How to handle Down Days

Dance. Yo, yo, yo, yo Words I can taste yo, yo, yo I can taste yo, yo, yo, yo I can taste yo, yo, yo I can taste. Hello, I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and leadership coach. Happy Monday. Coming to you on one of my down days. And I wanted to share with you, I know I shared over the weekend that there was a mass shooting six blocks from my apartment in Philadelphia. As you can imagine, this has affected my city really deeply, profoundly. Were grieving, morning. Angry, sad, scared. Lots of things happening. And stuff like this happens in our world all the time. Unfortunately, also things that are not so serious, things that aren't as scary, things that aren't as dangerous and indicative of bigger problems happen also and get us into these down days. And if you're a business owner, if you rely on yourself showing up and doing the work and being in your business day in and day out, it's really, really hard to balance the self care and the business elements. And so I wanted to share some of the things that I do to take care of myself in these down days and to keep myself invested and present in my business in a way that feels good to me. Now, before we get into that, I want to go into the list of things, and this is not a complete list, the list is infinite of all the things that can cause a down day. Okay, So a down day can be caused by death. Okay, not death by you. Because if you're dead, then you're not, you know, trying to work in your business anymore. Unless you have a really, really convoluted, afterlife planned death of someone that you care about, someone who you respected, anyone in your world, and it impacts you. That is a obvious source of a down day. Feeling ill. If you're not feeling great, if you don't feel great, you're not going to be wanting to jump into your business. Also, if people around you are ill, you may be distracted. That's also a source for a down day. Another one that I hear a lot from my clients and people in my world is that someone that you love, who loves you dearly, activated your imposter syndrome. And it could be as simple as they asked you, how's your business going? And you're still in the beginning stages and it's still not going great. And you just didn't want to lie, but you didn't really know how to dance around it and it was just got icky. That can absolutely start the ball rolling for a down day. Freaking out about money is another one. Okay, if you're starting a business. Maybe you jumped from your corporate job a little too soon like I did, or it's just one of those low months. Freaking out about money can absolutely activate a down day. Spilling your coffee in the morning, like anything that fucked up your morning routine and got you started on the wrong foot, maybe you didn't sleep well the night before, that is absolutely a source of a down day. Okay. It qualifies. Comparing yourself to other people in your industry or just other people in general, and then just finding yourself wanting that, that can be a source of a down day. Okay, let's not do that. That's not the best thing to do because, like, you're not. You are the only you that's out there. You're not comparable to anyone. That's another story. Having a fat day, I think. I don't know if men go through this, but women, like, there are days where we're like, this is a thin day and things are going to be excellent. There are also days where like, oh my God, I feel so fat. I just feel not good. That can absolutely start that little downward spiral. So just normalizing it for you if you have those days. Yeah. PMS also for women, you know, I don't have to explain anymore. That is the source of a down day. Also for women, worrying that your period's late, that can be a source of a down day. Yeah. Won't go into the details of that. I can pretty much trust that you understand, you know, there being a major world event like a pandemic or a war or, you know, there being major supply chain issues and it affecting you, that can absolutely cause a down day. And I think we've experienced a few of them the last couple years. So full permission. There last one is a personal one for my, for me is that the last Mrs. Maisel season absolutely sucked. And it really pissed me off because I, you know, I love that show. It is so disappointing. Anyway, so all these things and so many more can cause a down day for you. And a down day is just where you just don't feel like doing it or you're sad and you have a lot of emotion coming up and you need to take care of yourself. Now, I'm not saying you have to push yourself through it. That is absolutely not what I'm saying. But if you run your own business, they're going to be things that you're going to have to check in on every day. And so on these down days, if it only happens occasionally, I want you to give yourself Permission to, number one, take a break. You're not stopping, but you're taking a break. You are giving yourself a breather from putting yourself through the normal workflow so that you can take care of yourself and get some rest, okay? Because when one of these things happens, our nervous system starts responding as if there's an immediate threat to us, okay? And it can be really easy to want to, like, just charge through it. Don't do that. You have to take care of yourself. And actually, the. If you take a break, you're far less likely to burn out even more later down the road. Okay? My favorite way of taking a break, and I do this on the weekends sometimes if I'm, like, stuff still supercharged from the week and, like, feeling like I should need to get a bunch of stuff done, I actually forced myself to watch, like, two hours of TV of movies on Saturday and Sunday mornings. There's a point in that where, like, I just take a deep breath and, like, I want to go and do stuff. It's not like, this need, like, I have to get out and get it done. It's this desire, like, oh, I really want to go and accomplish this one thing today or all these things today. So being intentional about vegging out in front of the TV is actually really good for you in these down days, okay? So that's number one. Number two, this is kind of silly, but you have to go and eat some fruit, okay? Or some vegetables, whichever one you like best. Because when you're depressed, when you're in a down day, when you're, like, having, like, kind of a mopey day, your instincts are going to be to go for unhealthy food, okay? I want you to have, like, a healthy win in here, okay? I don't want you only having unhealthy foods. I want you nurturing your body in some small shape, small way so that you can at least check the box that you ate something healthy that day. So even if you just had one apple or a cucumber or some grapes, fabulous. Have that. Nourish your body and give yourself the credit of being morally superior for having eaten