MSS #0146: Change the Lens, Change the Day: How to Reframe in 90 Seconds

MSS #0146: Change the Lens, Change the Day: How to Reframe in 90 Seconds

25 Oct, 2025

🕒Read time: 3.5 minutes

🚀 In a hurry? Jump to “Lens Shifts You Can Use Today” for a reduced reading time of 1.4 minutes.

We live life through invisible lenses.

Sometimes they magnify problems, other times they sharpen solutions.

The powerful part?
We can swap them.

This edition gives you a fast way to catch your internal, mental lens, change it in less than two minutes and step forward with more energy.

Why Lenses Matter

Think of lenses like filters on a camera.

The scene is the same, yet one filter makes it gloomy, another makes it golden.

Your brain works the same way.

Change the lens and your day can brighten without anything outside needing to shift.

Too often we have a default lens for everything or certain events and situations.

The same as habits, we seldom consciously notice what lens we are assessing the world through – so when you start noticing and actively choose a different lens, how you feel and react changes.

Something you have complete control of!

The 4 Foundational Lenses

Here are four common lenses that quietly shape our experience — and how to swap them for better ones.

1) Threat → Challenge
Threat shrinks us into defence.
Challenge lifts us into action.

Before a tough conversation say, “This is a challenge I’m built for”.
Then identify and name one strength you’ll use.

2) Outcome → Process
Chasing only the finish line creates pressure.
Enjoying the steps keeps momentum.

This is a bigger subject and requires its own newsletter.

For now let’s keep it simple.

Ask, “What’s the next clean step?”
Do just that.

3) Judgement → Learning
Judgement says, “What does this say about me?”
Learning asks, “What can this teach me?”

Swap shame for curiosity and watch stress soften.

4) Scarcity → Enough
Scarcity whispers, “You’ll never have enough”.
The “enough” lens replies, “I have what I need for this step”.

Say it aloud.
Then prove it by acting.

The 90-Second Lens Reset

When stress spikes, here’s a micro-routine you can run almost anywhere.

• Notice it: Name the lens you are currently using out loud in under five words. e.g. “I see this as threat”.

• Breathe once: Exhale longer than you inhale.
  This cues the body to calm.

• Ask: “Which lens helps here?” Pick one from above or invent your own.

• Language swap: Say the new lens sentence aloud. e.g. “This is a challenge and I’m ready”.

• *Visualise it: In your mind’s eye, picture yourself using the new lens and succeeding.
  Sports psychologists use this all the time.
  It primes your brain for follow-through.

• Tiny action: Take one step within a minute that matches the new frame.

*We all visualise to different intensities, 4% of us have no visualisation, so adapt to how you ‘see’ things in your minds eye and / or substitute with more emotion of how its feels rather than what it looks like.

Six moves.
Ninety seconds.
Lens changed.

How to Choose the Right Lens

Not sure which lens to pick?
Here are some friendly pointers.

Match the lens to the task.
Creative work loves learning or process.
Deadlines thrive under challenge plus process.

Test it in your body.
If you feel a small release of energy, you’ve found the right one.
If you tighten, swap again.

Keep it handy.
Jot two or three go-to lenses on a sticky note and stick it where you work.

Common Traps That Break Reframing

Even reframing has potholes.
Here are three to dodge.

Toxic positivity: Reframing is not pretending things are fine.
Acknowledge reality first, then re-lens.

Over-zoom: Zeroing in too close can make a molehill a mountain.
Pull back.

Under-zoom: Seeing only the big picture can feel overwhelming.
Zoom in to the next action.

Lens Shifts You Can Use Today

Sometimes you just need a pocket-sized swap.

Here are six ready to try.

• “I must be perfect” → “I can be specific”

• “They are judging me” → “They are busy with their own tasks”

• “Everything is urgent” → “One thing is next”

• “This is wasted time” → “This is recovery time”

• “I failed” → “I learned one constraint”

• “I am behind” → “I am restarting now”

Make It a Habit: Stacking Lens Work

A new lens sticks better when you hitch it to something you already do.

• After opening your laptop → Read your three go-to lens lines.

• After a calendar alert → Ask “threat or challenge?” and decide.

• After each meeting → Write one learning-lens note: “What did this teach me?”

• At bedtime → Journal one sentence that reframed your day.

Quick Practice Plan (7 Days)

Want to make this real?
Here’s a mini challenge.

• Day 1–2: Use the 90-Second Reset once a day.

• Day 3–4: Add one Lens Shift from the list and apply it twice.

• Day 5–6: Create a personal lens line for a stress pattern.

• Day 7: Review and pick one stack to keep.

Working With Teams

Lens language is even more fun in groups.

Start meetings with a “lens check-in”.
Is this a threat or a challenge?
End with a “learning lens” where each person shares one lesson.

Soon the team culture shifts without false cheer.

Change your words and language to fit with the sentiment of the lens you have chosen.

Final Thought

Lenses are not forever.

You only need the one that helps you take the next step.

Choose it.
Use it.
Then choose again.

Summary

Changing the lens you use changes how you feel and what you do.

Use the 90-Second Reset.
Try the new visualisation step.
Keep some go-to swaps close by.
And stack lens shifts onto daily habits until they become second nature.

• Four core lenses: threat→challenge, outcome→process, judgement→learning, scarcity→enough

• Six-step reset: notice, breathe, ask, language, visualise, act

• Six ready-made shifts for common stressors

• 7-day practice plan for embedding

• Team check-ins to normalise reframing

See you next week. One more thought 👇

Want more? 

When you're ready, 3 more ways I can help you:

1. My book - Nuclear Powered Resilience

2. Self confidence and resilience - £48 training course based on my book

3. Coaching packages - start with a FREE 15 minutes exploration session.

Other resources

If you haven't already, follow me on LinkedIn and hit the bell for daily posts on tips, insights and techniques or take a look at my website.

Want to explore what else I do? Including corporate speaking, coaching and workshops, or simply ask me a question or give me feedback on my newsletter - say hello in an email.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading, really hope this helped. Contact me if you think I can help you further at [email protected].

Happy thinking.