The Upstate Mind

Take a step. Even a small, wrong step is better than no step.

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is to do the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
--Theodore Roosevelt

“What will you tell yourself about yourself today? Positive self talk is one of the most underrated parts of peak performance.”
—Greg McMillan

YOU get to decide the arena. On the racecourse, in the boardroom, at the dining room table. Thoughts are powerful. Make sure yours are positive.

While this appears in a forum for those with ADHD, I love the universality of these change techniques.

Read and be inspired! Are there “rules” you can establish that will help you Be Your Best You? Can a little creativity and planning help you align your actions to your desired outcomes?

Bonus reference in the article and , a book that changed my life!

"My Formula for Personal Change" Feeling like disorganization and poor time management are thwarting your goals for success? Learn how to reprogram old habits, and turn high energy and impulsivity into positive attributes.

This course provides two things I like:
Good Sleep 😴 and Yoga 🧘‍♀️

I have a complex relationship with sleep. I hope this course will simplify it 😉

I listened to a podcast with Pamela Stokes Eggleson before I placed my order (I’ll put the link in the first comment). I was hooked! She had me at “when I ran Track,” and continued to draw me in sharing her work with wounded warriors and support for care givers.

Join me!

Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville

Yoga2Sleep: Relax and Fall Asleep Naturally – Online In this online workshop, release stress, tension, and overwhelm with Yoga2Sleep, a Yoga therapy workshop designed to support a better quality of sleep.

Two powerful pieces of food for thought:

“Every human being has been blessed with a unique nature that cannot be altered by outside forces. We are who we are at any one point in our lives for a reason, and no one person can say for certain what another should be like.”
—DailyOM

I wish I noted the name of this amazing quilter who brought to life the amazing words of Nelson Mandela:
“May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears.”

Pic from QuiltCon 2019 in Nashville

“If you want to find the meaning, stop chasing after so many things.”
—Ryokan, poet

“Chronic wanting keeps us from ever really arriving in the moment and seeing it as it is. When we’re always on our way somewhere else, we are not living the life that is here.”
—Tara Brach

Take time to find the beauty in everything. The day this picture was taken was bitterly cold. I chose to see the sun peeking through the clouds illuminating the beautiful winter sky and village of Lake Placid.

How can you find beauty in this moment on this day?

Tara Brach

We CAN consider the consequences of our words and actions beforehand to make wiser decisions. AND speak our truth.

How others receive it is outside our control.

Do you make your habits or do your habits make you?

“Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.”
–Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance

Is it time for a habit audit?

Patterns may well have been my word of the week. It popped up in all kinds of places 😬

If you haven’t already done one, it may be time for a habit audit (read: patterns).

If we keep doing what we’re doing we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting.
—Stephen R. Covey

New Year, New You! Coming soon.

⚡️POWERFUL!⚡️
Page 61 is *packed* with insight on the theme:



I’ll share this little doozie from Tara Brach:
It can be life changing to realize: “I don’t have to believe my thoughts.”

Sit with that. Pick up a copy of Radical Compassion if so moved.

I’m hosting a book club on Radical Compassion 17 Feb for Mental Fitness graduates. PM if there is broader appeal.

“Our experience quite literally is defined by our assumptions about life. We make stories about the world and to a large degree live out their plots. What our lives are like depends to great extent on the scripts we consciously, or more likely, unconsciously, have adopted.”
—Carol S. Pearson

What stories do you tell yourself?
Are they true?

I heard a statistic recently that is behind the second question Byron Katie’s work teaches, “Can you absolutely know it’s true?”

The statistic? 50% of what we remember is not true. Why?

According to verywellmind.com, “Researchers have found that people tend to be more likely to remember events connected to strong emotions, but that the details of such memories are often suspect. Retelling important events can also lead to a false belief in the accuracy of the memory.”

Can you examine the stories you tell yourself?

Do you ever find yourself thinking the worst of people you like or even people you love? Read what James Clear shared in his 3-2-1 push email this week:

“When working with people, assume good intentions.

When listening to people, interpret their words in a generous way.

You will occasionally get burned and mistreated by always assuming the best in others, but it is a far better way to live than the opposite."

How will you remember to do this?

Gretchen Rubin shared this quote in her daily moment of happiness the other day:

“Maybe I was reaching for authenticity through a funhouse mirror. I didn’t know. I just didn’t want to be who I was. It turns out that’s not a specific enough request.”
–R. Eric Thomas

I have given it a lot of thought, especially as I work with coaching and mental fitness clients. The ringing in of a new year brings heightened focus on goals. at that. The “S” asks that goals be specific.

Back to the quote. The same is true when asking assistance from the universe in manifesting who you want to be. Step 1 of an article on the topic asks you to be precise:

Step 1 – Be Sure, Be Precise
One of the main traps that people fall into when they ask the universe for something is that they are not 100% sure what they want and why.

Webster’s defines specific as: clearly defined or identified.

So get creative and add detail to your goals and your requests of the universe! Find adjectives that resonate and hold meaning for you. Words that inspire you to achieve your goals and to Be You Best You!