something healthy. Okay? Number three, move your body. Now, I'm a big fan, personally, of having exercise classes that are set up and have a no cancellation policy after a certain amount of time. So I'm obligated to go. But moving your body could also be just going for a walk, you know, taking your dog for a walk. God, Luna's looking at me now. It could also be, you know, dancing to some music. It could be, I don't know, you doing some, like, light stretching. If you have, like, one of those yoga apps, like doing some yin yoga. Move your body. So we. We hold stress and sadness and fear in our bodies. The only way it moves out is by us burning it off, by us moving our bodies, okay? So whenever you're having a down day, I know it doesn't feel good. Like, you're not wanting to go move your body, but it is so, so helpful, and I guarantee you will feel better afterwards. Okay? Number four, this is really critical because we are social animals, and when we have down days, we just want to, like, you know, hole up and be by ourselves. And that's okay up to a point. But connecting with loved ones, you know, calling your best friends, calling your business besties, calling family members who love and support support you with a caveat. You have to tell them what you need from them, okay? Because if you're having a down day and there's something going on that they can think of ideas to fix and you do not want solutions from them. You need to instruct them. I just need to listen you to listen, okay? If you don't instruct them that and kind of correct them and guide them as they're showing up and supporting you, you're not going to end up feeling better. And they're also going to wonder what they're doing wrong, okay? Because they're there to support you, and you're just going to get more and more upset. There is this great description of, like, how when someone's really upset and they're just wanting to talk and the person that they're talking to is trying to, like, give them solutions for their problem. It's akin to, like, that person who needs to talk is vomiting, and that person who's supposed to be listening is trying to shove the vomit back in their mouth. It's the worst visual. It's the worst. Like, I, like, I can't imagine anything worse. But that is kind of how it feels like when you just want to talk and vent and get something out and someone's trying to, like, give you advice when you're not asking for it. So tell your people what you need. Don't go through that. Don't put yourselves through that. Hi, Gabriel. Welcome. Good evening. So that's number four. Number five. Okay. So I used to be one of those people that's like, I'm going to sleep when I'm dead, and then I would deprive myself of sleep over and over. And over again. No, no, no, no, no, no. Okay. If you're having a down day, give yourself permission to sleep without shame. Okay? I don't know why we've decided that we need to shame ourselves over, over the amount of sleep that we get. Which by the way, we all need eight to nine hours a night. That is actually what human bodies need. Talk about that another time. But when we apply shame to the sleep we get, we actually deprive ourselves of the self care that it's actually doing and it's just not a good place to be. So if you need to sleep, if you need to just go back to bed, have a nap, go to bed early, do that, take care of yourself, okay? Do the bare minimum in your business and go sleep. That is absolutely 100% okay. Number six. So you have to do something that tends to your soul, it tends to your mind. Okay? Now this can be any number of things, okay? So if you meditate, it could be a meditation. If you journal, this could be journaling. If you are religious, you can absolutely pray. If you're witchy, you know, cast a spell or something. Do whatever it is that centers you. Do whatever it is that helps you tune into what's actually going on inside. Now I'm not saying that doing these things are going to make you feel like everything's okay and everything's sorted. You may actually feel a little bit worse. But what's going to happen is you're actually going to tune into the emotions that are happening there and you're going to be able to process through them faster than you would if you weren't going there. Okay, now last but not least, this is number seven, kind of a bonus one. You need to do something that has you like up at that high vibe, high frequency. Okay? I'm not saying you have to stay there, but you have to do something that kind of delights you, that gives you that energy boost. For me, it's going live. For me, going live, I always get this high after going live. And it, it really does give my spirit a boost, which is why I'm here today. I'm having a down day and here I am going live with you all. You know, for you, it could also be like, I have a really fun time now, like posting reels, you know, so doing something that like, is fun and makes you laugh, being kind to other people. And I don't mean like the social media, like going on and like commenting and complimenting everyone. I mean, going out in the world and holding the door Open for the little old lady who has three bags and a cane. I mean, saying hi to people on the sidewalk. I mean genuinely showing up and paying it forward. Because when you're in a down day, it is so easy to start thinking that the world is a shit place to be and why do we, any of us do this? And we should all just go and live alone in a cabin in the woods and be away from everyone. Believe me, I've been there today. But when you go out in the world and you're kind to other people, that kindness gets reflected back and you have interactions that are sweet and kind and show you the richness of the human spirit and our. Our ability to uplift each other in our darkest moments, even when we have no idea that the other person is in those dark moments. Okay. And if you're needing it for you, I guarantee you there are people out there in the world who are needing it for them. And you get to start that little cycle right there by being kind first. That's all I have today. I. I would love to hear from you if you've had a down day, what was it about? What did you do to make yourself feel better? And if you're going to do any of the things on this list, I'd love to hear what you did and how it made you feel better. Let me see. Paul, it just has to get you pointed closer to where you want to be. The momentum will eventually take over. Yes, 100%, exactly. Anyway, that's. That's me. I'm about to take Luna for a walk. We're gonna go to the dog park that got a retention. Anyway, thank you all for tuning in. Paul and Gabriel, thank you for commenting. I hope you're having an amazing day and I can't wait to be live with you the rest of this week. All right, Katie McManus, business strategist and leadership coach. I will talk to you all soon. Bye.