YOUR SITUATION DOESN’T HAVE TO IMPROVE FOR YOUR GRATITUDE TO INCREASE

“When one door closes another one always opens, but sometimes it’s hell in the hallways.”

What to do when you are stuck in the hallway … and it’s hell?

What happens when things aren’t so awesome? Do you ever feel like you are in a valley, or worse, six feet deep in a ditch in a valley? Do you feel bitter because other people seem to have good fortune and you don’t? Are you feeling lost, wondering what you should be doing but not finding any answers? Have you lost your faith? Do you have a hard time trusting that “good things” will come your way because you‘ve been disappointed so many times? Do you feel stuck?

Good news! The deeper the valley, the higher the peak! Here is what to do:

Faith is making that cold call even though the odds are against you.
Go to the gym even though you might have so far to go.
Save money even though you have so little to begin with.
Start preparing for blessings to come. You will get nowhere through bitterness. You are not stuck; you are just on empty. Fill yourself up with that which inspires you to push forward.

I’ve spent wasted years, focused on what I’d lost, what could have been—really angry and bitter, but it got me nowhere. I think the greatest lesson I’ve ever learned was from something a friend said. What he said was (and this has been my theme in sales training): “Reduce your downtime.”

It doesn’t matter how far you fall down; the question is how long are you going to stay there? Christopher Reeves was interviewed and he said that everyday he allowed himself to grieve for 10 minutes—that’s it. How long are you going to stay down? How long are you going to let that person who did you wrong still affect you? Here’s the deal! My old response would have been: Well, that’s easier said than done. It’s too hard to focus on what’s going right because the bad over shadows it. You might not have the resources but I bet you are resourceful. This is where you don’t have to “fix” or do something about what things went wrong. You just need to fill up on what good things you have left! Change your direction! Change your environment; focus on what you do have. Now this can be hard when you think it feels like you have nothing left. One realization that is powerful to focus on is this:

Your situation doesn’t have to improve for your gratitude to increase.

What you focus on expands and if you focus on what you do have, (the customers who are working with you), that’s what will change your state. As a business coach I hear story after story about how someone did someone else wrong. Every story seems to have the same emotional cycle. Anger comes from hurt and hurt comes from un-met expectations. To break this cycle, start to focus on what good things you have left.