5 Survival Tactics for When Everything Goes Wrong

By Sandra Martini -

You know the type of week.

* You’ve worked hard and are gearing up to launch a new product when a vendor calls and says that he can’t get the new website up on deadline which is “okay” because the graphic artist’s computer crashed and your product picture isn’t ready anyway. They’ll get back to you.

* Taxes are due for those who got and, in some previous insanity, you agreed to do them for friends and family. But you still need information and the tax deadline looms.

* Your hubby needs reading glasses but you can’t find the credit card which will give you the big discount. It’s gotta be around somewhere.

* Your sister wants to borrow your AAA card – it must be with the missing credit card.

* Your business phone line stops working and the telephone company insists the problem is in the home and they can’t get to you for a week.

* It hasn’t rained for weeks and yet the dog is covered in mud and lying on the couch.

* Your largest client calls on a Friday afternoon and requests the impossible. This was preceded by your smallest client calling and demanding that you drop everything as her every need is *urgent*.

* The bathroom toilet stops working and then starts leaking and your plumber is on vacation.

What do you do when it all goes wrong?

1. Laugh.

Laugh hard and laugh often. Laugh like there’s no tomorrow – given the above, there may not be. Seriously though. . .laughter will put you in a much better frame of mind to deal with life’s interruptions without losing your sanity.

2. Breathe.

If laughter isn’t possible, and sometimes it just isn’t, then focus on your breathing. Breathe in and out, in and out as deeply as possible until your pulse stops racing or you let go of the throat that somehow found its way into your grasp.

3. Regroup.

When the walls are caving in around you, take five minutes and figure out what you can do to keep at least one thing moving forward. Follow-up on the email that may land you a new client. Submit your article to the various article submission sites. Pay a couple of bills. Do one thing, anything so that you can cross something off your *list*. It’s probably best if this something doesn’t involve interaction with others!

4. Give thanks.

“What? Give thanks? Are you insane?” I can hear the grumbling from here. Do it anyway! Grab a piece of paper and make a list of everything that you are thankful for – chances are, you have it better than millions of others.

Here’s a quick list of things that I know I’m grateful for: my health, family and friends, my pets, my business and my clients, sunrises and sunsets, flowers, chocolate ice cream, the sound of the ocean and a crisp New England fall day.

5. Get out.

Get out of the house and out of the office. Whether you choose to go for a walk, have lunch with friends, go window shopping (leave credit cards at home) or browse the shelves at your local library, get out and enjoy yourself for a bit. You’ll return in a much refreshed frame of mind and ready to tackle whatever life throws your way.

Let’s be real. Sometimes problems are just problems and not “opportunities”. Sometimes lemons make bad lemonade. And not all clouds have a silver lining. When everything goes wrong, try one (or all) of the above techniques, accept it and move on knowing that things will get better!

Online Business Manager & Entrepreneur, Sandra Martini coaches small business owners to more efficiently manage their businesses while increasing profits and having fun. Sandra’s coaching programs are available via teleconferencing, emails and telephone calls. For more information or to sign-up for ‘Effective Entrepreneur’, visit http://www.online-biz-coach.com today. Want to grow your business? Sign up for the FREE e-course “How to Write a Dynamic Marketing Plan” by sending a blank email to smartini-187175@autocontactor.com today.

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5 Tactics for Taking an Enormous Risk

I know you. Probably better than you think I do. I know you have some big ideas, some dreams. I know you wonder how you’ll ever actually do them. I know you have responsibilities and choices to make and things don’t always work out like you wish because there isn’t quite enough money, time, or energy.

I know that no matter what happens, though, you always get that nagging voice in the back of your head that asks, “What if? What if I just did it?”

Okay, maybe I don’t know you that well, but it’s an incredibly common feeling for almost everyone. There’s something you really want to do, but the time is never quite right and it just feels too risky.

Risk is a four-letter word these days and I don’t think it gets the respect it deserves.

You can work your whole life to keep risk at bay, but it comes at the cost of boredom. Anyone can elect safety, but you’ll pay for it with your life’s biggest desires.

If you ever want to realize your dreams – if you want to start that business, find that true love, go on that adventure, or anything else – risk is going to become an intimate part of your life.

Once you accept that, you can get on to actually taking them. Here are a few things you can do to make sure you do it right:

The fear of the unknown is paralyzing, but going toward your fears is the only way to actually get what you really want.

Everyone wants something out of reach, but the only thing keeping it there is your own belief. Once you convince yourself that it’s possible for you to achieve something, even if it’s not reasonable, you’re far more likely to actually work towards it.

Personally, I know that if it my goals don’t scare me, they probably aren’t worth doing.

Let’s face it, when you want to do something incredible, the odds are stacked against you. No way around it.

If everything was set up for you to succeed, no one would care when you did (including you).

Forgetting the odds means realizing that doing something important is hard work. It means understanding that success is uncertain and doing it anyway.

I plan to climb the tallest mountain on every continent. It’s a challenge that I cannot deny myself.

That said, I have no idea how to actually make that happen yet, and if I tried to figure out all the details now, I’d never even get started.

Instead, I plan only what I can foresee. Next year I’ll head to Europe and Africa to climb the tallest mountains there. I have no idea how I’ll get to the next five, but I know I’ll figure it out along the way.

Plan what you can count on. You’ll have to figure out the rest later.

Don’t forget this part. Take the first step. Make the leap. Get started. Do something.

This gets ignored far too often. You don’t have to change the world when you’re getting started, but if you just take the first step, eventually you will.

When I trained for my first marathon, I couldn’t run 26 miles. But I could put my shoes on. Then I could run 1 mile. Then 5. Then 10. A few months later, I ran 26.2 miles in less than 4 hours.

Make your first step the easiest one you can imagine.

Should you have a fallback plan? Here’s my answer: no.

When you’re going after something big, uncertain, and risky, it’s going to be hard and Plan B is usually something easy – probably even something you’ve already done before even if it makes you miserable.

The harder Plan A gets, the more appealing Plan B becomes. Some things are too important for a Plan B. It’s up to you to decide if this is one of them.

Tyler Tervooren writes for a highly skilled team of risk takers at Advanced Riskology. Follow his updates from the tops of mountains on Twitter: @tylertervooren.

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