How to deal with your inevitable bad day as an entrepreneur.

 

how-to-deal-with-a-bad-day

Does this sound uncomfortably familiar?

Things have gone wrong and nothing seems to be going as planned. You love the idea of backing out of whatever commitments you have today. And the only thing you feel like doing is curling up in a ball, hiding under your covers, and falling asleep so that you can escape from the complexities and dramas of the day.

Have you ever felt this way?

If so … fantastic! Because that’s EXACTLY how I have felt today.

From technical difficulties with the Feel Good Blogging Challenge emails (some people received Day 3, some people didn’t) … to having to juggle a to-do list that feels to be a million miles long and never-diminishing … today has, quite simply, been a “bad” day. Today did not go even slightly as well as I had expected for it to.

Today I’m going to be giving you instructions on how to deal with your inevitable bad day as an entrepreneur.Β 

Because whether we like it or not, bad days are an inevitable part of life. They are here to stay, so it’s vital to find a way to deal with them that works for you.

Here is mine, I hope it helps.

Step 1 – Acknowledge

It’s funny how obvious step 1 seems, yet how it can sometimes be the most difficult step of them all.

Do you know how long it took me today to simply acknowledge that I was

1) having a GOD-AWFUL DAY

and

2) ready to change it?

8pm, my friend. 8pm. That’s late.

The sooner you can acknowledge the negativity, and acknowledge that you’re ready to change it, the better. Because it will mean that you’re ready to move on to Step 2.

Step 2 – Accept

You’ve acknowledged your willingness to move on from your bad day – AMAZING! Now accept the bad day. STOP trying to control it, manipulate the situation, change it. Just STOP. STOP whatever you’re doing and get still. I always love to find a comfortable spot on the floor (it grounds me), and I just focus on being still. If you’re anything like me, when you’re in a bad mood, you try to work through it. You try to force yourself through your work day. But what I’ve come to realize is that it’s one of the worst things you can do. Let it go. Know that nothing good can be created in your business when you’re in a bad mood. So stop. Take a breather. Be still with this day. Look it in the eye. This is normally when I meditate. I get quiet. I focus on my breathing. I calm my mind. I find the place inside of me where I can love the bad day exactly as it is, without wanting to change it. I send the bad day and all of the bad feelings love. Suddenly, I see that today is not necessarily good or bad. Suddenly, the dramas and complexities fade away. So take the time to remind yourself that there are positive lessons to be learned in every seemingly negative situation. And that lessons are one of the greatest blessings in life because they allow us to grow and evolve. So really? This experience is a blessing. Be still. Sit with it. Be grateful for it. Embrace that you cannot control life’s chaos. No matter how much you prepare, and plan, and strategize, it is impossible to control life. Know that what makes life beautiful is the spontaneous chaos. Trust that everything is unfolding exactly as it should be. There WILL be bad days. And that’s okay. πŸ™‚

Step 3 – Do.Β 

Once you have calmed your mind, and once you have been still, do anything and everything you can to change your energy. Different things work for different people, right? So do something that works for you. Go for a run. Walk your dog. Pray. Ask the universe for help + guidance. Stretch. Dance. Play. Draw. Make tea. Do something that feels incredibly good, something that shifts your energy.

Step 4 – SearchΒ 

Try to find the silver lining.

Do your best to turn the bad situation into a good situation. Today, my email system failed me. And it sucks. But you know what? 1,664 beautiful souls have signed up for the Feel Good Blogging Challenge. And this ‘problem’ gives me another opportunity to communicate with these people, another opportunity to reach out to them and serve them even better. Ultimately, this system failure is not the end of the world. I will do everything I can to rectify the situation, and I’m 100% sure that these people will be graciously understanding. So ask yourself – what can you do to turn your negative situation into a positive situation?

Step 5 – Surrender

Acknowledge that your day may not have gone perfectly to your plan, but that it did go perfectly to the ultimate plan of The Universe. Know that you are only seeing one tiny piece of the puzzle, and that there is so much more at play than you could ever imagine. Trust that life is rigged in your favor, because it is. Know that the “bad days” are really “good days” in disguise. Elizabeth Gilbert said it best when she said that perfectionism is just “fear in really good shoes”. Life doesn’t have to play out exactly as you had imagined it. Life is beautiful and magnificent no matter what. It holds this huge key of curiosity and mystery, and if life went according to plan, oh, how boring it would be. Love where you are at, right here, right now. Love the bad day, but be willing to change your perspective, so that you can start seeing it as a good day in disguise.

