A Deliberate Practice of Reframing

Lance Whipple

As I was going through my collection of quotes this morning, I came across one that made me pause and think. It read:

With deliberate practice, you can develop the skill of positively reframing any past experience into a gain. With practice, you can get better and quicker at converting pain into growth and purpose.

Benjamin P. Hardy, Be Your Future Self Now

At first, I didn't find this quote particularly inspiring. It is not particularly fun to go back and review sad experiences. But as I'm accustomed to do in the morning, I had a conversation with myself and asked, "Why don't I find this inspiring? Could it be that I don't want to put in the work to develop this skill of reframing my past? Would it not be better to reframe my pain into growth and renewed purpose?"

And the answer was yes. I realized that I have been avoiding looking at past experiences that caused me pain, and instead of reframing them, I have been letting them hold me back.

But this quote reminded me that with deliberate practice, I can develop the skill of reframing and converting pain into growth and purpose. And that IS truly inspiring.

The more I do this little practice of I reviewing favorite quotes, and having a self-coaching conversation with myself, on paper, the better my life gets. The beauty is it only takes a few minutes. I improve with practice. And so can anyone. Anyone can improve anything they want to improve in their life with deliberate practice.

It's easy to overlook the power of reframing, but it's an essential tool for personal growth and development. One way to develop this skill is by keeping a running list of bad experiences, traumas, regrets and etc. and then in our "Morning Pages" Journals we can write about them and reframe them as Lessons learned. By doing so, we can make those life events positively inspiring for today and our future.

So, if you're feeling uninspired to do something that intellectually you think you ought to be doing, ask yourself if you're willing to put in the work to develop said skill. You might just surprise yourself with how much it can change your life for the better if you apply a little self-coaching.

If these posts resonate with you, I would be honored if you subscribe below.

Buen Camino!