The Monthly Mindset

April 2025 Edition

Welcome to the second edition of The Monthly Mindset… the first edition with a reflection from the previous month’s goals. Before I get to the reflection, allow me to re-introduce the why behind The Monthly Mindset—I mean it is only the second edition (I highly encourage you to read last month’s edition to get a full sense of each section).

So, why do a monthly newsletter that is focused on growth? Because every month brings its own energy, challenges, and lessons, and this is my way of embracing it with more intention. Alright, now, let’s do some reflection.

I have a confession to make… I didn’t really do the monthly mindset; I kind of forgot about it until it was too late. Although I forgot about it, I did find myself repeating the word ‘Doff’ (last month’s vocabulary to explore) in my head. And I have to admit that ‘doff’ is a fun word to say. To that end, I thought it be prudent to repeat last month’s goals with an exception to the vocabulary to explore. Not only because I didn’t really engage in those goals last month, but also because I’m literally crunch-writing this the night before it was supposed to be published.

EMOTION TO NOTICE

“Heart is sea, language is shore. Whatever sea includes, will hit the shore.” ~ Rumi

When it comes to the emotion to notice for the month, I’m not necessarily picking one that I know I’ll experience. Instead, I’m focusing on an emotion I might not have fully recognized before.

Why not pick an emotion that I know that I will experience? Well, in my nominal emotion research in previous years, I’ve learned that it’s not that we don’t experience a certain emotion, but rather, it’s that we lack the vocabulary—understanding the definition—to identify such emotions.

Since I’m repeating last month’s emotion to notice, the emotion that I want to be intentional about noticing how I relate to it this month is Self-Trust. “Self-trust is normally the first casualty of failures or mistakes. We stop trusting ourselves when we hurt others, get hurt, feel shame, or question our worth.” (Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown)

Now, that I’ve an emotion to notice, let’s talk about the vocabulary word to explore for the month.