How to Keep Calm and Carry On

Everyone has bad days. Maybe you woke up this morning and just did not feel like getting out of bed. As you scrolled through your emails and realised how much you had to do today, you turned off your alarm and decided to crawl back into bed to escape reality. You just didn’t feel like getting dressed or sitting in your home office for the next 10 hours.

No matter how you felt this morning, the job still needs to be done (unless of course, you decide to call in “sick”). People are still expecting you to show up and contribute to your team. Lives still need to be saved, and problems still need to be solved. So, how can you get through the day if you are not feeling your best?

If you’re a high achiever like me, as soon as you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you start to punish yourself for feeling “blah”. We expect to be 100% most of the time because we are most fulfilled when we have checked off everything on our to-do list. But if you’re not feeling great, you naturally won’t be as productive as you normally would be. And that’s okay!

The main problem that hinders our productivity is our negative self-talk. Most of us don’t even realise how we are putting ourselves down. If you were to speak your thoughts out loud to a friend, you’d probably be horrified. It wouldn’t normally be culturally acceptable to speak to someone in such a degrading manner. Yet, that is exactly how we talk to ourselves.

If I happen to get up on the wrong side of the bed, I take a moment to stop and think about what I would say if my friend was in this situation. How would I encourage her throughout her day? The words I use would be gentler and kinder, and this is how we should speak to ourselves as well. Our self-talk makes a huge difference in our whole outlook for the day. If we don’t reign it in, it could lead us on a downward spiral.

With so much on our plates, we don’t often take the time to take care of ourselves. We have families and friends who need us to be present, and we have jobs that demand so much of our time and attention. We often end up neglecting ourselves and fail to take the time to do something that brings us joy.

But if you think about it, your ability to serve and care for those around you depends on how well you care for yourself. If you are not in the best place physically and emotionally, how will you be able to help someone carry their burden without falling down with them? If we want to be our best selves for those around us, we have to take the time to look after our hearts and minds.