GOOD DAYS & BAD DAYS

Let’s be honest, we all have them.

We all love the good days, a great sale, a target we have been chasing for ages suddenly comes in from nowhere. The old London bus syndrome, waiting for one and then three come at once. Those days where everything aligns and it’s a breeze. The drive to work with no delays, the coffee waiting on your desk, happy staff, great business, you can’t wait to get home and kiss the wife and hug the kids!!

Then there’s the flip side!

Twenty-minute commute takes 3 hours because a numpty has had a bump, staff are grumpy and there’s no coffee because someone’s used the last of it and not replenished. No sales, profit is down, cash is tight, you want to go to the pub but your child has a violin lesson and you must listen to them strangling the cat for an hour. You want to go home, kick the cat, fall into a bath of red wine and go to bed and hope tomorrow is better!

No point denying it, we all have them.

As an entrepreneur, we are notoriously hard on ourselves.

We drive ourselves into the ground to provide security for others and futures for ourselves and our family’s but when we feel we fall short of our high standards we give ourselves a dog’s life.

When I coach some of my clients, I am always staggered by how much they get through in a relatively short period of time but fail to realise it.

“So, what’s been happening since we last met?”

“Steve, I’ve been a right lazy bugger, I haven’t done anything….”

Then they reel off a whole A4 sheet of what they have achieved in a month and I always say, “Hmmm not much then!”

Then the realisation kicks in that as an entrepreneur we normally do in a day what others achieve in a month.

But I think it’s important to recognise that you can’t always run at that speed.

As entrepreneurs, we normally do in a day what others achieve in a month

Sometimes your body and brain just says “Whoa there big boy, I’m knackered and I’m not playing today…..you are on your own!”

These are the days when we get nothing done, we are in the office but miles away from it. We get a little tetchy with the staff and short with the family and then we get home and kick ourselves for wasting the day. If you are anything like me, I then take it home and everyone knows to give Dad some grumpy old man space.

I’ve learnt on these days, you just should go with the ow.

A quick point of order here. These days happen for me about once every 6 to 8 weeks.

If they are happening every day then there may be a deeper, underlying reason why.

Depression can creep up on anyone regardless of age, sex, size or shape so be careful.

In addition, you should love what you do and be passionate about it.

If you are not then getting out of bed can be a chore more often than not. Then it’s time to take stock and look at the end game and what you are really trying to achieve and if what you are doing now is aligned to that end goal.

I’m talking about the odd bad day here…..back to it!

I always try and get one thing done straight out of the box, early doors and then just wrap it in for the day.

I then try and do something conducive to getting back in the groove as soon as possible.

I may go to the gym, get a swim and a sauna. Go to a spa and get a massage.
Go and play golf.
Grab a lunch or a coffee with a friend.

Visit a customer and just chat and have a coffee and bug them for an hour.

Go for a walk and get some fresh air.

Drive to a spot and just chill and reflect for an hour or so.

Retail therapy – whatever works.

Then, and most importantly, I don’t give myself a hard time about it.

I understand that this is my body’s way of recharging the battery, it’s how it mends itself and allows me to come back stronger and more focused.

What I don’t do is bust my balls and then hit the pub or try and find the answer at the bottom of a red wine glass – a big red wine glass.

Inevitably that always ends up with me feeling like crap the next day and then one bad day leads to two which leads to a week and then drags on for a month.

I’ve been there, it takes a lot more effort recovering from a month than it does a day.

So, listen to your body.

Take those recovery days and don’t give yourself a hard time but recognise it for what it is.

I hope this helps
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Now, where’s that bloody cat!!!

– No animals were hurt in the making of this blog!! (I don’t have a cat, I believe that if they were big enough they would eat you, it’s the look in their eyes!! I’m joking for God’s sake!!!)