31/07/2015
One of the most important strengths of any entrepreneur is your faith in yourself. Your ability to motivate others, push yourself to new limits, overcome obstacles, to thrive in our competitive world, is all greatly influenced by your innate ability to believe that YOU CAN DO IT.
But let’s face it, nobody is perfect, and sometimes that inner spark just seems to be missing. There are days when you can’t quite gather up the courage or energy.
It may be that a new source of stress has come into your life. Perhaps a series of unforeseen events has simply dampened your enthusiasm temporarily. A client might be giving you so many problems that you start to question your abilities.
Whatever the reason, you now find yourself wanting to just sit and wallow in self-pity.
If you have read our books or attended our courses, then you already know about the importance of self-motivation and being causative. But sometimes, when you’re in the heat of the moment, all the knowledge and logic in the world won’t make those feelings go away.
It’s ok. Part of being human is dealing with rushes of emotion, both good and bad.
Deep down though, you still know that you can’t allow it to affect the rest of your day, that these feelings aren’t constructive. But how are you supposed to get through the day with this weight on your shoulders? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a mental switch you could flip that would restore you to your usual energetic, motivated self?
Sadly there is no on/off switch, but there may still be a shortcut:
Stand up. Right now, go ahead.
Back straight. Chin up. Hands on hips in the confident Superman pose. Now smile… and keep smiling.
That’s not too hard is it? You may not believe in your smile at the moment, but even just pretending you do can make a great difference to your day.
As Amy Cuddy explains in her widely watched
TED Talk (particularly at minute 7:15), your body posture and facial expressions can be a powerful tool to “hack” in to your deeper psych, regardless of what you may actually be feeling at that moment.
Once you’ve charged yourself a bit with confident poses, take it a step further by greeting people energetically. Laugh louder, smile wider (try not to be creepy about it though), and put on your happy face.
Keep that happy face on until it becomes
genuine.
That’s it.
It won’t magically solve all your problems, but it WILL give you the positive boost you need to BELIEVE IN YOURSELF again, and restore faith in your ability to overcome whatever stands in your way. Which, after all, is half the battle.
So when you feel tempted to cave in to a “bad day”, don’t forget this secret weapon to get you out of the blues and back to work.
