How to handle the bad days

It may be a series of costly mishaps like spilling coffee on your pants or getting a speeding fine.

And it can include feeling neglected, like having people not respond to your texts, having last minute cancellations and even losing a client or two – all in one day!

Surely the very good days have to balance with the bad ones?

“Did you get out of bed on the wrong side this morning?” can mean a bad attitude or being jinxed. Or the attitude can make things worse so it feels like you’re jinxed. We should not underestimate how our mood will interpret things in a negative light if we had a few things go wrong early on. This means that although we all can have things happen to us outside of our direct control, we definitely can make it worse when that moves us into a mood that expects the fight.

Sometimes you could be feeling angry and this causes you to miss things and make more mistakes – even overreact. Or you could be feeling very flat, unenthused and withdrawing from what you should be doing because your confidence is shot. So what do you do with a day that is unfolding like this?

I can surely relate and here are tips that have helped me and perhaps can help you handle those days:

1. Hold the perspective that this is a run of poor form and it will not last. No point in killing the optimism that would play a key role in improving the day.

2. Treat yourself: do something you enjoy without feeling guilty to help you recover and reconnect to your worth and capability.

3. See the humour in the ‘comedy of errors’ and allow yourself to be amused by the appearance of someone or something up there picking on little ol’ you.

4. Make fewer decisions and communicate less with those disappointing you with the understanding that your perspective is compromised.

5. Slow down and meditate – it is time to reset and come back into your flow: creative and intuitive and ready to handle whatever comes your way.

There have been many times where my day was shocking and by the end of it, it had transformed into a deeply meaningful and satisfying one. There have been times when it stayed bad. However, I slept knowing that my bad days have never lasted long enough to keep me from realising my goals. Let that perspective help embrace the upturn that routinely follows.

Can you think of other things you do when you’re having a very bad day?

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