What’s Next Replaces What Now

The story you put to things shapes your mindset. What’s interesting is how much control you have over the words you use to describe your lived experiences. More fascinating is that your rational brain is the last part of your nervous system to respond to your experiences. Physiologically, you are designed to feel first (body) before you think through (mind).

Thankfully, the left side of your brain has been designed to prevent you from living in a perpetually emotive state. It gives you the ability to sequence things together and give meaning to them. While it may be the last part of your body involved in real-time experiences, it’s the part of your body that you consciously and cognitively understand. It’s your perspective editor.

By the time your body processes an experience, your brain is just coming to the party. While it’s natural to question why things happen, it’s also just as natural for your brain to want to categorize the experience. How you think after an experience is crucial to how you overcome obstacles coming from the experience. 

Rather than throw your hands up in exasperation saying “What now?” the next time something doesn’t go right, turn it into an opportunity to uncover what your next move should be that increases the chance it will go right in the future. That simple change in perspective positions you to learn and grow. 

To experience moving forward, replace what now with what’s next.