I hope you enjoyed this post.

And if you did, bookmark it. Feel free to use it as a tool in your toolbox. And whenever you’re feeling down (which you will), I want you to come here. This, my friend, can be your very own secret weapon.

The irony is that, without this “bad” day of mine, I never would have thought to have written a blog post on how to deal with a bad day. And, in my opinion, this is a pretty awesome post. One of my personal favorites. So even if this is the only silver lining? It’s a pretty bad ass silver lining if you ask me ;).

13 thoughts on “How to deal with your inevitable bad day as an entrepreneur.”

  1. Hi Alex:
    I hope you’re feeling better now. Maybe that was just a small bump on the road but I bet tomorrow will be a lot better for you!
    You’re an excellent person Alex! πŸ˜€
    Many hugs for you β™₯!
    You’ll see tomorrow’s going to be a better day for you πŸ™‚
    PS. I loved your blog post. It gave me a lot of energy to keep moving on!

    1. Hey Cori!

      You are always SO FAST to comment – I love it πŸ™‚ thank you for the constant love and support!

      Oh I’m feeling a world of better. After I finally made the decision to move on and accept things as they were, I was ready to take on the world and actually stayed up till 3:30am knocking things off my to-do list EXCITEDLY.

      For me, that’s the difference. If I’m dragging my feet and feeling stuck on my to-do list, I know I’m energetically in the wrong place. And I AM ULTIMATELY IN CONTROL OF MY ENERGY. So it’s up to ME to change it πŸ™‚

      Today’s going to be a GOOD day because my best friend is coming to visit me for the weekend! *happy dance*

      With love
      xoxo

  2. Alex, Sorry to hear you were having a bad day, but this is great! Is it weird I can’t wait to use these wise words on a bad day!? πŸ˜› LOL!

  3. Perfect post, Alex! I’m proud of you and glad you made it to the end of the day and shared these awesome tips with us. It’s funny, today you decided to add an audio with your post, I did the EXACT same thing. My very first time! Unfortunately, I didn’t do it nearly as well as you did haha. Blogger doesn’t allow MP3’s, so I had to upload it to YouTube and add it as a video with only audio. However, I love the idea of adding audio to certain posts. It’s something new I tried today and I found it amazeballs. In the future, could you go more in depth on how you prepared your audio? I love the way you did it. Lots of love! xo

    1. Hey Ali!

      OMG HOW WEIRD IS IT THAT WE BOTH DID AUDIOS ON EXACTLY THE SAME DAY?!?!?!?! I originally got the idea from Danielle Laporte, I know she uses SoundCloud too, and often I prefer to listen than to read. Depends on my mood.

      Anyways, I recorded it in PhotoBooth, dragged it into iMovie, separated the audio, saved as an MP3 and uploaded to Soundcloud. Win win! πŸ˜€

      With love
      xoxo
      Alex

    1. Hey Genevieve!

      I always love seeing your name πŸ™‚ I’m so glad that this was exactly what you needed to hear, that’s so great for ME to hear that it’s not just helping me, but other people, too. You are WONDERFUL!

      LOVE YOU
      xoxo <3

  4. Perfect timing Alex. I too was having a terrible day that started with a trigger that makes me feel that my life is not as great as it should be. I let it take over and I didn’t post my blog as planned. I felt that I couldn’t share that ugly energy with anyone but my best friend. I have so much creative work to do in the next month that a state change is criticle. Thanks for posting this one…my personal favourite too:)
    Shellyxo

  5. GREAT post, Alex! This is exactly what entrepreneurs need to hear. We’re in such a unique atmosphere that we can inevitably feel like we’re completely alone in our complex world. But that’s just not true! Cheers!

  6. thanks for this Alex! Been having more than my fair share of bad days lately to the point I have questioned myself and my ability to cope. I missed the start of the blogging challenge as everything else got in the way but it’s good to know that we all have these days x

  7. Perfectionism is just fear in really good shoes.

    Hahaha that is the BEST line EVER! Thanks for the laugh AND for the very practical advice. Because yes, bad day are inevitable. But sometimes I get lost in my frustration and can’t find a way out.

    And WOW – I had no idea that many people had signed up for this challenge! Thank you for putting this together and for the inspiration!

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