we interact with clients.
