Triggers?

 Triggers are events, people, and places that bring out the worst in you, while positive supports and inspiration bring out the best in you. 

If you make some time to think about the triggers that bring out the worst in you, that will give you good information about how to make positive change in your daily routine. 

After a very positive week last week, there were a few triggers in my midst at the end of the week. The triggers were subtle, but strong, leaving me feel deflated and weak leading to my less-than-best efforts. That's left me wondering how to deal with triggers like that.

Identify Triggers

To simply identify triggers that bring out the worst in you is the first step. Once you identify the trigger, then you can begin to think about why that's a trigger for you. The end-of-week trigger for me involved these elements:

• Lack of organization - there was confusion that got in the way and upset the expected routine. That happens, but as much as possible, a well-planned and organized event brings out the best in us rather than a haphazard, mixed-up event.
• Poor order of events - when the sequence of events has a healthy, people-first order, events go better.
• Simple, clear focus - when you make time to think carefully about the focus, events tend to go better.

Now, you can't always plan events that will be perfect. Often triggers, like the somewhat confusing event I was involved in, involve surprise. We learn from the confusion, to do a better job next time, and we learn how to be more flexible too.

Plan Against the Triggers

Use what you learned to plan your days in ways that avoids known triggers. Establish a good routine and surround yourself at home or work with objects that inspire the best of you rather than trigger the worst of you.

For me, I thought about the triggers related to the event that didn't bring out the best in me. For the most part, they were triggers related to the unexpected aspects of an event. In general, preparing ahead and keeping things simple, fresh, and healthy makes for a positive event. 

Knowing your triggers and working against them is a good way to get stronger and better--make time to understand and analyze this for positive living.