Growth Mindset Tip #30 - Your Energy Travels Down the Leash

<p> Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole Again, the show that's here in support of the person you're becoming in your quest to live a meaningful life. And every Friday this year, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of my last bad day that started all of this, I've been sharing little tips I've learned along the way.</p>
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<p>Some will be just the thing for you, and others, eh, not so much. I believe we all have our own Toll House cookie recipe. Yes, there are some basic ingredients we need for cookies, but we can all put our flair to it. So if this tip helps you, cool beans. Again, if it's not part of your recipe, no worries. Just leave it behind.</p>
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<p>And today we're up to tip number 30, and I learned this through my wife's world. You see, we are a animal-loving family. Many cats, more dogs, and I've learned a lot as I've seen her handle our dogs and train them. And there's a concept in the dog world that I didn't know anything about until I was brought into the dog world more deeply through marriage, and I wrote a blog post about this years ago.</p>
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<p>But of late, the concept keeps on resurfacing, so I wanted to share the concept with you as tip number 30. So if you have a fur baby at home, this one may make a lot of sense to you, and it is your energy travels down the leash, meaning how you show up as a handler to your dog. Well, your dog can pick up on your energy.</p>
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<p>They happen to know when we're happy or joyful. They also can pick up when we're anxious or worried. Now, I'm not gonna say this is true for every dog out there, or every cat, or other animal we might have as pets, but my guess is that this is making sense If you have animals in your life, they get you.</p>
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<p>They can pick up on what kind of energy you're emoting. When I was still in the hospital and everything felt so overwhelming, I created an acronym for the word grace because I wanted to extend grace to myself to help me through this great unknown I was about to head into. Grace stood for gratitude, reframing.</p>
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<p>The A was awareness, acceptance, and action. C was all about community, and E was all about energy. It was a reminder to me, no matter what was going on, I still was at choice. As I shared in Wednesday's episode, I could take a deep breath and choose what kind of energy I wanted to show up with for my rehab, for people who came to visit me, for my phone calls, all that jazz.</p>
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<p>But the thing is, when we go through life on autopilot or not fully awake, it's so easy to react and not be aware of what kind of energy we're bringing into any space we happen to be in And again, our pets can pick up on our vibe or our juju or whatever word you wanna use because our energy does travel down the leash, and it also travels from human to human.</p>
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<p>I'm sure you've had your moments where all this makes sense. You go to a concert, the crowd is totally into the show, and the artist picks up on your energy, or their energy sparks greater energy in the audience. Or in sports, we know how the fans can drive energy, but we also know that the teams have a responsibility to show up with energy, again, to ignite the crowd.</p>
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<p>And the same is true even when we go into a shop or a Zoom, we can pick up on the energy in that space pretty quickly. So if we can do that, then other people probably can pick up on our energy as well. So tip number 30 is to remember that your energy travels down your leash. Your fur babies can pick it up, and so can your fellow humans.</p>
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<p>And always remember, you have choice. You have some say in what kind of energy you wanna bring into the space. And that doesn't mean you have to be happy 100% of the time. No, I think it's very important to feel the feelings that we all have and not emotionally bypass them. And when you're experiencing emotions that are difficult, sometimes that's the best moment to snuggle in to your fur baby because they get you, and that might be the shift that you need to make as you go forward in your day</p>
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<p>As always, thanks for being here. Thanks for listening in. I hope you'll check out our next episode in our series, A Perfectly Imperfect Union. Tomorrow we travel to Maryland and visit with Ashley. And next week I'll have all new episodes of Whole Again for you. But until then, remember to celebrate your scars as golden symbols of your strength and resilience, and don't forget to have fun storming the castle.</p>
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<p>And if you wish to learn more about creating beautiful ripples and how to prevent a bad moment from turning into a bad day, please visit my website, michaelobrienshift.com, and sign up for my newsletter called The Ripple Effect. And join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday here at Whole Again, and discover how you can heal, grow, and become more resilient.</p>
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<p>And celebrate our scars as golden symbols of strength and resilience. Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this, and we've got you.</p>