I wrote a few weeks ago about the Nike campaign with Colin Kaepernick and several other hope-inspiring athletes.
As I expected, their stock has soared AND typical information about who Nike contributes to politically is the biggest and best news of the week. Hint: it wasn’t who some people THOUGHT they should contribute to, but it’s exactly what I expected to see.
So, there I was talking about tapping into the feeling of hope that your clients and customers are longing to feel as a marketing strategy, but what about YOUR hope as a human and as a business owner?
How do you hang on to hope for your life and business when it feels like everything is crashing down around you?
When you know you have payroll to pay and not even close to the funds you need to pay it or you know your business is losing money every month but you’re ignoring it because it’s happening on credit? What do you do then?
It’s a struggle I’ve personally dealt with many times over the years and I’m certainly not going to sit here and pretend I’m an expert at this.
That being said, the fact that I’ve struggled with it means I’ve spent a lot of time and energy trying to find solutions for it (that’s my INTJ coming out!).
I’ve also spent a lot of time advising clients through times like this successfully and there are a few practical, simple keys to restoring/reviving/renewing your hope for your future.
- Find someone around you who is generally positive and hopeful and keep them on speed dial. There will be times when you need to tap into a different perspective than the one you may feel you’re drowning in at the time. Remember they will also need some injections of positivity or something from you at times too – reciprocity has it’s own benefits in fighting hopelessness.
- Think about and WRITE DOWN what you really want. I like to lead my clients through an exercise I call the Dream Stream (thank you AmazingClarks.com) to help them clarify what that is right now. It can change from time to time in life and sometimes we forget to re-evaluate what we’ve already accomplished and whether there should be some course adjustment now. There are no wrong dreams or wrong course adjustments.
- Take the biggest desires from your dream stream and working backwards from the dream, think about what small steps can you take today, this week, this month, this year to begin to move intentionally towards them and start to take those steps. “Just do it” as Nike would say.
- If you find it difficult to get your thoughts going in a different direction from the troubles, try an exercise I call Top 5 Thoughts. What are the top 5 things going through your head on a regular basis? Write them down and then dig into them deeper. Are they really true or do they stem from fears and doubts you’re holding on to? Then, write down 5 new perspectives on those thoughts that reinforce the goals you clarified in your dream stream and when you hear yourself saying the first set of thoughts, attempt to intentionally replace them with the second set.
- Finally, understand that hopelessness, despair, and depression can hit any one of us at any time for a number of different reasons and it’s human. There is nothing to be ashamed of and you are worthy of getting the help you need when that’s what you’re going through. Whether it’s personal or business matters that have you feeling hopeless, the Suicide Prevention Hotline has people ready and waiting for you to reach out by phone at 800-273-TALK or by text (in case you don’t really want to talk) at 741741.
How do you deal with hopelessness in your life? Leave me a comment and let me know your favorite resources on this topic.
Hope is just one of the 10 Hart Habits™ I use to advise clients of Infused Operations, and it’s key to a love-infused life and business.
Want to see if we can help you and your business? Schedule a Free, no-obligation call with us today and let’s discuss what in your business is keeping you awake at night right now.