When you have an unprovable perspective, choose one that serves you.

Have you ever held onto perspectives that bring you down? As I've navigated my own challenges in life, I've picked up some unhealthy hitchhikers who yap away with unhelpful phrases:

• "I must've messed something up."
• "This probably isn't going to work out."
• "Where's my lucky break?"
• "Others have had it easier."

Maybe these are true, maybe they're not. What they certainly do is create anxiety, lows, and energy sinks. They take you out of the present moment. No bueno.

What if we trade these unprovable perspectives for something else?

• "Everything in my life so far has happened exactly as it should."
• "Things don't happen to me; they happen for me."
• "Everything is going to be okay."

It may feel trite or untrue when you first try on these phrases. I know that they have—and often still do—feel disingenuous or incorrect sometimes.

But the truth is that these perspectives, whether positive or negative, have an abundance of evidence either way. There is no definitive way to prove one side or the other. You are writing the story, so how you write it determines the attitude of the story.

I am working to bypass some negative thought patterns and replace them with positive framings. When they don't quite fit, I adjust or trust that I'll grow into them with practice.

The key point here is that the negative perspectives rob us of our energy. They take us out of the present moment. When we dissociate from the present, we lose our agency. When there are difficult challenges where things need to change, these perspectives do more to destabilize us than to activate us into change. Even at points where the negativity motivates us, I find it's usually a short-lived motivation that burns quickly and leaves us needing recovery. Choose the positive fuel—it's more sustainable.

The choice to change perspective may not be obvious. It requires practice, persistence, and repetition. It takes time to grow into these perspectives.

When confronted with a perspective choice, what will you do to shift the narrative in your favor?