I get asked a lot about situations—”What would you do if…,” and “How would you handle…?” My simple answer is that there are two ways of looking at any situation: outside-in or inside-out.

Most people come to me with their situations looking outside-in. Here is how an outside-in situation sounds, “My boss…,” “My roommate…,” “My spouse…,” “My friend…”—and this is certainly an integral part of the story. Inside-out, on the other hand, starts with “I.” Everything changes when we start with “I” and nothing changes when we start with them.

I know you were wronged in some way or some behavior needs to change on their part, but you and I aren’t them. “Fixing” them seems like the fastest answer because it’s their behavior that presumably caused the problem, but waiting for that will cause more strife. Choose YOU! Change YOU! How can you look at this differently? You might be saying, “But, Beth, they did xy&z!” I know, now you get to choose how you’d like to respond. The power lies within you. And remember, be kind and choose the higher ground. Integrity and character always matter. I didn’t say this would be simple or easy, but it is definitely better.

Let”s GO! WE GOT THIS!

Beth