How to Turn Around a Bad Day [UPDATED]

It happens to all of us.

We get out of bed in the morning with the best intentions.

But then the inevitable happens…

You spill hot coffee on yourself. You get stuck in traffic. You break a high heel.

Or, worse…

You get a speeding ticket that you can’t afford to pay just for rushing to work. You get laid off. You and your significant other get into an argument or decide to separate. A family member strikes ill and is hospitalized. You go out of business.

Regardless of whether it is full of a bunch of really annoying things that put us in a mood, or traumatic, life-changing events, a really bad day can knock you on your ass.

Here are some ways to turn it around, or to help cope with it.

1. Manage Emotions and Reactions

Focus on Facts Over Feelings

When negative things happen, we are often quick to react mostly due to self-defense, fear, or guilt. After all, emotions are part of what makes us human.

Although we can’t control when bad things happen to us, we can control how we react to them and how we move forward.

Of course, our emotions and reactions greatly depend on the situation or event that occurred. For example, let’s say you get a speeding ticket just because you were rushing to work in the morning. Your first reaction might be to argue, lash out, or make a snide remark to the cop. But what would that solve? Would that reaction make things better? Probably not.

In another example, you’re at work and about to take your lunch break and you receive a phone call from your sibling, telling you that your father was hospitalized. Your first reaction might be to panic, worry, cry, or maybe even feel angry.

Although these are completely normal reactions. But, again, what would they solve?

Learning to manage your emotions and reactions during events that spark or heighten emotions is incredibly difficult. But it is possible. It requires a high level of emotional intelligence, but during challenging events, it’s important to focus on facts over feelings.

2. Manage Reflections

After such a wild, emotional day, it’s important to take time to reflect and process your emotions from the events that happened. Do what you have to do to best manage your reflections. Maybe it’s exercising, journaling, participating in a hobby, or simply being alone.

We are often taught that showing or expressing emotion is a sign of weakness. Regardless of how we are often “supposed” to feel, it’s okay to grieve about it. Give yourself permission to cope, cry, and heal.

3. Manage Your Choices

So, you got a speeding ticket on the way to work, you made a snide remark at the cop (something about how your tax dollars pay his or her salary and this is how they repay you? By giving you a speeding ticket just for trying to get to work?)

The day got better from there, right?

Probably not.

That frustration and anger probably stuck with you all day. It may have even caused other issues, such as snapping at a coworker or supervisor, your spouse or partner, or your children.

Because you chose a negative reaction, you chose to hurt others.

Related to the first point mentioned above, managing your emotions and reflections is a choice. Remember, every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

4. Manage Your Mindset

My best friend and I do this thing. Whenever one of us has a bad day, we call or text each other to vent. At the end of said vent session, we say, “okay… but did you die?”

We say this for two reasons: 1) it always sparks a smile, and 2) it helps put things into perspective.

The point behind this isn’t to downplay or discourage the other’s feelings. The point I’m trying to make is about mindset.

Regardless of how stupid or how serious a bad day can be, it’s important to put everything into perspective and stay focused on the big picture. If you choose to be solutions-focused, you will find it a little easier to deal with negative events and rebound from a bad day.

5. Move Forward

Now, I get it. Some days just suck, no matter how much you try to be positive. When these days happen, the best thing to do is just let them happen, accept and appreciate the day for what it is and what has happened, and focus on a better tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a new day, and it helps us to learn from the mistakes we made or accept the issues that have happened the day before, and provides us with the opportunity to move forward.

Emotional Intelligence, Positive Energy, and the Law of Attraction At Work

Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”

– Albert Einstein

The explanations above are also clear examples of emotional intelligence at work. This is also an example of positive energy at work, which derives from a positive mindset. Focused intention is the key to the Law of Attraction, which means that we attract in our lives whatever we focus on.

So, if you wake up every morning with the intention, “I refuse to have anything but a good day today,” you will succeed every time.

However, regardless of your mindset, life still happens. It simply means that when negative events happen, you will remember your intention and choose to align your thoughts and actions with the goal of having a good day.

And here’s another thing: The more positive energy you exude, the more positive events will come your way.

Choosing different thoughts and changing your mindset requires focus and practice. If you continue to focus as you have been, to think as you have been, and to believe as you have been, then nothing in your experience will change.

Adopting a positive mindset begins with you.