Learning to Laugh
I wonder how last week went for you. Were you able to laugh over the spilled milk of life? Chances are you’re still working on it. That’s OK. Life is and always will a work in process. We are continually growing, expanding, tweaking, changing directions. Our life is one long scientific experiment. But this is also what keeps us on our toes and makes life so interesting, is it not?
Last week we talked about your assistant double booking and now you have to call super important and anal client Noname to explain the mix-up and reschedule. If you found it a bit difficult to laugh over this spilled milk, read on for some more support.
Worse Case Scenario
Credo 2 What’s the worst that could happen? Go through how you might choose to react, what effects would it have on your reputation, your business, your home life, your mental well-being, etc.? How could you recover? Guess what? You will survive. Even if it’s a bit rough for a while, you will only come out stronger for it. So, why yell at the assistant for being human and making a mistake, increasing the likelihood that both of you will one day die of a heart attack? When you feel yourself spiraling emotionally, stop and daydream about what the worst reality might look like. How would your best self react? If you could be mature and exude grace and humility, how could you get past this hypothetical worst case? Now that you know how you can deal with the worst, which is the least likely of outcomes, you’re armed to tackle whatever actually does happen.
My example
When I was in my early 20’s, I one day woke up and realized I was a single mom of two little boys and was making a whopping $6 an hour. With no child support coming in and no education to enable a better job (or so I thought at the time), I was sinking in the quicksand of life and dragging my kids down with me. Through the course of events, I had picked up a couple gigs cleaning houses after work once a week. I was stunned to realize I could make $25 an hour doing that. If only I could do that full time…. After months of praying, I realized the answer had been right in front of me all along. With the biggest leap of faith ever (and with my worse case scenario looming large), I gave my two weeks’ notice and printed hundreds of fliers. I had no savings, was late on every bill and had to stop every 10 minutes to put water in the leaky radiator of the car. As far as I was concerned, I was never jobless, though. My job those first few weeks was to find work. I was either cleaning or fliering 8-10 hours a day. Within 6 months, I had over 30 names on a waiting list for my service. Eventually I tossed the list because my clients weren’t letting me go. I was set. My annual income went from roughly $10-12,000 to $30-40,000 in less than a year! That is the power of daydreaming how you’d handle the worst-case scenario. Go ahead. Jump. I dare you.
