What to Do When Things Don't Seem to Be Going Well

We all have those times when we are in the zone, when it’s all going well. We score the big client. We fill our programs. We get amazing feedback from an article we wrote that tells us we’re on the right path. The kids are good, the team won, the tea shop has your favorite tea in, and all the traffic lights are green.

Life is damn good.

And then there are the days where it doesn’t go quite so well. You get letters from the IRS regarding an issue that you’ve been corresponding with them for months, and when you call, their system is down. (And this is after waiting on hold for 30 minutes.) Your kid is sick. The thunderstorm caused the electricity to go out, and you lost all your changes. The marketing call you make falls flat. The hot “yes” for your program suddenly changes his mind, and no sale.

Life seems to suck.

Unfortunately, those sucky days are a part of life. Yes, in general, for most of us, life is pretty awesome, but those bad days are called “sucky” for a reason; these situations suck the energy and life out of us, so that all we feel is that situation… that that situation is all there is.

The reality is the situation in front of you (good or bad) is NOT all there is. There is so much more.

But how do you pull yourself out of the miasma of the situation suck? Here are 6 ways I use and recommend to my clients. And they work!

1. Remember your bigger purpose. What is it that you are here on this earth to do? What is your deep, soul purpose? More than likely, that soul purpose weaves throughout your business, too. At any time, tap into your big, deep, soul purpose.

2. What are you genius at? A la Gay Hendricks in The Big Leap. He talks about your Zone of Genius, Zone of Excellence, Zone of Competency, and Zone of Incompetency. (I highly recommend this book – one of my top 3 self-help books.) Forget about what you’re good at… what are you GENIUS at? Write it down. Refer to it. Remind yourself how you are amazing.

3. What are your goals? 3-month, 6-month, 12-month goals – for life and business. Write these down. Create goal cards. Design a life map. Play with a goal movie. What are your goals? What are you moving toward?

4. What are you grateful for? I can get a bit snarky here with myself on really bad days. Insert sarcastic tone of voice: “I’m grateful for air. I’m grateful I’m alive. I’m grateful I have air conditioning/heat…” But, after a while, the sarcastic voice goes away, and you really do start to remember that you have a lot to be grateful for.

5. What grounds and centers you? Often when I’m having a bad day, I find I’m ungrounded and uncentered, either as the root cause of the bad day or the effect of said day. I have a list of what grounds and centers me. It’s things like a particular playlist on iTunes, incense, an essential oil I can diffuse, going outside, reading, etc. What is on your grounding and centering list?

6. Reach out to your girlfriend, spouse/partner, business coach, accountability partner, or mastermind group – or all of the above! Life is about connection, and I believe we are stronger when we’re authentic, and even vulnerable. Reach out. Tell someone about your sucky day. Ask for help. You’ll be surprised at how much people are willing to enfold you. (Make sure you have a solid support team!)

Pull in these six tools to turn around a sucky day and realize that life is really damn good.