Question: Have you been in a situation recently which pissed you off? You ever get to the point where losing your cool seems more appealing than accelerating on the high road?

It happens all the time. Alarm clocks malfunction, our dates stand us up, and douches run rampant on freeways – it’s real out there.

I know. Those days suck. But instead of getting livid and letting your blood boil, imagine if there was an effective approach to dealing with the situations that drive you nutso. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a way to still rock those days, mastering the situation like a suave monk instead of some off-meds raging maniac?

Guess what… I’ve got a couple world-class strategies you can use to be that cool monk.

Watch this video to learn:

  • How to put problems into perspective (when you’d rather put a hole in a wall)
  • The game a Roman emperor used to play to *master himself* in tough times
  • How to respond to *any* situation in a way that supports you

3 Strategies to deal with shitty situations

So we’ve just learned that there are 3 methods you can use to make the best out of any situation. Let’s start off with the Roman strategy by Marcus Aurelius.

One: The equanimity game

I guess you bump into quite a few situations that make you wanna blow things up when you’re a Roman emperor. Maybe that’s why Marcus Aurelius invented the equanimity game. It’s about one simple challenge:

How quick can you get back to evenness of mind?

When you’re in the situation, try to make it a game to see how quickly you can get back into a calm and relaxed state of mind. It’s not about suppressing our emotions – it’s about embracing them and then bringing your mind back into a balanced state. Equa-Nimity: Evenness of mind!

Two: Putting things into perspective

Let’s put it this way: It’s you vs. the size of your problems.

On a scale of one to ten, how would you rank the problem?

Is it a tiny 2 or an obese 8? Now, how big are you? Big enough to let it slide without getting bent out of shape? Or are you raising hell ASAP when someone disrespects and plays you?

Putting things into perspective like this helps us gracefully glide through turbulent tribulations. It’s not brain cancer, it’s a flat tire. Wheel and deal with it.

Three: The ability to choose your response

The third strategy comes from famous psychotherapist, Viktor Frankl. Dude is the real deal. He survived the Holocaust concentration camps where he was forced to learn how to deal with unimaginable injustices. Frankl concluded that it was the people who were able to find meaning in the situation who were most likely to survive. He suggests that…

Every one of us has the ability to choose how we mentally respond to *any* situation – this freedom can never be taken from us.

When you’re confronted with a situation that would normally make you want to punch a wall, see if you can find a response that would serve you better. Can you find meaning in the situation? Maybe even gratitude?

 “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

So there you have it, 3 strategies to deal with shitty situations.

The next time something goes wrong, remember these three principles and see if you can apply one of them to the situation. And if you do so, let me know how it turned out!

I’d also love to know your strategies to respond to shitty situations. Do you use the strategies above or have you developed your own? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂

On Purpose,
Jacob!

PS:  If this resonates with you, and you wanna work one-on-one with me, I have a few coaching slots open. Send an email to [email protected] explaining why you’re interested in working together!

PPS: This week I’m interviewing Daniel Coyle and Sonja Lyubomirsky! 🙂

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