As you know, last week we talked about perfecting
the art of showing up and how to create powerful habits.
This allows you to invest in the person
that you want to be in.
There are three simple steps involved.
There's three simple steps, so anyone can do it.
There's no reason you can't.
The three steps are to change your identity.
As we said, it's I am instead of I would like to
or I'm trying to.
You do the smallest thing, the thinnest slice,
and then trigger.
So that's easy enough to remember, right?
Change your identity, small slice, and trigger.
So for example, if you were becoming a writer,
you would say, I am a writer.
That's your identity.
Your thin slice would be to write one line per day.
And your trigger might be when you make your coffee
in the morning that you would get up
and you would write one line per day
and you would be a writer.
So that goes really well with today.
And today we're talking about the power of reframing.
And so we're gonna look at three different areas
in which you can reframe.
There's problem, contextual, and emotional.
And you guys, reframing is such a powerful technique.
You'll be able to take this and you'll be able to use it
in every area of your life because reframing quickly
helps you to see the innovative opportunities
and paths that are available to you
instead of problems or obstacles.
And that's really helpful in life
as well as in your work life.
So right before we're diving in today,
our pro tip today, this is a very simple pro tip
but it has huge impact.
It's just to be patient with yourself and your team
as you're learning.
We did those cheat sheets and the reviews
a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to take a moment
to remind you that in all of the tools that you're learning,
pick out your foundational ones to implement daily.
They could be the cue book, your deep work,
buckets, and shape up.
And those are the ones that you build on.
The rest, Dion called them wisdom tools.
I love that because you add them in as you need them.
So anytime that you're met with an obstacle or a difficulty,
you have a solution at the ready.
All right, does that sound good to everyone?
You all ready to dive in today?
I'm ready.
All right, Dion, I'm gonna go ahead and hand it over to you.
Thank you, Jenny.
I really appreciate it.
I had so much fun last week doing that together with you
because I know that a lot of us disqualify ourselves
around the whole area of habits.
It's almost like we feel, I'm not the strong habits person.
I'm a more spontaneous person.
I'm a more whatever.
And we have all sorts of reasons,
but the reality is you do have habits.
The only question is, are they good ones?
And are they the ones you actually want
that will help you to become the person you're trying to be,
the kind of professional you're trying to be
or the kind of person you wanna be at home and so on.
But one of the power tools we're gonna talk about
actually fits in the category
of making work more effortless.
It's really interesting about what makes work hard.
When you think of I worked hard,
I think we've already debunked the myth
that unless you like stressed out to the max
and working every waking moment,
then you're not bringing your A game.
And there is a different way to work.
And this work of, and it's not just work smarter.
It's like learning to work in a way
in which you're producing huge,
your productivity is very high,
but it feels more effortless.
So this seems to be a contradiction, right?
It seems to be like, no, no, no, no.
If it's effortless, then I'm not working hard
and I'm not working hard enough, then it's not working.
So we've really spent some time over these months
as we've been together going through that,
we've got rid of that delusion around the idea
that if it's not feeling stressful or quote hard,
then I'm not giving my A game.
But the reality is there are small things
and it's always the small things.
It's like when a customer calls
and they're really unhappy about something
and it's often the tiniest little thing
that's upsetting them.
When you're leading, like people are all upset about,
or you're the staff are unhappy about,
and then you dig into it and you find it's this little thing.
They don't want to start at 8.15,
they wanna start at 8.30, okay.
So it's those, often it's the tiniest little things
make work feel more effortless, just more enjoyable.
And today's one about reframing
is one of those wonderful tools.
And again, it's a mindset habit, if you like,
it's a way of using the way your brain is wired,
your mind is wired to your body.
advantage. And it turns out that you can tell your brain how to interpret your body signals.
So let me give you an example. Let's say I'm about to talk on a big stage and, you know,
and I'm about to walk onto a stage and maybe there are, you know, hundreds or maybe thousands
of people there. We'll make it thousands to make the point. And my heart's going and I'm nervous
and butterflies in my stomach. And I got to, and then you, and so your, your brain's looking at
your body saying, what is this? What is this? And you get to decide and tell your brain what it is.
This is a, this is so surprising because you would go, oh, I'm feeling so nervous. Well,
what if you're not nervous? What if you're excited? Oh, I'm excited. I'm really excited.
I'm excited to do this. And it's amazing how your brain just buys into this and your body goes.
