I used to be a litigator. I traveled daily from Long Island to Westchester, Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens courts. I sat in traffic for an average of four to five hours a day anxiously hoping the daily car accidents would not get so out of hand that I would miss my call time. When I finally found parking and made it to the court, I would argue my case in front of a judge who, more often than not, had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. After arguing I would drive to my office where billable hours, efficiency, and one’s ability to play golf proved one’s worth.

This job was what I had worked hard for. But while staring at the dead cockroaches lining the floor of a Queens Supreme Court bathroom after rushing to empty my bladder from the tedious morning commute while simultaneously reciting the facts of my mundane case, it did not seem to be everything I thought it would be.

Luckily, I have never been one to merely accept my circumstances for what they are without further research and thought. I went searching for ways to improve my quality of life. It was then I found mindset work. I discovered law of attraction and dipped my toes into energy work. I realized that the energy I put out into the world is the energy I attracted. I discovered that if I believed my commute and work day would suck, then it would most certainly suck. I discovered the power my mindset had over my overall wellness and satisfaction of life. For the first time, I saw how powerful I was. I could rewrite the story I was telling myself and could thus increase my quality of life. I had a choice. I could choose to look for the good, and in looking for the good, I could bring about more good.

So, instead of dreading my stop and go morning commute, I found and listened to a podcast I loved and became grateful for it. I became thankful that I could listen to podcasts and learn new information while simultaneously doing my job. Instead of rushing back to the office after court, I took 20 mins to explore a new area, stop at a local park, grab lunch at a new place I’ve never been to before. Instead of hating the stop and go of the morning commute, I marveled at the huge and beautiful bridges I got to travel over while leaving Long Island and into the boroughs. The more I worked on positively reframing things in my mind, the more my mind started to naturally do this on its own. People around me at work complained about corporate politics but I looked forward to the walk I took on my lunch break. I realized that I had the power to leave this job whenever I wanted. I wasn’t forced to stay somewhere I was unhappy; I was choosing it. And at any point I could choose to leave. In that truth, I got my power back. I was narrating my story and I could frame it any way I wanted to. Those small mindset shifts, like being grateful for the views of the bridges instead of dreading the hours of traffic, turned into huge mindset shifts. Implementing a midday walk I enjoyed turned into looking for a job I enjoyed more. Each mindset shift gave me more confidence to design a life I loved. Little by little, piece by piece. Don’t underestimate the power of mindset work to change the entire trajectory of your life. It may seem like minute changes, but one day you’ll look back and everything will be different.