You Down With OPP? It’s Not What You Think!

Back in the 1990s when I was a teenager, there was a hip hop song called “OPP” that was incredibly vulgar . . . so naturally, it became wildly popular. 

The catchy hook went, “You down with OPP? Yeah, you know me!”

I’ll spare you the details of what OPP means in the song, but today I want to focus on a different kind of OPP—other people’s problems. And these are things I definitely DON’T want you to be down with.

In terms of life editing, “other people’s problems” are things you can’t change, the responsibility lies with someone else, or it’s something you aren’t going to waste your time worrying about.

• Maybe you’re obsessed with what other people think of you.
• Maybe you keep meddling in your friends’ lives.
• Maybe you’re burned out because you won’t delegate tasks to your coworkers.
• Maybe you’re going into debt trying to keep up with the Joneses.

No more! Those are other people’s problems! You have way more important things to do and to think about. It’s time to delete OPP from your life. 

Today, make a list of other people’s problems that will no longer take up space in your mind and rewrite them as positive, self-affirming statements.

Here are some examples of ditching the OPP in your life:

• I will stop worrying about my mom’s nasty comments about my weight.
• I’m cutting my hair short no matter what anyone else says.
• I will stop comparing my business to my friend’s business.
• I’m going to unfriend my ex on Facebook.

Your life is too important to waste precious time worrying about other people’s problems. When you finally shift your focus to your own needs and desires, a beautiful world of possibilities opens up.

This tip comes from Life Editing for Beginners, a guided journey through my 5-step Life Editing Process to help you stick to good habits, supercharge your self-care, and stop procrastinating for good.