We all have stuff.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that you have probably gone through something. What do I mean by something? It can be any number of things. Let me name a few…
Divorce. Someone passing away. Someone getting sick. Car accident. Allowing yourself to be negative. Family. Running yourself ragged. Not feeling like it. Not having the right tools. Not happy in your job. These are just a few…..
For all of us, it’s different. It’s how we handle things like these that set us apart from others. I will never, ever sit here and say don’t let it bother you. It’s inevitable, it will have an impact on our life, who we are as a person and what we think about.
Just don’t let it take away from your ultimate goal. Don’t let it get you sidetracked.
There are things you can do to allow yourself to get past it….
A smart man once said, “We all go through seasons, this is yours.”
- Give yourself permission. What does that mean? Give yourself permission to wallow in it for a time. It can be 5 minutes, 10 minutes. It can be 2 days, 7 days. Whatever it is, give yourself time to get past it. Then, get back to who you are and what you do.
- Ask for help: None of us can do it alone. NONE OF US. I don’t care how strong you are. How much you think you know. How big your ego is. We can’t do it alone. You need someone there to talk to. Ask for help. You have more people that care about you than you know.
- Own it. You have a part in this. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be part of it. Either you allowed it. You were in it. You were present or you didn’t do the things to get away from it. Own it and know you can do something about it. You’ve got this.
- Leave it at the door. When you walk in to work. When you punch in. You punch in. No one can take that away from you. You control that. I can’t control that, THEY can’t control that. Only YOU can control what your attitude will be. When you walk in, leave it all at the door. You can pick it up on the coat rack when you walk out. If it affects your work, it affects everyone around you.
- Know WHY you do it. Kids, providing, life, goals, achievements or anything else that is your WHY. It can be big. It can be small. It doesn’t matter. It’s what’s important to YOU. Not me, not anyone around you. But come back to it 10, 100, 1000 times a day if necessary.
I’m here to tell you this too shall pass. No matter what it is. Whether it’s something that is going great, or something you may be struggling with. It’s never, ever as great as it seems or as bad as it seems. I promise you that. You can always find a way.
Always.
Brent Widman
Partner
Southwestern Consulting