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. 

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. 🙂

Step 3 – Do. 

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 – Search 

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 ;).