How One Bad Day Almost Ruined My Business
When I decided to venture out on my own, I promised myself I’d lead with authenticity. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot lately, but for me it means this: I’ll share the wins and the wipeouts. The days that glide like butter, and the ones that feel like sandpaper. Filter on or off. (See: a resilient entrepreneur mindset)
And the truth is this: if we spent more time being honest about the messy places we find ourselves, we’d feel a whole lot less alone in it.
So, in that spirit: here’s how my week started.
The Tuesday That Tried Me
It was a Tuesday that felt like a Monday. From the moment I woke up, my brain was giving off straight “PC Load Letter” energy. (If you get that reference, you probably have enough pieces of flair for us to be friends.)
Was it the dreary, unseasonably chilly May weather? Maybe. The new moon in Gemini? Possibly. Or just a combo of poor sleep and sore muscles from holiday gardening? Most likely.
Either way, it spiraled fast.
I was void of energy. Interactions that started fine quickly shifted because of the vibe I brought. I wasn’t mean, just… off. And what I used to call impostor syndrome (but now just recognize as insecurity…thanks Gary Vee) moved in and got cozy. I found myself doom scrolling Instagram, hoping something would snap me out of it.
It didn’t.
I eventually made my way to my desk. Not heroically. More like dragging my feet through peanut butter. A couple meetings went just okay. I crossed some things off my list, but nothing clicked. I ended the day with a headache and a hope that sleep might reset the whole thing.
So…why am I sharing this?
Because that’s what a bad day really looks like. And sometimes we don’t need a villain or dramatic breakdown to justify it. Sometimes…it just is.
Maybe You’ve Had a Day Like That, Too?
It might not have been a Tuesday. Maybe it was last week. Or maybe it’s today.
You’re not alone.
According to the New York Post, the average American has 4 bad days every month. And most of us know it’s going to be “one of those days” by 8:36 a.m. (I knew by 5:01.) Source
So instead of pretending we don’t have them, or judging ourselves when we do, what if we got better at moving through them?
What I Learned (The Hard Way)
That Tuesday didn’t ruin my business. Or my week. But it could have, if I let it spiral.
Here are three things that made the difference:
1. Action beats inaction.
Scrolling for inspiration didn’t help. But moving my body and knocking out one small task did. It created momentum. And even if it didn’t fix my mood, it gave me a little power back.
2. Mantras and meditation don’t have to solve everything to help.
Even 5 minutes of breathing or repeating “this will pass” to myself gave me a sliver of distance between my emotions and my actions, no matter how small. It wasn’t magic, but it was enough to stay grounded and I was thankful for the moment of peace (and the mini-nap that happened when I drifted off mid-afternoon).
3. Know when to step away.
I caught myself bringing that bad energy into spaces where it didn’t belong. And that’s on me. My spouse, my clients…they didn’t sign up to help me carry my emotional duffel bag. I needed space, and recognizing that helped me reset before causing more harm.
Why You Should Always Debrief a Bad Day
That night, I opened a notebook and dumped everything out.
Not to beat myself up, but to look for patterns. What triggered it? Did I fuel myself right or skip straight to caffeine? Did I prep for the day or scramble into it?
As Psychology Today put it:
“To ignore or dismiss why we had a bad day leaves us vulnerable in managing future ‘bad days.’” Source
Translation? Bad days can be data, if we are intentional. And if we don’t study them, we repeat them.
The Plot Twist
Ironically, that frustrating, blah Tuesday became the most valuable day of the whole week. Not because I crushed my to-do list, but because I faced myself.
I saw where I let things slide. Where I needed support. Where my systems (or lack thereof) showed up in my results.
And the next day? Still imperfect. But better. I made tweaks., showed up different, and caught the spiral before it started.
The Real Takeaway
Bad days don’t mean you’re failing. They don’t mean you’re not cut out for this.
They’re just days.
They come with intel: about your mindset, your rhythms, your reactions. About the stories you tell yourself when nothing’s going right. And about the tools that actually help.
The goal isn’t to eliminate bad days.
The goal is to stop letting them take the whole week with them.
So the next time you wake up with “PC Load Letter” vibes, remember:
You’re not broken.
You’re human.
And this isn’t the end of the story. It’s just a bad day.
The lesson you take away from each one is up to you.
Photo credit to Engin Akyurt.