3 Ways to Keep Your Chin Up in Hard Times

Right now in the United States and many other countries of the world business is difficult. The economy has people hurting. People have lost their homes or are in jeopardy of doing so. Many people have been laid off their jobs, downsized, had their paychecks cut or fear any of those happening. Many people expect that they won't see any raises or bonuses this year. Consumers are cutting back on spending which in turn is hurting businesses that sell consumer goods. If sales get too slow, then those businesses may have to lay off workers, scale back...it's a difficult picture.

So what can you do to keep your chin up? What if you have a small home-based business and you are dependent upon customers buying your products? What if you've lost some customers because they've tightened their belts? When times are hard, they are hard for everyone.

Keep your chin up by:

- Being grateful every day for what you do have. This sounds like a cliche, but the very act of acknowledging gratefulness can put you in a positive frame of mind. It can be difficult to put this gratefulness-thing into practice. You might have to look into your life and be grateful for the little things...but do look because they are there. You could be a single mother of two little girls and have a low-paying job, no health insurance and daycare costs that take over 1/3 of the monthly salary. You might even have to go to a food bank just to have Thanksgiving dinner. However, the gratefulness "thing" you can still have, even in such a dire situation, is to be blessed to be mom to two beautiful little girls. [As author of this article, I don't just give this as a made-up example, I lived it years ago.]

- Do your very best work. There are days when it seems pointless to care about doing a good job....days when you feel you just can't smile at one more customer who ends up just browsing and not buying; or you hear one more customer service complaint; or you read the memo that says paychecks will be cut by 5%. You can feel as though what's the use of trying? Who cares?

Its times like these when personal integrity ought to come to the forefront and you dig deep and do your very best work because that is what you do. Even if you are the only person who cares, your opinion about it matters to you. Hard times do not last forever. However, bad impressions can. Do your very best now, during the hard times, and they will be remembered when times are good.

- Smile. This one thing, one action, can have remarkable effect. Smiles are contagious. Smiles make people who receive them feel validated. Smiles - truly sincere and spontaneous - can lift another's spirits and change moods. What if you were to smile and add polite conventions to it like saying "please" and "thank you?" As practice, get into a habit of always thanking a waitperson for whatever they do when you're at a restaurant - thank them for bringing your beverage and thank them every time they refill the glass. Smile and try to use their name if they've given it and/or you see it written on their name tag. Not only will it make their day better, it'll improve your own. Smile even when you feel you don't have anything to smile about.

Being grateful for something everyday, doing your very best work every day and smiling can help you to keep your chin up during hard times.

Linda C. Smith, author and owner of a home-based business. I write a business blog at http://intlnat.com where you can also find links to my business. My joy in business is sharing my passion for my products as well as showing others how they can enjoy the benefits of a home business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_C_Smith



http://livingbettermoms.blogspot.com/