Data Don’t Hurt

We are surrounded by data all damn day regardless of if we do smarty-pants work like accounting, financial projections, data science, environmental geography and other things with numbers and chemicals. Data like what someone said to you. Data like what happened in your past. Data like the number on the scale or the number in your bank account.

Data happens, but data doesn’t hurt.

One of the most powerful things I have learned is this: It is not the data that is important, but how I interpret the data. This concept makes the difference in me showing up as a sad ass vs. a bad ass in life. And that starts with how I treat data that comes in my life.

Choosing to take facts as facts. Choosing to attach meaning to data carefully, so that an obstacle meant I was one step closer to getting what I wanted; not that I wasn’t (fill in the blank) enough. Choosing bad ass thinking instead of sad ass thinking even if the data was below a “benchmark.”

So, the practice of owning my own power, by owning my thoughts about data has been magic to me. But I am not here to brag; I am here to tell you that the practice of self-awareness and thought selection means constant vigilance. And every now and then, life shows up and gives me a reminder that I am out of practice.

Like this week…

I have this device that tracks my health data-sleep, my strain, my cycle- so that I know how my body is feeling and recovering. I had a hard workout Wednesday and was feeling like a badass. But when I awoke Thursday, I felt like someone had kicked the crap out of me. I consulted my device data and saw that my metrics were “in the red.” I also felt like I had bubbles in my stomach, and someone had put a jackhammer on my head.

These data points were all just that- data points. But my interpretation of the data was:

I am too old to workout hard.

I am not fit enough to recover.

I have crappy immunity because I am weak.

I have so much shit to do, and I don’t have time for this.

I was attaching hurtful thoughts to some data. Data that others may have taken to mean…

I need rest and that’s okay.

I am fighting something off and I am glad I know the warning signs.

My body is an extraordinary machine and is healing itself right now.

I am a bougie bitch with this device that affirms what my body is telling me.

In my choice of thoughts, I was selecting to be a victim of whatever virus I had. But the truth is in every data point, I had an opportunity to take my power back, because the data itself didn’t hurt as much as what I was saying about myself did.

Think about how this applies to you when shit outside of your control arrives on your doorstep. Have you lost a job? Have you had someone break-up with you? Have you applied for a promotion and some other bastard got it? Have you been on a weight loss journey and found the scale didn’t bulge after 12 weeks of working hard? Has your kid been sent to the principal’s office again? Have you texted someone and they never text you back?

What did you make this data mean?

Data doesn’t hurt. Data only appears hard and hurtful when you look at data that way. So start interpreting the data in a way that makes you feel one step closer to the things you want in your life. You can recognize that data doesn’t bitch slap you the way your own self-talk/interpretation does. And this frand, is the best news ever because in changing the way you think about facts, you change everything.

Don’t avoid the data. Don’t blame the data. Don’t try and manipulate the data. Instead, put every ounce of energy in making the data mean something that invigorates you and moves you forward. For me, that meant that my personal health data meant that I was one hard-working woman who needed a nap. That thought felt better and now I feel better, too.

So, take on the data in your life this week like a bad ass. It can’t hurt you.

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