Episode 3-75: Despair To Destiny

Hey guys, this week I want to take a slightly different tack. I want to talk, instead of about marketing, I want to talk about hope. One of the things that I hear as a coach to other entrepreneurs is people in their fear. So today I’m going to talk about hope, how to stay hopeful and positive in an ever changing world. All right, so one of the things that hurts as a business coach, I’m a feeler, I’m a very sensitive guy, and I root for every single person that comes into my world, whether they’re hiring me to build out their entire marketing system, or if they just want to hop on one of our group coaching calls, I root for them. I get to know them. I invest myself emotionally. And when people express to me that they’re struggling, they’re scared I feel it, I empathize with them, I do what I can to help the situation. And I want to talk today about if you’re in that situation, you feel hopeless, you feel scared, worried, fearful, whatever it is. I want to talk to you today about staying hopeful.

First thing you have to do, well and just know, when I say things like, “This is what you have to do, this is what you should do,” just know that it’s coming from a heart of me trying to help. It’s not coming from a place of bossiness or trying to have authority where I have not earned it, so please listen with that as the frame. But one of the things that you should do is write out, let’s say there’s a situation that worries you, write out the absolute worst case possible scenario of if your worst fears come to pass.

I did this myself when I was close to financial ruin about eight years ago. I wrote out, “What is the worst possible thing that’s going to happen?” And when I put it all down on paper it actually, even though it looked pretty bad, I was able to look at and go, “You know what? Even if all of this happened, I’d be okay. I’d be able to pick myself up again and start over.” Now, I didn’t have the worst. The worst thing didn’t come to pass, thank goodness, but by me just putting it down on paper, it took the power away of the absolute worst case scenario happening.

The second thing, as you look at the situation, I want you to write out, “Okay, I see this, I see this fear.” What’s on the other side is though? I believe that every single problem is a possibility for breakthrough. For example, when one of my team members surprised me and gave me a two week notice, that was a big problem. It was a big problem for me, but I looked at the problem as a possibility for breakthrough. A couple things, one, I was going to be bringing somebody else onto the team, that the person would bring an entirely new set of skills and a new perspective to the position. Also, that new person could have skills that I didn’t have on the team right now. And so, that that person leaving created a possibility for a breakthrough in my business. And so, when you look at it like that, then you kind of get excited about the changes that already come. You don’t worry about it as much as you were before.

So I encourage you to say, “Okay, I see the negative possibility, what about the positive possibility? What if it flips? What if this turns into one of the best things that could’ve ever happened?” When I was dealing with that financial calamity, one of the best things that came out of that is I learned how to better manage my money, I learned how to set myself up for success and I learned how to invest. And that was huge, since that time I’ve been able to acquire companies, fund other startups, invest in me and my wife’s retirement, all because I learned how to manage money, which was great. It was a huge blessing that came out of a potentially catastrophic financial mistake that I had been making. The other thing to do when you’re facing a situation where you just don’t have a lot of hope, is talk to other people about it. Isolation is one of the worst things that you can do in a situation where you’re feeling hopeless.

You are not alone. Don’t look at the situation and go, “I need to deal with this myself.” Bring other people in. Even if the situation is caused by a mistake that you’ve made, bring somebody else into the conversation so that they can come alongside you and help you. This is going to provide not only support around you, but also someone to keep you accountable as you take the necessary steps to make this situation better. The other thing to do as you’re looking at a hopeless situation is look at, because this is a time for reflection, and go, “What could I have done differently?” Because in the same way that every problem is a possibility for breakthrough. I believe that sometimes our own pitfalls, the things that kind of slap us and go, “Wow, I’ve kind of hit bottom here. I have the potential to hit bottom here because of an issue.” It gives you an excuse, a reason, a push to make changes in your life that are necessary. For me, one of them with the financial calamity was budgeting, which sounds so ridiculously simple, but I honestly didn’t know what I didn’t know.

And when I hit that situation, it caused me to be a much better steward of my finances. The other thing that I want you to look at while you’re in a hopeless situation where you’re feeling desperate and in despair, I want you to look at who you can help. I want you to look at who you can come alongside in time, because there’s nothing better in your moment of just feeling bad, feeling like crap, putting that aside and helping somebody else changes your mindset, makes you feel good. You’re encouraging somebody today. You’re helping them out. You’re making them feel good. You’re bringing light into their dark place. And I’m not saying that you give to be blessed in return, but something happens when you give to somebody else out of what you have to give. Maybe you’re feeling desperate because you’re financially broken. Well, go and help somebody out at their house, go and find someone who needs a friend to talk to.

Maybe you’re financially doing just fine, but you’re not feeling good, you’re feeling alone, feeling sad. Go find someone that you can support financially, give to them in a way that your resources allow you to, and encourage them where they’re having a difficult time. The more that we help each other out, the better. But for you right now, you’re feeling depressed, despair, hopeless about a situation, find somebody that you can invest in and give towards. Hope this was helpful to you guys. I’m here if you want to chat, reach out to me. You can send me a message over Instagram or Twitter or Facebook or send me an email, alex@branninggroup.com. I love to hear how this encourages you. And if you need someone to chat with, feel free to hit me up. I’d love to hear how I can support you. Have a great day.

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