And so now what was a negative input from your body? You know, I'm nervous. I'm getting on a
plane. I hate flying. Well, maybe you're excited about going to, you know, see that new company or
visit your family. So when we convert nervousness, for instance, when we reframe or remap
in our minds, what would be a negative impulse to a positive one, your brain buys in even when
you know, you're doing it. I know it sounds so simple, but it really is like that. And
you know, we've talked before your brain has no emotional circuits. Your, your, your, it's based
on a prediction. If you, if you, if you have a prediction that today is going to be an amazing
day, you know, I'm going to finally get that, that deal signed. It's going to be fantastic day. It's
a landmark day for us in the business. Your, your brain runs around and goes, Oh, I know what
excitement is that joy and excitement and enthusiasm. So you walk in and you're bouncy
and you have been, or, Oh my goodness, that I lost that big deal. I hope I don't get fired.
This is the second big deal I've lost. The brain goes, Oh, I know what goes with that depression,
you know, so, or feeling down or despondent and literally your brain makes this stuff up.
It literally. And so this idea that we can choose joy, or we can choose to remap
incoming signals and make our brain believe what a different view of it. Now you can't be
ridiculous. It has to be connected, right? So you can, and you can't over, over map. So over mapping
is, Oh, I'm about to get on the stage. I'm feeling bubba. I'm euphorically, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm
in euphoria. I'm so excited. You can over map. I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about
just doing a flip flipping. So the way I see it as flipping the coin. So right now it's pointing
tails. And if I flip it, it's heads, it's still the same coin. It's still the same situation,
the same emotions, the same, whatever, it's the same biological response, but I'm flipping the
coin and I'm choosing to see the other side. So I thought what would be fun is if I gave you 10
short stories, each one with the coin flip. So, and then in the workshop time, I'm going to ask
you to pick one of those stories and have a discussion. If any of these stories connect
with you and they've designed to be very lighthearted because some of our stuff is always so
heavy. So I always have so much to say and so little time to say it. And so I thought today,
I would just give you a couple of short stories. And then what I'm going to talk at the end about,
so I'm just going to talk a little bit about emotional reframing. And so you'll see as,
so I'd like you to listen for two things as I'm telling these stories, look at the pattern of what
I'm saying, and then try to see if there's a pattern that you can identify, because that's
what I'll summarize with, and then pick one of the stories that you would love to say to the team.
So I've tried to give each one a sort of a fun name. So story number one is called the soggy
sandwich saga. The soggy sandwich saga. You just remember their numbers, story number one. So Jenna
loved her ham and cheese sandwiches. One day, her trusty cooler broke. And by lunchtime,
her sandwiches were soggy from a leaky water bottle. Her co-workers chuckled. She felt
embarrassed. But instead of getting upset, she said, looks like I've got my own gourmet French
dip sandwich now. Everybody laughed. She reframed her ruined lunch into something humorous and a
memorable event. So here's the catchy phrase or the flipped coin. So the next time your plans
get a little soggy, remember, turn your mishap into a meal. And so the story number two,
the mismatched shoe shindig. So Eric was always in a rush. So one day he arrived at work and
realized, I don't know if you've ever done this, he had two different shoes on. Anybody?
done that? Yeah. So one day, so he had one black, one brown. And
so instead of hiding his feet under his desk, he walked into
the meeting, drew everyone's attention to and said, looks
like I'm starting a new fashion trend. Everyone laughed. And it
was like he lightened the mood for the entire day. Catchy
phrase is the next time you're caught in an unexpected fashion
statement. Remember, rock your unique style, strut your stuff
with confidence. That was just a fun one. Number three, the
backward blouse blunder. So Sarah was meticulous about her
appearance. However, one particular busy morning, she
wore her blouse backward. When a colleague pointed it out, she
smiled and said, nah, it's my new look. Front is the new
back. Her witty response made everyone chuckle, turning a
potential moment of embarrassment into one that was
lighthearted. So here's the thing to remember. So the next
time, think the next time things seem backward, just think, flip
your perspective, and make it a trendsetter moment. The golden
goose mishap. Tim was responsible for a major sales
pitch, and he believed would be the golden goose for the
company. He prepared for weeks, but on the big day, things
didn't go as planned. We all know the story. The company
missed out on a major contract. Instead of wallowing in
disappointment, he called the team meeting and said, guess we
scared the golden goose away this time, he joked. But every
miss, every miss shot is a lesson learned. So let's hatch
a new plan. Over the next few months, with the lessons that
they learned from that mishap, the golden goose mishap, as they
called it, they secured three smaller deals that cumulatively
surpassed the original one. So the next time you miss the
golden goose, remember, there's always another egg in the
basket, seek out the next opportunity. Number five, the
elevator bypass. Diane has been eyeing a promotion for months.
