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I don’t understand. I can’t complete this. I am too busy.
Those are the three statements I often hear and am sometimes guilty of telling myself. Rather than being bogged down by the negativity, think positive.
If I don’t understanding something, what aspect of that something do I don’t understand? From there, I can focus on that aspect and find out why I don’t understand that aspect.
When I say I can’t complete the work, do I really mean I can’t complete the work or do I really mean I won’t do work? If I can’t complete the work, how come? Have I even tried and asked for help? Just because something is “difficult,” doesn’t mean I can’t do it. I feel the word difficult should be viewed differently. I had a foreign language college professor a long time ago told us students that challenging tasks should be viewed as lẻ (“odd”) rather than as khó (“difficult”). It’s true. At first, a challenging task can seem daunting, because we’re not familiar with it. Once we get the hang of it, the task becomes less foreign and less daunting to us.
If I tell myself I am too busy, do I mean I am too busy or the task that I did not complete was not one of my priorities? If I have a lot on my plate, how can I re-prioritize or better manage my time to complete the work.
At work, I constantly have juggle with multiple projects and learning new things. There are certain variables that is out of my control. It helps to focus what I can do rather than have a negative mindset and accept defeat.
At times, I can feel overwhelmed and overworked, but I am fortunate to be where I am today and still have a job. It’s the first job that I didn’t constantly feel incompetent and drained.
