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If it feels like everything is falling apart, chin up! In this post, I’ll tell you exactly how to stay positive when nothing is going right.
You are working so hard and it feels like the whole world is just against you? Or nothing is happening at all, and all your efforts feel like a waste?
I know the feeling.
Meanwhile, we want to feel better and still get things done. Or maybe surrender and take a break for a little while?
Stick with me and you will learn how to stay positive when nothing is going right — these are my tried and true tips that work every time.
This post is all about how to stay positive when nothing is going right.
🙄 When nothing goes right…
There is a combination of two types of things I find most helpful when I feel like nothing is working: active actions + mindset work.
In my opinion, both types are required when it comes to coping with negative emotions and thoughts and getting yourself back on track. That’s why in this post I’m revealing ALL my strategies on how to stay positive when nothing is going right.
Throughout the post, you’ll see some quotes that I use as examples (or proof) for my ideas.
They are all from these wonderful books:
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
They’ve been exceptionally helpful and kept me thinking positive when I was feeling down.
I highly recommend reading them at least once and having them in your own library.
So, when nothing goes right, do this…
🏃🏻♀️ How to stay positive when nothing is going right: ACTIVE ACTIONS
🤯 Step 1. First thing – don’t panic
I know that the first thoughts might be:
Why me? Am I ever gonna make it? I’m working so hard, why doesn’t it work?
What can I say… Anxiety is very often any creative’s best foe.
For us to be able to move down this list and learn how to stay positive when nothing is going right, it’s necessary to find ways to handle it because boy does it make our life a misery!
Best tips for anxiety and panic:
1. Meditation
2. Breathwork
3. Hugging your loved one
4. My mom’s Cake Technique
5. Writing down what you are feeling
6. Spending some time in nature (even if it’s just a park next to your home)
😭 Step 2. Let yourself get emotional
…But don’t linger on it.
After you got over the panic mode, it’s time to give in to your emotions (for a little bit).
If you are a crier — let yourself cry because this is how you process emotions and help yourself heal.
If you get mad — yell or jump or shadowbox (just be aware of your surroundings). Or do any dynamic physical activity that helps you release anger.
If you get sluggish — let yourself do nothing for a couple of hours. Decompress.
To put it shortly: LET THE EMOTIONS OUT.
It’s necessary to release emotions because by doing that we deprive them of controlling us and our well-being. You don’t want to be carrying that emotional baggage around wherever you go.
For example, crying releases oxytocin and endorphins which immediately makes you feel a little happier.
Just don’t get carried away and spend days after days obsessing over it.
We’ll talk more about emotions later in this post.
🛀🏽 Step 3. Take a day to distract yourself
The next thing we gotta do is escape our everyday routine!
Trust me, nothing helps better than a change of activity or environment. It’s so nice to switch your attention, shake things up a little bit, and give yourself a breath of fresh air.
So, pick a day (as soon as possible) to plan a FREE DAY.
Don’t set an alarm, don’t plan anything, don’t think about what you are going to do.
Spend the day doing things you love or wanted to do for a long time — whatever it is.
And, most importantly, be 100% present: do NOT think about your goals or duties.
Go book or plant or shoe shopping, do museum hopping, read all day, take the longest bath, walk around the city with no destination, binge watch movies or shows, go to the beach, do a picnic outside.
Completely forget about everything except for the things you are doing that day.
RELATED POST: How To Start Writing As a Hobby (For Self-Love And Creativity)
☎️ Step 4. Talk to your loved ones
After you decompressed on your Free Day, you should be already feeling better.
It means that it’s high time to spend some time with your dearest people.
Facetime them, meet up with them, invite them for brunch. A few words of support and comfort coming from loved ones are priceless.
I always talk to my boyfriend, best friends, mom, or sister — and all my loneliness, desperation, or sadness rapidly fade away.
Probably it’s because I get reassured that I am loved no matter my achievements.
There’s just one thing I want to mention here… Make sure to not vent to your loved ones for hours straight. For that, get a therapist.
I would also avoid interacting with judgemental or toxic people at this point if it’s possible. It’s just not good for mental health especially when it’s already affected.
🕵🏻♂️ Step 5. Figure out what’s not working
Here’s one of my favorite quotes ever:
An important concept that successful people understand is that you are never stuck. You just keep re-creating the same experience over and over by thinking the same thoughts, maintaining the same beliefs, speaking the some words, and doing the same things.
Jack Canfield
This is not about being impatient and indiscriminately changing plans and strategies.
If you already have a plan, you have to be patient and stick to it to start seeing results.
But if you are doing something for long enough and not seeing ANY outcome whatsoever, it might be a good idea to investigate what’s not working or pushing you back.
Analyze if any of these are slowing you down:
- Limiting beliefs
- Negative self talk
- Overpowering inner critics
- Meaningless relationships
- Outdated goals
- Uneffective routines
- Bad habits
RELATED POST: 3 Negative Effects of Self-Love (You’ll Be Surprised)
💭 How to stay positive when nothing is going right: MINDSET WORK
The following ideas are particularly important to remember.
But if you want to get the best out of them, you would want to do some deeper work.
