Once in a while, we get into a situation that just sucks. It could be any situation from a divorce, to a ruined weekend, to a social event that we really didn’t want to go to. It could be a financial situation, relationship, or project we took on without thinking it through.
Either way, we find ourselves in a situation that sucks.
So what do you do when something sucks?
Well, you simply grab a cold beer or glass of wine and forget about it. Sometimes not a bad strategy:)
The problem is, the situation will often come up again and that’s where we need to step in with a plan.
So here is what to do when something sucks.
What to Do When Something Sucks
Accept the Suckiness
The first step is to admit that the situation sucks.
Often it’s easy for us to keep plugging along trying not to admit to ourselves that something sucks. Or, we subconsciously attempt to keep salvaging a bad situation in hopes that it won’t suck in the near future.
Either way, admitting that something is a problem is always the first step.
One of my favorite mantras is: If it causes a problem it is a problem.
Until we can admit to ourselves that something just plain sucks, it is impossible to start the process of fixing the situation to prevent possible future suckiness in our lives.
Understand the Why
Now that we have fully come to understand that something sucks it’s important to identify why it sucks. There are only two reasons why something sucks.
Things that are in our control and things that are not.
If a situation sucks because of things that are not in your control there is not much you can do.
For example, I was inspired to write this post after coming down with a cold on Memorial Day Weekend. After two days of trying to convince myself that I wasn’t that sick and trying to have fun, I finally realized that I felt like shit and there was nothing I could do about it.
I simply came to the conclusion that I was going to have to ride out the cold and there is no making the best of it. Colds suck, grab a beer.
For situations that we can control it’s important to understand the why. For example, if you’re broke, perhaps you made poor financial decisions. If your spouse is leaving, perhaps you were not a good partner.
It really doesn’t matter what the situation is as long as you can identify what about it was in your control, and whether a bad choice made it unpleasant.
Poor decisions are often the key factor that makes things suck.
Make a Plan
Here is where we take action to prevent future episodes of suckiness. We need to make a plan to avoid decisions that have made things suck in the past.
If your financial situation is bad, take action to save cash.
If you’re in debt, start paying it off.
When feeling overwhelmed we need to learn and practice the art of saying no.
The point is to create new habits and make better decisions. It’s important to learn from the past and avoid future mistakes.
Most of us wouldn’t go to see the same bad movie twice but we often make repeated decisions that create a bad life experience. Altering our choices when it comes to things we can control can reduce the majority of sucky situations.
Move On
It’s imperative to keep moving regardless of a sucky situation. Whether in our control or not, we cannot change the moment we are experiencing.
However, what we can change is the future.
By accepting the situation, understanding the why, and identifying any poor decisions that caused the problem, we can make things suck less.
Or grab a beer.