I pressed the call button on my phone with a feeling of apathy.  I had already worn through the fear of talking to my mentor and having to tell her that I was completely frazzed.

Frazzed: behind the 8 ball, disorganized, mentally unstable, only an ember left of what was once a bonfire of purpose.

At that moment, I would have called it depressed.  Never once have I checked in with her without having completed what I said I was going to complete, or with some other new iteration of a long-term project.  But today was D-Day.  I had to confess that not only was I two months behind on a major project that was going to completely shift my business, but I was also fried.  Not feeling great about myself.  Completely unhinged from what was once a very clear purpose.  What the hell am I doing? was a constant record inside my head.

She answered the phone and I submitted to the inevitable.  Bullet points of minor progress were shared and I was embarrassed by the meager report.

“I sold 43 books in the month of June,” I stated blandly.  My mind recalled the hundred or so that a friend had sold in his first week of launching his book.  [Enter horrible comparison syndrome here], “And I have everything ready to go for launching TShirts.”

She must have sensed the zombie in my voice.  “Katie, that’s great!” she tried to encourage me.  Which was surprising to me.  She wasn’t the cheerleader type.

I stopped and confessed.  “I just feel so out of it,” I began.  “I don’t feel excited, I feel completely down about myself and my business.  I just feel lost.”

It felt good getting it off my chest, but I immediately prepared myself to be fired as her mentee right then and there.  What good are you to me if you’re not going to be making progress all the time!? I imagined her saying.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she began and even though this phrase had been thrown at me from loved ones dozens of times before, I was shocked to hear my mentor say it…a woman who I envisioned as nothing short of a business super power, always moving forward, always progressing, always, always kicking ass.

“You always do really well when you focus,” she stated matter-of-factly.

Her words melted something inside of me.  Something that felt stuck.  Something that had labeled itself as a “LOSER.”  Suddenly, there was a way out of frazzed.  There was a clear path to success!

Of course this wasn’t a new revelation.  Of course I knew this about myself.  But the point was that I was given the right message at exactly the right time.

I hung up not only knowing that my mentor would not fire me, but actually excited about the business that I had been saying I wanted to build.

“The distance between your dreams and reality is called action.” ~ Unknown

I spent the afternoon creating a simple, straight-forward plan for the next 6 months of my business.  And have accomplished more in the past 4 days than I have in the past 4 weeks.  Most importantly, however, is the fact that I’m excited about what I’m doing again.  Whew!

Being in a funk is normal.  Being frazzed is something that all entrepreneurs experience.  But spiraling into the abyss of hopelessness is not only not productive, it kills our creative spirit.  It bites away at that voice in your head that has told you can kick ass in this world!

Here are a few simple steps on how to move out of your funk and back into greatness!

1. Share it.  Sharing your thoughts, no matter how negative they are, no matter how hopeless things seem in your head will always make you feel better.  The process accomplished two major objectives: 1) it helps you hear yourself say things out loud that seemed overwhelming and scary only to have its power minimized.  2) It gives someone else the opportunity to give you ideas and feedback about your situation.
2. Reconnect with your vision. Being frazzed is mostly caused by getting mired up in the small little details of your business, which gets us far, far away from the vision.  Take the time to remember your WHY and imagine that master vision all over again.
3. Create your Short Term Action Plan.  Short term is the key point here.  You want a plan of attack that isn’t overwhelming.  Most importantly, you don’t want the creation of the plan to take too long.  You have work to do to move your business forward!  Don’t spend too much time on the planning when you need to spend more time on the doing.  I recommend just focusing on the next two fiscal quarters.
   

   Feel free to use my super simple template for a Short Term Action Plan!  Click here to download!

4. Start!  Yes, I’m itemizing this as a step because you can plan all day long, but if you don’t actually take action and move, then it’s all just talk.  I promise you, you will feel like superwoman when you’ve accomplished the first thing on your action plan!
5. Share your excitement!  Now that you’ve put your toes back into the water, make sure you tell others about what you’re up to and why you’re excited.  It will add add kerosine to the fire you’re bringing back to life.

What are YOUR tricks that get your through low moments?  Comment below…I would love to hear!