Welcome to Be Great TODAY. I am Jonathan Bloom or Frazley Sparkspan in World of Warcraft.

Today is April Fools Day. I used to pull pranks on people when I was younger. I want to flip the day on its head, by asking you what you believe about yourself. This is similar to Episode 14: What Do You Tell Yourself, which you can find at be-great.today/14

I was at an event in Estes Park, Colorado this past week. It was an awful time, having to be in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. Oh so painful to wake up and see the mountains outside. It was about 8,000 feet up in altitude.

This event was part of a leadership course for my degree. One of my biggest takeaways from the event is ideas and what we believe about others and ourselves.

Dr. Myers, who was the main speaker, brought up the concept of the Idea Virus. An idea that gets in your head and starts replicating.

I am starting to feel that for my own life, one of the most dangerous things can be when thoughts are swarming around my head. I start to believe them. They start forming.

If I don’t start talking with people I trust, as well as writing down my ideas in a journal; these idea viruses can start taking over. I have had some ideas recently and I was believing things about myself, until I started talking with people I can confide in about how I was feeling, and what I was thinking.

One of the most common idea viruses is worrying. I start borrowing trouble, I start anticipating the future, worried about an event or something that probably won’t happen. I could go on about my worries, but you might be able to relate to my worries without my having to go into detail on them.

Getting these ideas out helps me to realize how foolish some of my ideas are.

I think it is important to not keep thoughts in our heads, but finding people who can walk alongside us and help.

I don’t believe anyone is meant to be without other people. In this instance, I am not talking about romantic relationships, I am talking about friends, mentors and coaches. Some of the best help for me has been when I was able to talk things through with others. Someone actually said romantic partners can be some of the worst coaches, because they have a vested interest in the outcome. Not allowing for the freeflow of ideas.

I want to ask you some questions to get you thinking.

What are you believing?

Are you making use of those people in your life who truly care about you?

If not, what is stopping you from talking with them? Fear of what they might think?

I think you will be surprised how many people are there to help talk with you. It always surprises me the people in my life who are willing to listen.

There are also organizations like The National Suicide Prevention Hotline, and many others, that are willing to talk with you in a non-judgmental manner. If you need someone to talk to, please call 1.800.273.TALK (273-8255). That is 1.800.273.8255. You aren’t alone, even if you might believe you are in your thoughts.

This is not something I think any of us can solve for ourselves easily. But I encourage you to start thinking about this. It has been very helpful for me to talk with others about how I am doing.

Thank you for listening to this week’s Be Great Today! You can find the show at Be-Great.TODAY/31. If this episode has inspired you, and you know someone who can use inspiration on their journey, please share this podcast episode with your friends.

I want to thank Aggelos for his 5 star review of this show on Apple Podcasts. He said “ Jonathan has always been an amazing inspiration! Insanely positive and always happy help others and try to make your day better!” Thank you Aggelos. These reviews make my day, and help me know that I am hopefully impacting someone’s life.

Until next week, BE AWESOME!