“Outside the windows the day was bright: golden sunshine, blue sky, pleasant wind…I wanted to punch the happy day in the face, grab it by the hair, and beat it until it told me what the hell it was so happy about.” – Ilona Andrews, Magic Rises
Do you ever have one of those days where everything – and I mean everything – seems to go completely, utterly wrong? Where even the smallest of mistakes, whether made by yourself or someone you are dealing with, leads to a complete feeling of overload and a tendency to scream within your own head (or possibly out of the car window at the traffic) ‘stop this ride, I want to get OFF!’?
I bet you do. Because unless you are a super-hero or possibly a robot, everyone has these days; and whether it relates to business or the purely personal, the overwhelm factor can be very hard to combat. The next question is, though – are you willing to combat the crunch times, or wallow in the misery – and let yourself slide further down your own totem pole of happiness?
There is no point in pretending otherwise; sometimes, life is incredibly hard – or at least that’s how we perceive it to be on a day from hell. If you are striving for a business goal or target, and feel as though you are getting nowhere, the constant overload of overnight success stories and ‘I just made it’ emails, texts, tweets and updates can be wearying and stressful. It makes it very hard at times to recognise what you have already achieved, and even makes you question your end point, and your entire journey. If a day goes backwards, it can make you ask that internal question ‘is it all worth it?’. But here’s the thing; if you are truly focused on striving for the stars, part of the measure of whether you deserve success could perhaps be measured on your ability to turn a bad day – or week, or month – around.
Success takes resilience, and grit, and determination. It takes bravery.
It takes courage.
It is those people who have the strength to pull themselves out of their own doldrums and set sail again on a new tack who truly earn their success stories. Those who are willing to see the lessons from the hard times, and take something from them. If you are able to admit to yourself that things are rough, then why not also admit openly when you need help? And more to the point, ask for it. You will be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Make a decision for your future good – and make it now. Say to yourself ‘no matter how tough things can be, or how far I may feel my goal is from me, I know that I can grit my teeth and turn things around. I am that strong, and that brave’. Feel free to scream quietly into a pillow before (or even as) you try this – but just maybe, this is the first step to finding your way back to your path. Embrace your imperfections, and then kick them out the door.
As Calvin says, “You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help.”
That doesn’t mean you won’t have a quiet giggle if you put said underpants on your head and dance around while you scream into your pillow.
Just make sure you’re not observed when you do it. I learned my lesson the hard way…
