The Butler Project

Let’s face it, getting out of debt, sticking to a tight budget, or building a new business is not always fun. In fact, many days you might feel downright depressed about it. And that’s OK because it’s hard work to make up for past mistakes, delay gratification, and keep at it when results are few and far between. Does that mean you should quit? No! That just means you accept that some days will be hard and you’ll figure out how to deal with them.

Try some of these solutions; they work for me.

1. Do something physical.

Lift weights, go for a walk, take a hike, ride your bike, run around the block, go for a swim, play Frisbee in the park, whatever you enjoy doing, do it! Physical activity will not only distract you from your cares, but it’s scientifically proven to boost your mood.

2. Play.

I have kids, so I always have someone to play with. It’s amazing how a short game of pretend, Chutes and Ladders, or kick ball can improve my mood.

3. Serve others.

Nothing is a quicker antidote to a pity party than helping others. Do something nice for your spouse, your children, even your mother. Send a card, perform a secret act of kindness, help a neighbor with yard or house work. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, just think about someone else and act on their needs for a minute.

4. Gratitude.

Gratitude goes right along with service. You can’t help but feel better as you count your blessings, and nothing makes your blessings more apparent than serving people in tough situations. Oprah made gratitude journals famous a few years ago. It’s not a bad idea to start a little notebook where you write down the things you are grateful for. It’s amazing how many things you start to notice when you’re paying attention.

5. Avoid sugar, caffeine, and other stimulants.

Yeah, yeah, we all know we need to eat well. But junk food tastes so good, especially when you’re having a bad day! Did you know stimulants, including sugar and caffeine actually increase anxiety? Check out what not to eat here

6. Make a visual.

Sometimes we need a visual reminder of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. I’ve made a simple one to show how much debt I’ve paid off (remember my vending machine venture?) and have that reminder that I’ve done a good job. The visual reminds me that by continuing to do the hard work, I’ll be through with debt soon. If you don’t have debt, make a net worth visual or a bar graph showing your business’s improvements over the last few weeks, months, or years. Include your goals in the visual and post it somewhere you’ll see it often.

7. Get to work.

I loved this post about whining. Quit whining. Get to work. If all your work is done, play; play hard.

8. Surround yourself with Success.

If you remember Dan, one of Mark’s interviewees, he read books every day:

Dan: [Read] self help books– it could be anything, it could be Tony Robbins, it could be sales books, it could be Zig Ziggler, Tom Hopkins, whatever . . . Just get in the habit of reading, even if it’s only for 20 minutes a day or a half hour a day where you wake up and you start your day with that and it just gives you ideas; it gets you in the right mind set. [Basically] you need a personal mentor, and I use a lot of those books kind of as that to get me upbeat and get me going.

Read blogs about other people who are working at doing what you’re doing. They’re proof it can be done.

Read the Butler Project. Every time I listen to or read about a millionaire interview, I am inspired and feel like I can take on the world. They did it. So can we!

9. Reward yourself.

When you get to a certain point, you’ll have some financial and business breathing room. Think about a “sunny” day fund. Even if you’re just saving $10 a week of your grocery money so you can go to lunch with a girlfriend or buy a pair of shoes in a few weeks, it’s a good idea to have plans for you.

10. Remember, it takes time to change your life.

Whether you’re working on paying off debt or building a business, expect that it will take a significant length of time to produce significant results. Our family owns an ecommerce site. Last summer, after working on it for a good 10 months, we were all pretty much ready to throw in the towel. We were doing a lot of work for a very little money. We took 2 months off. After the break, we got together and decided to make some significant changes on the site and with our suppliers. Then we got to work. It was a lot of hard work and still, the results were meager.

Then the Christmas season began, and business picked up. We were enthusiastic and eager again. January came and we expected the same serious slump we had experienced the previous January. It didn’t come. In fact we held steady through January and February and now we’re setting new records for traffic each week.

Remind yourself it takes time. All the hard work we did months ago (setting up accounts with new suppliers and entering literally thousands of products into our database) is paying off now. We’re not entering new products anymore, but we are enjoying the results of that hard work months later. The little things you do today (saving that 10 bucks, or advertising your business, whatever you’re doing) can make a big difference tomorrow or next week or next year. It takes time.