I’ve been getting more done, a LOT more done, stimulated by the book, Deep Work, which has encouraged me to work in pockets of focused time. Now I’m thinking about how to use a bit of the time gained to relax.   

But 

When I relax, I’m haunted by the feeling that I am wasting time while being unproductive.  

This is truly disappointing. When I was working all the time in a disarray of unrelated tasks, I had less guilt about being unproductive because I was busy. True, I was frustrated at how little meaningful work I was accomplishing, but at least I was working a lot. 

There is so much negativity and I’m part of it.  When I saw this ad, I had some really critical, snarky thoughts about it, as well as about other ridiculous ads that I feel are disingenuous and insulting.  I started to write a blasting commentary about the responsibility of businesses to uphold the Colorado brand of collaboration and integrity.

After writing my first draft of this post, I listened to the Brian Buffini podcast episode “You Are a Diamond,” and it put me in a positive frame of mind.  I started thinking of this post and decided I was being too negative and critical.  With a lightened attitude I saw this ad as funny – the silliness of a ONCE in a LIFETIME EVENT has been HELD OVER! by the same company whose last ad was a “Private Sale” advertised in the Denver Post.  The more I think about it, the more humorous it all is.  So?

So that brings me to the NEW point of this post: listening to something positive turned me from having a critical and negative outlook, to feeling upbeat and acting positively.  This silly ad reminded me of what so many have taught: my attitude shapes the lens of my entire perspective.