Turn Down Day
“The mind ought sometimes to be diverted that it may return to better thinking.” - Phaedrus
How often do you divert, as today’s quote suggests, from your current way of thinking to come up with either a needed attitude adjustment, or a whole new way of thinking?
Music can sometimes be the tool that churns up thoughts in our head that we had pushed back into the grayer areas of our subconscious mind.
Such a moment came to me last week while hitting the road to teach a workshop in Denver. Feeling a bit frazzled in that moment because of the over the top, fast forward momentum of the day and driving in one of my least favorite things...traffic!
Then the song came over my car radio that was actually just the brain interrupter I needed to get me out of my thinking pattern that for sure was not serving me in any way whatsoever.
The song started by instantly taking me back to the Southern California summer days of my youth. As I sang the words out loud, it allowed my mind go from everything that had been previously weighing me down, and allowed me to be fully present in the moment at hand - not potential moments down the road.
The first few lines of lyrics are what initially fully caught my attention:
“It's much too groovy a summer's day
To waste runnin' round in the city
But here on the sand I can dream away…”
And then the chorus went:
“It's a turn-down day
Nothin' on my mind
It's a turn-down day
And I dig it”
If you want to hear all of it, have a listen below!
As the week wore on I continued to sing the song to myself. It got me to thinking of two forms of having a turn down day. The kind of day that really gives us the greatest chance to re-think and innovate our personal selves as well as the product and services we provide in our business.
Turn Down Day #1
As the song implies, something summer is great for is just hanging out and being in our favorite spots doing what serves us most in the moment at hand. I could almost feel the sand under my toes as I simply just turned down the distractions and relaxed. Being near water and in the mountains brings me to my most peaceful mental place.
The good news is that after a day or two or more of turn down days like this we make better decisions because we are thinking a whole lot clearer. When you approach things with a calm, focused, and relaxed mind… great things can happen to your business.
Turn Down Day #2
We all have the day sooner than later when we actually either get turned down or have to turn down a life choice we have made. That idea, dream, or plan that we had just did not have the legs to come to fruition as we either envisioned or hoped that it would.
My son Travis recently had one of those Turn Down Days when he realized that he was in the wrong place for himself with his art career. A few months ago he had decided that the next step for his art career was to to put his energy into showing on Saturdays at the Artisans Market by the Ferry Building in San Francisco.
What he discovered was that after about 6 weeks of showing there, it was not meant to be a long-term fit. So he woke up one morning – his turn down day – and said no more! By shifting his energy to now create new work instead on his Saturdays and contacting galleries during the week, he is currently feeling much happier and moving towards where he was meant to be.
The coolest thing was that he actually took the most beautiful picture to commemorate his arrival at the market his last morning as a street artisan. I share it above in today’s pic of the week.
This week he is visiting Colorado to teach an elementary school how to stone balance! I have shared his work with you on a variety of occasions here in this letter, but you can find his stone balance work at travisruskus.com.
When a door closes, a new one will open.
So let me ask you this…
Is there something you have been thinking a lot about lately and can’t seem to find a any resolution?
What if finding the right diversion allowed you to dramatically change your future in a way that would bring you and others you care about greater joy?
What are you currently struggling with that if you just allowed yourself to let it go, even briefly, allowing you to see the situation in a whole new light and potentially find a far better route to take?
Perhaps there is a turn down day that is in your immediate future. Everything from letting it all go and just finding a day to have fun, to maybe even singing a song out loud.
Or perhaps taking the needed time to re-think what once seemed so important to you and finding the courage to let it go as you close one door and open another.
Would love to know what a good turn down day has recently looked like for you or one you would like to see in the comment section below.
To Your Successes and Victories,
- Cheri
Cheri Ruskus
Author, Business Growth Coach,
and Founder of the Victory Circles
www.VictoryCircles.com
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