She felt confident she'd get it. But when the announcement came,
the elevator seemed to bypass her floor, and a colleague got
the position. She felt deflated. But then she thought,
maybe it's just the scenic route for me. She sought feedback,
undertook some courses to fill her skills gap, maybe she went
on the Edge program. And within a year, she landed a higher
position at a different department surpassing the role
she initially wanted. So when you feel the elevator skipped
your floor, remember, sometimes the scenic route has the better
view. Keep climbing with purpose. Number six, the
turbulent teacup. Mike was the rock of his team, but his
personal issues, a messy divorce, started making waves in
his professional life. Deadlines were missed, his performance
dipped. At the brink of a breakdown during a team meeting,
he said, ever felt like the teacup in the storm? That's me.
Instead of brushing his issues under the carpet, he opened up
his vulnerability led his team to rally around him,
redistributing the workload and offering support. Mike learned
that sometimes a storm can be weathered better with a crew. So
when your teacup faces a storm, remember, you don't have to sip
it alone. Lean on your team. Number seven, starry night
slip-ups. Every night, Lucy used to stargaze. One evening after a
particularly rough day, where she made a noticeable error in a
report, she looked up and noticed a shooting star. She
remembered how stars before burning so brightly often form
from explosive failures. Instead of dwelling on a mistake, she
thought, perhaps my errors are just explosions paving away for
a brighter moment. The next day, she corrected her report,
added extra insight, and it became one of the most
comprehensive the team had ever seen. So when you feel like
you've exploded in error, remember star moments come from
big bang blunders. So shine brighter next time. Number
eight, the broken violin vibrato. Ella was a budding
violinist and a project manager. One day in a rush, she dropped
her violin causing a significant crack. Distraught, she took it
to a craftsman who not only repaired it, but enhanced its
sound. Similarly at work, she faced a failed project. So
instead of seeing it as a career cracking event, she thought,
what if
This is my violin moment.
She meticulously analyzed the project shortcomings
and turned those insights into a strategy guide
that became the template for all future projects.
So when you see a crack in your plan,
remember the right craftsman
can turn it into a masterpiece.
Reframe and rebuild.
Okay, two more.
Number nine, flipping the pancake perspective.
James loved making pancakes,
but he often joked about his first attempt
when he burnt them beyond all recognition.
One day he faced a project
that reminded him of those burnt pancakes.
It seemed unsalvageable.
He took a step back and thought,
maybe I'm just cooking it on one side too long.
By flipping his approach
and introducing fresh perspectives from junior team members,
they turned the project around to surprising success.
So when things seem burned and bleak,
remember there's always the other side of the pancake.
Flip your approach.
Number 10, lasting translation triumphs.
Maria, bilingual and proud of it,
once mistranslated an important document
leading to a minor conflict between teams.
Embarrassed but resolute,
she took the failure and reframed it.
What if this is a chance to build a bridge over that gap?
She organized cultural language workshops
making the teams more cohesive.
Her mistake became the turning point
in fostering better team dynamics.
So when things get lost in translation,
remember misunderstandings can build new bridges.
Use them to unite, not divide.
Okay, so that was my attempt at being a little more creative
taking a different approach.
Which story appealed to you?
If you can't remember their names,
you can just go with their number.
And if you can't remember them, don't worry,
we'll hand out a worksheet with all of them on
so you can remember them all.
But I wanted you to notice five key things from this.
The first is that a lot of this
was about emotional reframing.
So when you're facing failure,
so the first of five things,
notice when you're facing failure,
rather than just seeing the failure
as a reflection of your worth or your ability,
reframe it as an opportunity to not only learn and grow,
but to think creatively and take the broken eggs
and make the omelet as we often say.
Be careful of thinking I'm a failure,
but try to think of, I didn't succeed this time,
but I learned something really, really important.
So what can I apply that to next time?
So you can never fail, you can only learn.
So those are your two modes, you succeed or you learn.
That's a reframing approach.
While I tried this new marketing campaign,
I did a challenge, I did a launch
and it just was a complete flop.
And while you didn't fail, you just learned a great deal.
So make sure the learning really counts then.
And when you reframe it that way,
it takes out the fear that you normally face.
Number two, managing stress.
So all stressful situations can be reframed,
usually as excitement or challenges
for developing your resistance and strength.
So instead of thinking this stress is overwhelming,
you can try thinking this is a challenge
and it's making me stronger and more capable.
And I'm excited about what I'm gonna become because of this.
Because if all stress does is it diminishes you,
then it's time to flip it and reframe it
so that it increases and enhances you.
Number three, dealing with criticism.
