Every leader has tough days.  Here's a few tips on how to bounce back.

What do you do when your world has just been rocked and you’ve got to get back into a positive frame of mind & action NOW?

1.  Reframe the ‘crisis’ as an opportunity.  Paul J. Meyer of Success Motivation Institute has stated, ‘In every adversity is the seed of an equal or greater benefit.’  I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true.  Setbacks are truly set-ups for come-backs.  And your team is counting on you to bounce back now.

2.  Settle down your spirit and quiet your brain by writing down every thing you have to be thankful for.  Things like, your ability to ‘think’, your health, your family, healthy children, the opportunity to bounce back, etc.  List em as long as it takes for you to settle down and quit freaking out!   ‘Freaking Out’ is simply not an option if you’re gonna pull out of a death spiral.

3. Check the instrument panel and ask yourself, “Is it still flying?”  Test Pilots are taught to do this....check the instruments and ask, ‘Is it still flying?’  Most of the time you can figure out a way to get your plane safely on the ground, even if you have to treat it like a glider.  Remember the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ when Sully Sullenberger Piloted a Jet full of passengers to safe landing on the Hudson and all were saved?  Settle in and ‘fly the plane'.  Sully Sullenberger has become quite famous because of his ability to bounce back now!

4. Force your brain to think about how you’d like for things to turn out and exercise the discipline to write down your preferred future story with as much ‘color & detail’ as you can.  The vividly imagined preferred outcome will ‘paint the target’ that you want and give your brain something positive to work on.  Our brains are always working on delivering us to an outcome.  And, we always move toward what we think about most.   So, if you’re centered on the outcome you don’t want you’re still moving towards it.  Tony Robbins offers a powerful example from a Race Car Driving School he attended where they were instructed to ‘look where you want to go’ and not toward the wall you’re about to crash into.  That works in life as well - vividly imagine via writing where you want to ‘go’ and get your brain focused there and don’t let it brew & stew on where you seem to be headed.  As in racing as in life -- look where you want to go and most of the time you’ll pull out of the spin and move toward the goal.

5. PRAY.  Yes, no matter what your faith background has been in the past it’s time to turn your heart toward a ‘higher power’ who is vitally concerned about you and your life.  You may have never turned to God before and now this crisis offers you the chance to tap into the eternal magnificent reservoir of hope and power that He offers.  And, to be clear, I’m talking about calling out not to some ‘magic voodoo sky god’, but to talk directly to the Universal Creator God, the Father of Jesus Christ.  

6.  Act as if you are in possession of the desired outcome.   Dress better.  Walk faster.  Speak as if it were already true.  
Create a ‘mastermind alliance’ with mentors and like-minded peers who you can be honest with who can help you navigate toward the desired outcome and can open doors for you as needed.  

7.  Take massive action now.  You must start doing something to pull yourself out of the tailspin.  Grab the control stick and start attempting ‘something’ and watch the instruments along with the ‘radar’ of your desired WRITTEN Future Story in view and you will know what to do.  

8.  Control what you can when everything else is spinning out of control.  It’s vital to work on the ‘4 Pillars of Leadership’ every day so that you can think & act clearly in times of stress and in the chaos of rapid change -- you can learn more about the Four Pillars at http://www.leadership-theory-styles.com/4pillars.html

9.  Fuel your bounce back by keeping your Preferred Future Story in Written form close to you as you navigate the ‘crisis’ and it will serve as a hopeful compass to navigate with.

10.  Learn about the ‘Stockdale Paradox’ from Jim Collins’ website.  This information is worth digging up because it will help you think right about your imminent bouce back.

Let me know how I can help you bounce back now.  

Pull Up!  Pull out and Get Going by re-framing your crisis as an opportunity, praying, writing, remembering, focusing and taking action.

Here’s to YOU living out your preferred future story!

Imagineer your Bounce back Now!

Jeff Fuson