I had a dream last night that had me upset.  It was intense and it felt real…and I was having it right as I woke up.  The contents of the dream are not important, because well, it was a dream!  It wasn’t real.  But I woke up this morning in a bad mood anyway.

I was angry and stressed as I began my day…because of a dream.

But as I made my first cup of coffee I took a breath.  I wiped the sleep from my eyes and I made the conscious realization that “this was just a dream.”  It wasn’t real.  I took another deep breath and intentionally put some other thoughts in my brain.   Then, I thought about projects I was excited about working on, people I wanted to see, and things I was grateful for.  I took 60 seconds to take my day back.

I took another deep breath and a sip of coffee…and everything was okay.  It was a good place to start my day.

It occurs to me that this sort of thing happens to us all of the time.  While it’s not always a dream the hijacks our thoughts, it can still be something that is ultimately insignificant.  Someone says something thoughtless.  We get overlooked for a project.  Or we might even read something random on social media that we disagree with.  These thoughts overtake us and keep us from living our best life.  Or worse yet, they take over our lives completely…day in and day out.

Remember this:  Thoughts create choices.  Choices create actions.  Actions create your life.

So the next time you feel like your day is being overrun by stresses or frustrations (like mine did when I had a dream), it might be time to intentionally take them back.  Just make the realization that these are thoughts…and you can change them.  Take a deep breath and start putting different thoughts in your brain.  And see if you can use those 60 seconds (or longer if you need it) to take your day back.

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Kirby Hasseman is the CEO of Hasseman Marketing, a full-service marketing agency located in Ohio.  Learn more about Hasseman Marketing here.  And if you want to “level up,” now is a great time to check out Better Business University.