What Do You Do When it all Goes to Pot?

Over the last month or so, events have transpired that have forced me to rethink where I’m currently headed, where I want to be headed and how those two things align, as well as the quintessential self-development question: “who am I and do I like who I am”?.  The events that occurred hit me for a six and so I had to figure out how I was going to react and what I could learn from the experience.

Herewith my thoughts on What to do When Everything Goes to Pot.

1. Breathe – there’s a good chance not everything has gone to pot!
   Things always look worse than they are when they first happen.  It’s so important to stop, take a breath and take a step back.  Think about how you would like to respond.  Responding straight away, in the heat of the moment, is not a fabulous thing to do.  In fact, it can often make things worse!
   So stop.  Take a deep breath.  Count to ten.

2. If you’re feeling guilty about something, apologise and decide to learn.
   Once you’ve stopped and had a think about things; how are you feeling?  If you’re feeling guilty it may be because you need to apologise for something or it may just be because you aren’t seeing the situation from an objective standpoint.
   If you do think there’s something to apologise for – do it!  Apologising is a freeing experience and once you’ve apologised, you’re putting the ball in the other person’s court – they no longer have power over you.

3. Take stock – what can I learn?
   I firmly believe that nothing happens by accident.  Sometimes (often!) we are put in unpleasant situations because there’s a lesson we have to learn and we haven’t been listening so we have to be whacked over the head with a blunt instrument.

4. Create your own opportunities.
   What other doors are there that may be opening?  I’ve found that my focus has shifted over the past month so I’m now much more focused on building my own business so that I can be the sole breadwinner in our family and DH can be the housewife.
   Keep a look out for opportunities that you may not previously had time/motivation for and you might be pleasantly surprised at what presents itself.
   I hope you can see from this article that 99 times out of 100, when it seems that everything has gone to pot, there is a light at the end of the tunnel which is very likely to lead to something better.