Make Better Decisions: Start Your Day With a “Do Over”
By Dana P. Rowe, PCC, CPCC, CPQC
Kids do it best. When they’re playing a game, and things just don’t go the way they had hoped, they simply call a ‘do-over.’ And they all just…do it again. How brilliant is that?!!
How many times have we thought to ourselves, “If I had the chance to do that over again, I would…” well, fill in the blanks. We’ve all had that moment.
So, today we’re going to explore the advice esteemed Austrian psychiatrist and philosopher Viktor Frankl gave to his patients. When he wanted them to connect to their own learned wisdom, he basically said, “If you want to make better decisions, act like today is a do-over.”
Frankl, who was also a Holocaust survivor, was on to something powerful and empowering. His actual words were, “Think of this as the second time you’ve lived this day and don’t repeat your mistakes.” By asking his patients to pretend like they were already experiencing that day for the second time, he was asking them to pause and reflect on how they wanted to show up in that moment. He encouraged them to imagine how much more satisfying it would feel to be basking in victory.
Frankl would use this exercise with great success with his patients who had experienced trauma, but he wasn’t the only one. If you’ve ever had a coach or teacher who helped you to think about what went well in a situation and how it could be improved upon, then you’ve experienced this strategy already.
There are three key ingredients when it comes to making good decisions in our lives: 1) Be open-minded, 2) Keep your heart full of hope, and 3) Look at the past without judgment.
Ask yourself this every morning when you wake up and every night before you sleep, “If today were my do-over, what would I do differently?”
That’s how you can take back power over the quality of your life. That’s how to keep fear at bay. That’s how to create your future.
So, stop whatever you’re doing for just a moment and ask yourself, “If today were my do-over, how would I show up?” Then live today like the gift it truly is.
If you’re looking for more posts like this one, be sure to check out the rest of my blog posts for Creative Artists and Entrepreneurs here.