Challenges Schmallenges!
It’s fair to say the last two weeks have been colossal. In many good ways. But jeez, have there been some challenges along the way!
I have been working my tail off the past few months getting my new course Upsize My Happiness together (she’s a doozy but we’ll get into that another day). But the fun really started about three days out from my launch date when I received a text from my bank advising there had been suspicious activity on my credit card and to give them a call. I immediately jumped on the phone and the kind lady explained that in essence it would take around 10 days for everything to be sorted and for me to have a new credit card. This wouldn’t normally have been a problem, apart from the fact that most online advertising avenues require credit cards for payment. Shoot!
By the time my new card arrived, I was itching to get my advertising underway and had set aside a Sunday to get it live. Early that Sunday morning my mother-in-law phoned to let my husband know his grandfather was not doing very well (he’d been ill for a while) and he was probably not going to be with us for much longer. So, obviously, we went up to see him that morning and say our goodbyes. I put my plans on hold (and I was happy to do so) to support my husband at a difficult time.
The following week it was time for the kids to go back to school for the new year and we also had a funeral to attend so once again, it was time to focus on my family and support their individual needs as best as I could.
Finally, my third opportunity to commence my marketing and launch my course arrived. I had a clear day with no interruptions allowed. I jumped online and into an advertising portal and everything was going swimmingly until ***bummm bummm*** (insert movie sound here) my advertising account was disabled. I had apparently breached their policies. I googled and found some answers and advice on how to handle it (albeit someone compared it to the “kiss of marketing death”).
You could say by this point, I was pretty over it all. After a few hours of trying to get things up and running and problem solving the sh*t out of everything imaginable…….I slowly got up and walked away. From my computer, I mean, not life……I’m not that dramatic.
What was really interesting was my reaction. Well, lack of reaction actually. A few years ago I would have been sitting in the bottom of the shower bawling my eyes out. I would have swung between sulking and rage. Non-stop. For three days.
Flash forward to today and I am able to get some space between the feeling and my reaction so I can choose my next step. Looking back now and writing this post, I can see three things that I did to help me through.
First, I felt where it was in my body that I was feeling the emotion. For me, it was my chest and stomach. I just sat for a few minutes and focussed on where I felt uncomfortable. Interestingly, emotions start in the body and only last around 90 seconds. It’s the mind that picks up the cue from the body and then continues to feed it which make them last longer. So, by recognising where I was feeling the emotion in my body, I was able to stop any unhelpful mind chatter that might prolong the feelings.
My mind did chirp in with “What if you’re never able to advertise on this platform again?!?” and “What if this spells the end of mindcoachkate?”. But, again, because I’ve practised this stuff a fair bit I heard that clever catastrophising voice and quickly turned it into gratitude. You see, you can’t be mad or angry or annoyed or fearful or anything else “negative” if you’re grateful. So, whenever a “what if” popped up, I would turn it into a “I am so grateful for…” Amazing how that just turns things around. In an instant.
And then, I was reminded of a quote I saw recently: “Everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, it’s not the end”. Wise, wise person who figured that one out. It’s so true. Not only did it prompt me to remember it wasn’t the end of the situation but also that I could work it out. Sans meltdown.
