Don’t be afraid to start over.
A few weeks ago, I was compiling a list of emails to send workshop proposals to.
Half way through, I thought, “Why am I doing this? These organizations never responded in the past.”
I closed the laptop and prepared to move on to the next task.
Then, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a friend of mine a few days prior.
I remember him telling me, “Starting over doesn’t mean you’re starting from scratch … starting over is not a sign of failure.”
I noticed myself take a long pause.
The reason why I viewed the task the way I did was because of those things.
Part of me felt that I was starting from scratch.
Part of me felt that the previous efforts failed.
The reality of the matter, I wasn’t starting from scratch, I was starting from experience.
The email I had this time was drastically different than the one before. Therefore, it could produce different results.
There are many reasons why I may not have received the expected number of responses initially.
I might not have emailed the right people.
I might have emailed them at a time when they were preoccupied with other tasks.
The emails might have gone to spam.
The list goes on and on.
Reframing my original story helped me create a new narrative.
The type of narrative I felt motivated by.
As I am writing this, I am realizing that this situation can apply to many areas of my life.
The incomplete to-do list from the day before.
The workout I didn’t finish.
The “thank you” card sitting on my desk, waiting to be sent.
The difficult conversation I chose to avoid.
Today is a new day.
Today is another opportunity to start over, to complete what appeared to be the same task with a different view, different approach.
