Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Results
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale
If you want different results, change your thoughts. I’ve had a few major moments in my life where I had problems that I believed were impossible to solve; when I didn’t get into university on my first try, when my mom had cancer, when the pandemic hit and the government said I had to close Toronto Dance Salsa.
I worked so hard, sacrificed so much to get to the point where I started to believe that maybe I can run a dance school. Maybe I can be an entrepreneur. Maybe I am worthy of the community and the love that I receive.
And then in 2020, the government said you have to shut down.
And I remember going on camera to announce it and crying. In fact, crying so much that I could only start recording after the fourth or fifth take. I apologized to my students, to the community I built.
My school is built on the ideas of #belong, community and connectivity. But in March 2020, everyone had to isolate themselves. I have spent my entire life feeling as if I didn’t really #belong and being alone and when I finally got to the point where I felt like I do #belong, my community was shut down.
The first two weeks of the shutdown were rough. I felt powerless and struggled to get out of bed. It was a really dark time.
There was a loop playing in my head. “We’re a Latin dance school. We have to touch, to be together, to flow, to connect. Salsa and Bachata are not individual dances like Hip Hop or K-Pop. Virtual classes? How does that make sense when you are not physically with people? People won’t have fun. People come to TDS for connection and community. That can’t happen virtually. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
For two weeks I had no answers and I was spiraling further and further down as the loop was playing in my head. So I went to see my mentor. I told him the same thing over and over, desperately hoping that he would give me some kind of solution. After being patient for a little bit, he told me what I needed to hear.
“If you keep focusing on the 997 problems, none of this can work. You’re always gonna lose. Instead, focus on the two, three ways you can try and save your business.”
At the time I felt frustrated because I was hoping for some magic solution. But I responded, “Maybe it is possible.” I went home and started planning.
Over the next few months, something incredible happened. I created virtual Zoom classes where 40 or 50 people from all over the world could be paired up, dance together virtually and connect. People started joining, people started smiling, old TDS students came back, new TDS students joined. It gave us just enough time to survive the pandemic, so that we could open our doors again. And I’m so blessed and grateful to all the people who rallied around me and TDS.
And maybe right now you’re dealing with some major problem that seems impossible. And so here’s the trick that he taught me then. If you have the same thoughts, you’ll have the same results. That’s why it’s called a train of thought, right? Just as a train follows a track, one thought leads to the next and eventually you reach your destination.
And so every time that loop was playing in my head I was paving the way to my own school’s closure. That was the train I was on. Once I changed my thoughts, I got on a different train and it allowed TDS to thrive. If you want to have different results, then you gotta have different thoughts. Just start with the possible. Just start with maybe it is possible to figure this out.
Because here’s the best part. We’ve all solved all the other impossible problems. I got into university and got my degree, my mom recovered, TDS is thriving. Why should anything you’re dealing with now be different? Change your thoughts, change your results.
I can’t wait to welcome you to our big family, have you coming in week to week, having fun, socializing, and letting loose to amazing Latin songs. Click here to check our current schedule.
If you have any questions you would like me to answer here are some ways you can contact me: message me on Instagram (torontodanceSalsa), on Twitter (#torontodanceSalsa), on Facebook (Toronto Dance Salsa) or email me at [email protected].
