Is It Time For You To Change The Channel?

Imagine yourself sitting on the couch, petting your cat or watching television after a long day. Work is over, the dishes have been washed or perhaps you have gotten the children in bed and you are ready to relax.

You grab the TV remote and quickly moving through the different channels, trying to decide if you’re in the mood for adventure, laughter, romance or to scare your pants off. There is no “right answer,” only your decision and preference.

Having the option to “change the channel” is empowering. You can actually “change your channel” mentally and emotionally. I want to share a secret with you: the choice is yours!

Take that sense of control you get when you hold the remote and choose the program you want to watch or how you want to feel and transfer that into a mindfulness technique that provides choice and control about what “channel” you want to be on mentally or mindset-wise. How do you want to be in the moment? How do you want to feel?

The key to this technique is identifying what channel or channels you frequently spend time on that feel supportive or possibly unhelpful. Awareness is always the first step to change, and as you become more aware, you will spend less time on the channels that increase stress and anxiety or undermine your confidence.

1. Notice how much time you spend on self-sabotaging channels. Identify the channel(s). Client examples of mindset-hindering channels are “doom and gloom,” “playing small” or the dreaded “black hole.” How easily do you flip to your more negative channel, and how does it affect you?
2. Create or acknowledge what channel(s) you want to be on. Do you want to be on the “gratitude,” “calm and peaceful” or “I’ve got this” channel? Switching the channel is the ability to shift your mindset and the lens that is affecting how you hear and process information throughout the day.
3. Visualize yourself holding this mindset remote and having the power to simply click off of a channel that is not serving you well, is not encouraging you to be happy or successful, and is therefore diminishing your joy. Take the time to acknowledge how the positive alternative mindset channel feels in your body.

Recently, a client reported that she was having negative thoughts and a high heart rate at the beginning of her coaching session. She identified that she was on “a high, frantic vibe” channel. By consciously changing her channel to “a slow, safe” channel, she regulated her heart beat in less than 90 seconds when other strategies had failed earlier in the day (including breath work alone). With this powerful change physically and emotionally, she was able to focus and address her goals in the session.

Bottom line – You have the power to “change the channel,” shift your mindset and choose how you want to feel as you move through the day. If you are ready to cultivate mindset of abundance and growth, but know that you need support, I offer multiple life coaching options so you can start making sustainable change towards your goals.