Welcome to Amplify with Jess Estrom, a show designed to help women get out of their heads and into their zones of influence. Happy Monday, everyone! Here’s some food for thought to start your week.

A few years ago, I attended a women’s retreat for so-called “high-achieving” women. Everyone was in their mid-twenties to mid-forties. One evening, there was a happy hour bonfire, and I noticed a woman standing alone. She appeared to be in her mid-seventies. I walked over to chat with her and discovered her name was Ellen Vaughn. She was an author who had been taking care of her sick husband for years. She told me about her kids and grandkids. During our conversation, I asked her if she felt uncomfortable attending solo events where she was the only woman her age.

In hindsight, it might have been an inappropriate question, but her response has stayed with me ever since. She said, “At first, when I walk in, I get uncomfortable or unsure of myself. But then I say two words that get me through just about anything.” Intrigued, I asked what those two words were. She said, “Oh well,” and kept moving.

These two simple words—”Oh well”—allow us to push past moments of discomfort without crafting a negative narrative in our minds. For example, imagine you show up at a networking event, and the people you know have saved seats at a table, leaving no seat for you. You could tell yourself they don’t like you, they forgot about you, or they intentionally left you out. Or, you could say, “Oh well,” and find a new table with people you’ve never met and start a conversation. No story, no presumptions, no negative meaning.

Why are these two words so powerful? Because “Oh well” prevents your mind from filling in the blanks with a negative story. Of course, some things sting and some experiences hurt, and it’s okay to acknowledge that. But if we make up stories about every inconvenient moment, we waste our creative energy and ambition on chasing these narratives, which diminishes our big ideas and forward progress.

I’m not a diligent meditator, but one lesson I’ve learned about meditation can be applied here: treat a thought like a thought bubble with nothing written in it. It’s just a thought. Don’t cling to it. Try that.

I’ll leave you with this: don’t get mad at the negative thought or try to make it mean something about you or the situation. Be glad that you are aware enough to notice it.

Thanks for listening to Amplify. If you are a fan of the show, show us some podcast love by giving us a rating and review. Follow us at Mic Drop Workshop and at Jess Estrom.