When You’re Having A Bad Day

Linda LaitalaAround The Table, Business, Career, Employees, Leadership, Management, WorkLeave a Comment

Bad days. Everyone has them.

  • The power went out: no shower, no coffee, your phone isn’t charged.
  • You drop your toast, jam-side down, on your last clean pair of pants.
  • Your new assistant is a no-show, upending your plans for the day.
  • You’re already late for your daughter’s football game and wouldn’t you know—you have a flat tire.

Bad days don’t last forever. You just have to keep looking forward and know that…

1. You’re one step closer to a good day

Eventually, you may even be able to laugh at your string of bad luck.

2. It’s not as bad as you think

Someone will invariably say, “It could be worse.” It’s such a dismissive and shallow comment; of course, it could be worse.

Except for life-changing emergencies almost every bad thing is based on your perception. Every minor challenge you encounter on a bad day grows exponentially even though most of those challenges might be easily resolved.

When you find yourself in one of those snowballing days, ask yourself, “Will I remember this in 10 years?” Chances are you won’t. In fact, you may not remember it by the end of the week. Let it go.

3. There’s always a payoff

Every bad thing I’ve been through has taught me something. From learning to sew without pricking my finger, to the trauma of dealing with a sudden death, each experience has a lesson. There is value in pain that you will find nowhere else in life. The belief that there’s something better than where you are promotes growth.

4. Small pieces are easier to handle

Don’t start big projects if your day isn’t going well. Break the day and your project, into two hour, or even one-hour segments. It might sound simple but smaller, two-hour bursts are much easier to handle. At the end of the day, you can look back and be proud of what you’ve accomplished.

5. You’re going to make it a better day

Other people have bad days too. The frazzled clerk may have been called in on his day off. The inattentive server may have just lost her beloved pet. Give others the benefit of the doubt. Your patience may help them have a better day too.

The next person to talk to you has no idea the circumstances behind your bad mood. Guess what’s going to happen with the rest of their interactions today.

Instead, be the link that ends that chain. As your company’s leader, you need to be the one who grits her teeth and says, “S#%!* happens, but I’m not going to let it get to me. I have too much to do to let a relatively minor problem wreck my day.”

It’s not the world’s duty to make your day better. It’s totally on your shoulders to understand how and why you react to certain triggers.

You need to make the changes and adjustments.

Today is going to be a much better day for you and those around you–because you have the power to make it so.

 

The road is easier together,

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