Monday Motivational- Having A Hard Day?

How do you handle the hard days?

Before I joined the C-suite, I used to think, “Come on. They have tough times, but that is why they are paid the ‘big bucks’.” Then I joined the C-suite… one, two, three times. And I realized this: no amount of “big bucks” pays for those hard days.

What do I mean?

Now that I am an experienced member of the C-suite, I can share insight into a few things. Here we go:

There are way more HARD DAYS than I anticipated. There are the hiring decision days, the investment days—what term sheet do we choose, and the layoff days—how do we manage who we keep and transition to another job or out of the company? Oh my goodness (aka OMG), how many hard days are there? And I am not paid enough for this!!

DECISIONS. How do you/WE not get stuck in decision paralysis? Are you biased? Do you need to exclude yourself? Are YOU the problem? Are you weak? What are your blind spots? How much will this cost the company? Are you just protecting yourself or the company/organization?

SELF CARE! Okay – this is the real reason I decided at 12:14 AM to write this blog. I had a HARD DAY. A VERY HARD FEW DAYS, and I am concerned about myself and other members of the situation. Are we taking the time during and after this ‘hard day’ for self-care? Odds are we are NOT.

So…here are my tips to take care of yourself during these HARD DAYS:

1. GRACE. Today, you are only allowed to speak to yourself, saying words/phrases and expressing emotions that you would share with SOMEONE else in this situation! Do you know that we are often kinder in our grace, love, and acceptance of others than we are to ourselves? Today is the day to pause and say, “What would I say to someone else in this situation?” Write it down. Go ahead – pause reading this and write it down. Now – add YOUR name to the start of it. Repeat it to yourself over and over.
2. TODAY IS JUST A DAY. THIS IS JUST A SEASON. At my current stage in life, I like to look back at the days I thought were OH SO HUGE!! The days I lost sleep and nails and hair over. You know what? The result was never as bad as those scary nightmare stories I created in my head. Those days…passed. I figured out the next steps. I solved the problems. I learned. I lived. I moved on. So – today is just a day. It is not every day. It is not forever. It is just TODAY. Full stop.
3. BREATHE. Yep. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Celebrate the fact that you are, in fact, in the moment to experience this day. You were selected to be the person to deal with this hard day. For better or worse (no vows required), you were given a bit of a gift. Dig deep. Breathe. Pause. Feel the moment. You are alive, and you have the ability to make an impact.
4. GRATITUDE. At some point, you are likely to look back at today and say, “I am better because of that day.” “I grew so much.”, “That day changed my life, and now I am living my passion.”, “I tested my true leadership skills,” “I learned how to be humble,” “I accepted criticism,” and “I said I was wrong, and the world…did…not…end.” Those are days to be grateful!
5. MOVE ON!! A hard day is a day. A hard season is a season. My challenge to you is to allow it to end and accept the lessons learned, grace, compassion, deep breaths, sighs, and moments of gratitude, and MOVE THE HECK ON! Do not let a HARD DAY create a HARD YOU. It is a choice…choose wisely.

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