'Tis the season for winter storms. Much of the northeast was socked this weekend. Here in southeastern PA we dodged a bullet with less snow, less rain and less ice than expected, but that doesn't mean winter storm Harper didn't wreak a lot of havoc. Special events were cancelled or postponed. I had a fun and busy Saturday planned, but my haircut, training class, and a 40th birthday event were all rescheduled in advance of the storm. While I'm grateful we didn't have worse weather, it's hard not to be annoyed at everything I missed out on, seemingly for naught.
But what good would come from being annoyed in this situation? Not much.
So I looked at the weekend as an opportunity to improve my ability to pivot. In the startup world pivoting means shifting to a new strategy. In my world, it means adjusting expectations and setting new goals, without getting caught up in what-ifs or wasting time arguing with reality.
Even though my appointment was cancelled, I knew I wanted to get out of the house before getting snowed in, so I hit the consignment store. It's one of my favorite ways to lose myself for an hour, and at relatively minimal expense. When the snow didn't start as early as I thought, I got some exercise and daughter time as Lily and I walked down to the bookstore. As a result, we scheduled a new positivity event (stay tuned for more news about that!). When the forecast seemed to get better, I invited my sister over for a Sunday lunch to celebrate her birthday. When the weather was better than expected on Sunday morning, I went to church. When it seemed as if ice would cause travel problems in the afternoon, we cancelled the birthday lunch and decided to stay put to enjoy the football games. By the end of the weekend, I had gotten so good at pivoting I started the NFC Championship game rooting for the Saints and by the end was rooting for the Rams.
If, like me, you want to get better at pivoting, ask yourself:
How can I minimize my frustration?
How can I make the most of this situation?
What is the positive way to look at this plot twist?
What's the most fun I can have even though my original plans didn't work out?
I'm going back to work today feeling pretty good about the weekend, even though it was nothing like I expected.
Want to take control of your happiness rather than getting caught up in expectations and disappointment? Pivot.
Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash