“Beware the ides of March.”
– William Shakespeare
Are you superstitious? Do the ides of March make you nervous? Are you careful about what you do whenever it’s Friday the 13th? These are examples of superstitions that have been around forever, perceptions that have no grounded or logical basis.
Silly as these superstitions may seem, plenty of people still take seriously images of bad luck, negative omens, and baseless premonitions. But any time you feel that something is bad luck, you set the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Since this is true for the negative, why not reframe for the positive? If you believe that you’re lucky, you’ll most likely pay attention to things influenced by a positive attitude.
As reported in The Week, Richard Wiseman, author of Luck Factor, says that luck isn’t created by paranormal events. “It’s something that’s created by our thoughts and behavior.” He suggests that you take advantage of opportunities, go with your gut, be optimistic, and change bad luck into good luck.
As an optimist, sometimes I feel like Pollyanna when I help people reframe negative thinking. Naysayers have difficulty seeing the glass half full.
But the bottom line is that we are what we think about. If we think we’re not going to manage effectively, that’s what will happen. If we think that we’ll complete an impossibly long project by an unrealistic deadline, we’ll take on the challenge.
So on this ominous day, reframe it as a day that has nothing to do with Shakespeare’s omen. As an alternative, for example, think of it as time for March Madness.
Have a great day!
