by Lisa Cybaniak
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What does it mean to swim with the current? Perhaps more importantly, how can we use this notion to help us get through difficult times, like the one we’re facing with Coronavirus?
Today we’re talking about the importance of recognising when you’re swimming against the current, you know those times when you’re putting in full effort and just feel like you’re banging your head against the wall, getting nowhere? And perhaps more importantly, how do you turn yourself around to swim with the current instead, whether it’s to get through difficult situations and circumstances, or to create happy and healthy relationships?
Matt Zinman is a personal success trainer and author of his book Z-isms: Insights to Live By, which shares all his earned insights about self-discovery, relationships, mindfulness and life enrichment to fulfil his goal to positively impact as many people as possible.
Meet Matt Zinman
Matt’s experience as an entrepreneur, athlete, single parent, caretaker, consultant and non-profit founder drive him to be a difference-maker. If that’s not enough, Matt’s the CEO of The Internship Institute, which he established in 2007, to bridge the gap between education, active duty and employment by “Making Experience Matter”.
He’s a frequent lecturer at colleges, universities, professional associations and civic organisations, as well as a published author on a number of related topics.
And he’s sharing his insights with us today on how to swim with the current so you can get through whatever it is you’re facing.
So, let’s dive right in!
Reality check
Matt’s first piece of advice is to take a reality check for whatever you have going on in your life. Create a table with three columns: One for the situation itself, the next to tick if this is positive, and the third to tick if it is negative.
If many items are positive, this is something you can focus on with gratitude. If many are negative, it’s time to step back and ask yourself, “How bad is this?”, “Is this temporary?” and “What matters most?”
Swimming against the current
Chances are, if you have several negative things on your list, you’re likely trying to swim against the current, meaning you’re trying to force some things in your life to happen.
Take stock – what are they? You might notice you’re in many “battles”, your relationships are suffering, or you generally are unhappy.
It may literally feel like you’re pushing against something that’s not making any progress, causing you to feel like banging you head against the wall.
Swim with the current
Matt suggests you tune into your experiences and energies. If you feel like you’re swimming against the current, then it’s time to shift gears, turn around and swim in a different direction.
To do this, Matt says you need to trust your gut. Whatever you’re currently doing isn’t working, so what moves can you make that feel good and in alignment with what you want and need?
Go with the flow here, focusing on your strengths. There’s no need to take up all the lanes on the motorway – stay in your lane!
I love using the analogy of getting distracted with all the shiny things in your business, keeping your focus away from what you’re good at – your unique talent that helps others and brings in the money. You don’t need to become an expert at everything. Other people are there to help. You do what you do and let someone else pick up the pieces that are not your strengths.
Conscious decisions
Remember that all your actions and reactions are decisions you’re making, in every moment of every day. Many times we blindly walk through life unconsciously making these decisions.
Bring some awareness back into your day. Consciously choose which battles are worth fighting, and how to fight them respectfully.
Consciously look at your relationships. Naturally, there will be strengths and weaknesses within you both. Make the decision to play on each other’s strengths – allow them to help you and you to help them so that each of you’re able to swim with the current.
To do this, you need to know and respect both of your limits. Again, this takes conscious thought and a conscious decision to react accordingly.
More from this episode
Matt and I talk about so much more in this episode, including how Matt stays grounded in the present in order to cope with depression and the importance of carefully choosing your tribe. We also delve into several concepts within his book, Z-isms, including earned confidence, mood health, and being aware of “spiders”.
This is an episode packed full of insights that you don’t want to miss!
Press play on the episode above to get all the details!
Follow Matt Zinman
Check out Matt’s website where you’ll find all the information about his book, as well as his free accountability tool, the self-care report card. You can also follow Matt on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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Voice over credit: Shari Vandermolen. Shari is offering a free download of one of her songs to the fans of the Life Like You Mean It podcast! Just visit www.GiftFromShari.com and tell her where to send it. Shari’s debut album is available for streaming on all the major platforms including Spotify and iTunes.
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