Your Struggle Isn’t the Struggle. It’s the Script.

She thought the problem was her job.

Long hours, endless demands, bosses who couldn’t care less. Every Sunday night felt like a countdown to misery.

So she switched jobs. But soon, the same dread returned.

Then she thought the problem was her relationships. “I just pick the wrong people,” she told herself. But every breakup looked eerily like the last.

Then she thought the problem was her health. If she just dialed in her routine, everything else would click. But no matter how much she perfected her diet or workouts, the same exhaustion lingered.

Every new problem had a new solution. New job. New partner. New habit tracker.

But nothing really changed. Because the story didn’t change.

She would lie awake at 2 a.m., staring at the ceiling, replaying the same script line for line: “Why does this always happen to me?”

And here’s the truth: you can swap the characters, the setting, the props… but if the script stays the same, the ending never changes.

She wasn’t failing because she didn’t work hard enough.
She was failing because she was trapped in the wrong frame.

What Reframing Really Means

Reframing doesn’t mean pretending pain doesn’t exist.

It doesn’t mean plastering on positivity or gaslighting yourself into ignoring reality.

Reframing means asking one simple question:

👉 “Is the way I’m looking at this helping or harming me?”

And if the answer is harming—you pick a new frame.

Why It Works

Psychologist Aaron Beck called it “cognitive restructuring.” In simple terms: your thoughts aren’t facts. They’re habits. And habits can change.

Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett takes it deeper: emotions aren’t fixed states either. They’re built by your brain in real-time, using past experiences and the language you put around them.

That means “I’m anxious” and “I’m energized” can feel identical in your body—same heart rate, same sweaty palms—but lead to totally different outcomes depending on how you frame it.

Change the words, change the meaning.
Change the meaning, change the feeling.

Try This Today

1. Catch the script. Notice the exact sentence you keep repeating.

   • Example: “I failed.”

2. Challenge it. Ask: “Is this thought a fact—or just a habit?”

   • Truth: failure isn’t permanent, it’s feedback.

3. Change the frame. Swap it for a version that keeps you moving.

   • Example: “This didn’t work. Now I know what to try differently.”

That one switch changes how you show up tomorrow.

Final Thought

Most of us aren’t trapped by our problems.
We’re trapped by the stories we keep telling about them.

You don’t need a perfect rewrite.
Just a better frame.

And that one shift can change everything.

— Linford

Free Tools to Rewrite Your Frame

🎯 Grab the RESET Toolkit — 7 days to rebuild self-trust and momentum.

🎥 Download the Cinematic Wallpaper Pack — daily visual reminders to reframe when you start slipping back into old stories.