Tough Times Don't Last

I am dedicating today's post to everyone currently facing tough times.

A couple of friends are being kicked out of jobs. Some running their businesses are hardly able to make ends meet. Number of financially triggered emergencies are rising. Many people are having a dark tunnel moment. And I want to tell you that there is light at the end of that tunnel. Hang in there, keep fighting and don't lose hope. You'll hit the light soon.

Life is a marathon over series of mountains and valleys. There will be times you hit the ground and have to crawl. There will be times you are on top of the world/mountain. There will be moments of gloom and there will be moments of ecstasy. There will be times nothing seem to be working fine and there will be times you'll feel like you've hit a jackpot. And you'll always find people in a better and worse state than you.

How do you manage your tough times?

1. Don't be too emotional and negative. It will only stop you from doing the things needed to move ahead. At this stage the worst thing to do is to shutdown and give up.
2. Fill your time with meaningful work. Let yourself be engaged and distracted by value adding work. Even if it's not helping your financial situation. 
3. Think about incremental progress. Rather than looking for a big leap out, focus more on small easy steps of progress. If your income - expense is out of balance, rather than trying to spend more looking for some big opportunity it would be better to cut down on expense and make incremental steps toward improving income. Also rather than trying to get a perfect job or big project/contract, you should take whatever small opportunity that comes your way and move up gradually. 
4. Don't hang out with pitiers and negative people. Avoid people who keep reminding you of your fall from high to low and make you feel demoralised. Better to hang out with strangers who can support/help/motivate you out of your tough times than those who can't stop trying to empathise with you.
5. Rather than think more, act more. Act more in the direction of progress. Don't let the pace of progress discourage you and make you engage in over-thinking. 

Lastly, pray and always keep your hope alive. Remember that it's just a phase.