That’s why I’ve included a few journaling prompts and affirmations for each for a better grasp.
By the way, if you like journaling here are my favorites:
Self-love journaling challenge
41 journaling prompts for creatives
Now, to learn how to stay positive when nothing is going right, you have to remind yourself that…
🙋🏻♀️ Showing up is the key to success
Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.
Best friend of any achiever.
I bet you already are consistent at a bunch of things. Like brushing your teeth or checking Instagram every hour…
But when it comes to staying patient and positive while getting no result or watching everything fall apart — it. is. THE. HARDEST. one.
You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures.
Elizabeth Gilbert
I tell this to myself every time I feel discouraged.
All you have to do is just stick around long enough.
It’s what they call the one and only success advice. Just be consistent. Commit to it 100%.
Most of my writing life consists of nothing more than unglamorous, disciplined labor. I sit at my desk and I work like a farmer, and that’s how it gets done.
Elizabeth Gilbert
JOURNALING PROMPT: What have I done to get closer to my goal today, yesterday, the day before yesterday? Have I practiced discipline today? What did I do for that?
AFFIRMATION: I am right where I need to be. Every little thing I am doing is contributing to my success.
🤔 Emotions are not facts
Remember our Step 2? We let ourselves get emotional to release the tension.
That step got us ready for this mindset challenge.
To not let our emotions dictate our lives, we have to keep reminding ourselves that EMOTIONS ARE NOT FACTS.
This is what I learned from therapy some time ago:
Emotions and what we tell ourselves that these emotions mean definitely fuel the behaviors (obsessive thoughts, etc.)
Getting in the habit of catching yourself when your feelings are triggered and reminding yourself that emotions are not facts can be a helpful mantra to adopt.
Be curious as to what your emotions are trying to tell you. Use them as information and a sign that you need to pause and take notice while not taking them to be the concrete truth.
Just be an observer, not a reactor, to your emotions. Most people do not know that it’s their emotions that are doing the thinking. Your emotions are your emotions, but you have got to learn to do your own thinking.
Robert Kiyosaki
JOURNALING PROMPT: What is your fear? If it becomes reality, what meaning does it have for you? (Ex. If you fail does that mean that you are not worthy or loveable?) Is that based on your feelings or facts — do you have evidence for or against this thought?
AFFIRMATION: My emotions are not facts.
🌱 It’s a natural part of the journey
First of all, we can’t just be going up, and up, and always up.
It’s impossible to just be winning and killing it non-stop — we are humans, not robots.
It’s absolutely normal to go through these plateaus when it feels like nothing is happening. It’s also OK to be getting some unexpected results.
You might be feeling like you are failing (and you are totally entitled to feel that) but that by no means should make you feel like a failure because…
It’s actually great to be failing.
Yes, you heard me right — it’s great that we fail, make mistakes, and stumble.
Because it means that you are moving forward, improving, and leveling up. You are working on things and being active in your life.
I even have a belief that it’s not always our fault when we fail because:
- We cannot know everything
- We have to fail from time to time anyway (because that’s how nature is built)
We are just trying to do our best.
Not only do we need to stop being so afraid of failure but we also need to be willing to fail — even eager to fail.
Jack Canfield
JOURNALING PROMPT: Name at least 3 situations from your past, when your mistake led to learning something valuable. Did you change anything in your life when you learned your lessons? What was it?
AFFIRMATION: I am on an important journey — my own, and what I’m going through at the moment is a meaningful part of it.
✨ Your results are on the way
You might not be seeing any visible results at the moment but it doesn’t mean that nothing is happening.
It just means that your success is brewing and waiting for the best time to show itself.
Patience is key.
We must trust our process, look beyond “results.”
Julia Cameron
JOURNALING PROMPT: Write down at least 3 little achievements related to your goals. In addition, write down 3 things you are proud of yourself for.
AFFIRMATION: My success [or add your goal here] is coming and I am ready to receive it.
🌖 The Universe has your back
There are things we have no control over.
There are things that need a lot of time to be accomplished.
There are things that we planned to achieve but we never will because the Universe has better plans for us.
And we have to be patient, resilient, persistent…
But no matter what your situation is, the Universe got you.
It’s listening to you every day, every minute, every second, and working on making your wishes come true.
I have absolutely NO doubt that we are all taken care of. I manifested SO many things in my life, and I know SO many stories of other people. And it’s just the beginning.
Trusting the Universe plays a huge role in developing an abundance mindset — one of the most important mindsets for success and happiness.
In the end, everything will be ok. If it’s not ok, it’s not yet the end.
Fernando Sabino
JOURNALING PROMPT: How do you speak to the Universe? Do you feel like you’re heard? Name at least one time when you received something you desired coincidentally.
AFFIRMATION: The Universe is abundant, and it has a plan greater than mine. I trust the process.
❗️ One more important thing to remember
Persistence is probably the single most common quality of high achievers. They simply refuse to give up. The longer you hang in there, the greater the chance that something will happen in your favor. No matter how hard it seems, the longer you persist the more likely your success.
Jack Canfield
This post is all about how to stay positive when nothing is going right.
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