This can be hard for some of us, right?
So rather than perceiving criticism
as a personal attack on you
or evidence of some inadequacy or another,
see it as feedback that helps you improve.
You know, Elon Musk often said
that he's actively seeks negative criticism
because positive feedback doesn't,
I mean, yeah, it gives him a moment of feeling,
but the stuff that really helps him grow.
So he actively solicits negative feedback.
We've talked about that before.
So when you get criticism,
immediately be reframing this in the mind saying,
man, this is a gift.
This is an amazing gift from someone who's taken the time.
Now, even if they do it unkindly, it's still a gift.
You'll still learn from it.
Number four, facing fear.
So instead of seeing fear as a sign
that you should avoid the situation,
reframe it as a signal
that you should probably go right there
because that's normally when something brave
is gonna rise up in you.
I'm scared, you know, like I think Barry from Sage says,
you know, be scared, but do it anyway.
Do it scared.
You know, and I think that's a great reframing.
And then number five, handling rejection, rejection, like for a promotion or whatever,
you know, can be reframed from being a personal slight on you, you were overseen, somebody
else was seen, as in, I'm going to be suited for something better.
So I was, it wasn't instead of thinking I wasn't good enough, and I was rejected because
of that, rather think this was an opportunity, this opportunity wasn't actually the right
fit for me, there's something better out there.
This idea of reframing your emotional structures and your physical structures.
So instead of nervousness, I'm excited.
Instead of Oh, I failed to I'm learning, I can't fail, I can only learn or succeed my
two modes.
So questions.
I see Nancy, you picked the correct violin, you remember, you remember the violin one?
Okay.
Questions about that?
All right.
So so you know, I want to just give one high level more leadership one for, you know, the
leaders, we went through this reframing in great detail on the CEO call, I think last
month.
And so we don't have time on this call to quite go into that level and that, that degree.
But I do want to say that sometimes reframing a context helps.
Sometimes mixing teams up a little bit.
Sometimes teams get a bit stale being together, sometimes mixing them up a bit can help reframe,
or just redesigning your workspace at home, moving your desk around, putting on a different
picture, changing the lighting in your room can be a contextual reframing and inject new
energy.
Sometimes rethinking your goals or reevaluating your goals.
Or as we do a lot here at the edge is talk a lot about changing or updating your work
processes.
We I have seen, for instance, when somebody starts doing deep work on a consistent basis,
everything changed.
And that's one of the most powerful reframing mechanisms you can do for yourself.
The level of self-respect, what you think of you, who you're becoming, your ability
to work for four hours interrupted.
Just pulling that off is a tremendous accomplishment.
And when you start doing it every week, you think you feel differently.
You reframe how you see yourself.
And I've seen that as we've done these of the years and help different people that one
in particular, the Q book has something of that effect.
All these tools are designed to give you contextual reframing, thin slicing and playbooks, all
that type thing, even just putting a playbook together.
And it puts you in a position where now you can hand work off to someone else.
It sets you up like I'm growing in my career.
I'm not doing a playbook because I'm a good employee.
I'm doing this because I'm a leader and I'm getting ready to to work myself out of a job
because that's what good leaders do.
Because when you work yourself out of a job, you make yourself available for a better job.
And so what a what a nervous employee, fearful employee does is, oh, no, no, no.
I don't want to tell you everything I'm doing, because if I hand it off to someone else,
then I'm going to lose my job.
That's, you know, think of it from from a boss's viewpoint.
When you see somebody quickly working themselves out of a job, replicating who they are and
there's real movement, your ideas, where else can I deploy them?
Not can I fire them?
Right.
That's not the thought.
This is a reframing.
If you're getting negative information or feelings from your boss or your manager or
your supervisor, you know, don't don't let those things settle.
Either go and talk to them or just start reframing it.
Robin, you look like you have something to share.
Yeah, I just wanted to mention that one of the books that I've read in the past talked
about it doesn't necessarily have to be you doing the reframing.
There was a situation where a gentleman had lost.
I don't know the exact number.
It was ten million dollars on a project and he got called into the CEO's office expecting
to get fired.
And the CEO said, are you kidding?
We just spent ten million dollars training you.
There's no way we're going to fire you.
Get back out there and do the job.
Of that story is a good story.
All right, Jenny, back to you.
Tell us what we're doing next.
Yeah, well, Nancy has a question.
Do you recommend a mentor as the craftsman?
Yeah, that's well, I mean, you've invested in this program, Nancy, and so you've you've
taken a huge step forward.
Part of what we're trying to do with The Edge or not trying what we are doing there is leaders
can't keep up with all the changes and books and new management things and leadership things.
