Fixing the High Road

Your Clear Next Step

Three Tips for Correcting our Less-Than-Best .    1 – Own the error. You see, if we were showing someone something other than our best, we have to own that. Even if someone else’s actions or inaction triggered us to behave the way we behaved, we still made a choice to be at less than our best.    Maybe you were distracted and didn’t give someone else your full attention. Maybe you were in a hurry and took a shortcut that resulted in accidental pain. Maybe you were reacting to something that was stressing you out or had gone badly and uttered unkind words.  Maybe you hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep or a good meal.  Maybe you ran out of time and forgot to do something you said you would do.    In all of these examples, we made a choice. We chose not to be in the moment. We chose to rush. We chose to allow something else to impact our attitude. We chose to stay up too late or to make unhealthy decisions for our wellness. We chose to do the fun work instead of the hard work. We’ve found a great first step is to own our choice, own our action or inaction, and apologize.    2 – Face the facts. Take a moment to find the current reality. In truth, most folks don’t demand perfection. And if we’re honestly owning our choices and committing to even better the next time around, that’s enough. But sometimes our less-than-best caused a new reality we have to acknowledge.    Has a moment gone by that you can never get back? Is a relationship more tense than it should be? Are there still miles to go in a shared journey with someone else? Has an occasional anomaly started to look more like a habit?   Whether we like it or not, our new reality is reality. Instead of dwelling on wishing ourselves back to the way things used to be, we should spend our focused energy acknowledging and understanding the truth of our current state.    3 – Move on. It is so much easier for us to get over things that happened in the past if we move on in productive, materially different ways.   Can you change your routine to create a healthier environment? Can you practice better time management? Can you work with a trainer or coach to improve on a skill or competency you failed to model? Can you adjust your attitude to meet the other person’s needs?   Taking a moment to stop, and legitimately ask yourself “What’s the new, improved best that can be found here?” Then help prevent yourself from a repeat of that same, old behavior.    Got more? We would love to hear them! Join in the conversation on social media.