Monday Motivation | Why your Bad Days are so awesome!

The other day, I received a call from a long time friend.  We hadn't spoke in a long time so I was curious to know what she wanted to talk about.  Turns out that she had a business idea and wanted to run it past me to hear my thoughts.

We talked about the pros and cons and went over a detailed business strategy.  After discussing the possibilities that could come about if she were to take action, we took some time to catch up.  While we chatted she told me that when the idea came, she immediately purchased the domain name.  She also mentioned not having slept much the night before because she spent most of the night creating new business.

As I listened, I got the sense that there were other factors involved with the sudden launch of her new company.  So I asked a couple of questions.  It turns out that she was highly unsatisfied with work and had a miserable day. The day was so horrible that she moved into fast action to change the situation.  I knew exactly how she felt.  In fact, I owe much of the success of my business to miserable experiences at my last employer.

The worse the day, the harder I'd work on my brand.  Sometimes, after enduring a 15 hour work day, instead of going to sleep, I'd stay up and work on my "second job." I didn't care about how much sleep I lost, as long as I didn't have to go through another day like that again, I was willing to do anything.  Looking back, I'm EXTREMELY grateful for all of those horrible experiences because they served as raw, high powered motivation to alter my circumstance.

Bad days are highly valuable.  Instead of going home, opening up a pint of ice cream, and falling asleep in front of the tv, you can create something productive and lasting.  It sorta reminds me of a scene in the movie Limitless.  Eddie takes a magic pill that awakens his brain.  After decluttering, he finally sits down and pumps out his long awaited novel.  Even though he woke up with less motivation than the day before, he still had his completed manuscript.

If we take massive action because of an undesirable circumstance, our actions will remain even when things go back to normal.   The key is how to maintain the momentum when the situation isn't as unbearable.  I'm motivated more by avoiding unfavorable circumstances than in pursuing positive ones.  So whenever a bad day strikes, I get excited!  The first thing I say to myself is "ok, what do I gotta do to change this!?!?   Suddenly ideas start flowing.  And resistance to taking action is gone.   There's no fear because the desire to change the situation is much greater than our need to stay in a comfort zone.  The comfort zone is what created the situation in the first place.

{I believe the level of action one takes out of frustration is way more activating than the action we take out of complacency}

Long story short, turn your bad days into your best days yet.  All of the discomfort and pain you feel when things aren't going well is extremely powerful.  Don't let that good stuff go to waste.  It creates a level of urgency like no other. Use it to fuel you into the massive action that you've been putting off.  And this goes for every type of situation, not just leaving your job.  Whenever you experience an undesirable result, move into action!  Move into the type of action that brings you closer to what you want to experience.