Our job is to constantly upgrade this course and constantly bring the best leadership
management practice to be the craftsman.
If you like, that brings it to you and says, this is how you apply it to you.
This is how you build your business.
Here's the stuff that really works and also simplified.
A lot of books are usually one idea with a lot of detail.
But when you whittle out all the detail,
that usually comes down to one or two big ideas
that are really helpful.
And if you can make them useful,
I would say that, I mean, if you can get a direct mentor
who can be very specific to your context,
that could probably help.
But I think you've certainly invested in yourself
with this program.
All right, Jenny.
All right, and are we ready to drop the worksheet
in there for folks?
Yeah, let's do that.
So we didn't drop them earlier
so that you would give me a chance to go through them.
Sure, and so when we go into the breakout rooms,
which this is a time we're gonna go into,
you guys can talk about what story you picked
and how you might be able to apply this
to a real situation, a real work situation moving forward.
Hey guys, welcome back.
Hope you had a good time.
Okay, how did your team go, Robin?
We were laughing all the way at the very end.
I mean, we just didn't wanna stop, you know,
we're just having such a great time.
We did the pancake flip story.
Oh, you did the pancake flip story?
Burned the other side?
Yeah, yeah, we're trying to hire somebody right now.
We've burned some of them, you know,
we've cooked them too long and they burnt.
So anyway.
Well, I'm very encouraged
because that was the desired effect
was to have a little more of a lighthearted thing
because reframing actually is meant to be fun.
So I'm glad you guys had fun.
Jenny, how did it go with your team?
It went really well.
Fun is a good word.
Yes, it's a good word.
Reframing is fun.
It can be very fun and it can present
for those who like challenges, right?
It can present a good kind of a challenge
to turn something around
and to see it come into a good thing.
Yeah, excellent, excellent.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, yeah.
I think some of our employees
look very burned on the one side
and raw on the other, the pancake mode.
Yeah, I was thinking afterwards
as you guys jumped off,
I think next time I'll just give it a little
like the violin, the pancake,
you know, that'd be easier to remember.
It'll be fun, be part of our language.
Nobody would have a clue what we're talking about.
You know, I decided to reframe it as a violin,
not a pancake.
Everyone says, yeah, we got it.
Yeah, so it's interesting when you realize
how much language we've developed.
You know, if you listen to yourself,
you know, versus a year ago,
if I'd recorded you and take it back a year or two
and say, hey, listen to yourself talking,
you know, and you say, well,
you know, I came up against this problem,
so I reframed it.
And so what I did then after that,
I decided I wasn't gonna boil the ocean.
I was just gonna take a thin slice.
I put aside two deep work sessions,
thin slice shaped up the project,
execute on decided what done means,
did the start, the START file,
you know, the START file,
did the start, the START file,
used the five second rule.
People are like, is that English?
So you've learned a lot, a lot more than one realizes,
but the most powerful thing about this
is it gives us common language as a team.
So we all know what we mean.
So it's fun coming in.
You have to learn the new language.
So very cool.
Anything that came out,
anybody wanna share something or fun thought you had,
keep the entertainment going.
All right, back to you, Jenny.
Thanks so much.
That was a fun session.
All right, that was fun.
Amber, I just saw you unmute.
Did you wanna share?
KP put me on the spot.
He thought I should be the spokesman for K Construction,
but we really, we had fun,
but we really, you know,
just the whole idea of reframing your mind
in all the different circumstances
is that we have a wide variety of people
that do a lot of different things here
from salesman to accountant to, you know,
marketing to all kinds of different jobs at K Construction.
But the reality is,
is that the more times you reframe your mind
in those different circumstances that you find yourself in,
the more it becomes who you are
to not have to even reframe your mind
or you do it quicker, I guess, the more times you do it.
So that was just a good thought
and fun to think about where you came from
and where you are now in that regard.
So it was a good session.
That's a great point.
You can have a new identity as a reframer.
that I reframe every negative situation and that can become your identity that pairs perfectly with
last week. Thank you for sharing that. That was really good because you do, you shorten your
response time the more you practice it. Love that and love that your whole team is recognizing that.
Thank you. As a friendly reminder to you guys, if as you're going throughout your week and you have
questions or you want to share your weekly wins or a story, a fun story that happened with your team,
use the app, mybrilliant.app and post that in the community. We'd love to see that, hear from you
guys throughout the week with what comes up for you and how you're implementing these concepts
and tools. And as always, we have an end of call survey. If you guys would kindly fill that out,
we would greatly appreciate it. And we will see you guys here again next week. Have a great day.