It snuck up on poor unsuspecting me. Well, actually, I've noticed that's usually how they happen - one event quietly and simply follows another until the only words coming out of my mouth are "Of course, that's exactly what I ought to expect from a day like today!"
Briefly, technology crashed on every front, every deadline I was working toward was missed. And, when a quiet voice in me said, "You never heard back that the agency that booked your airline tickets to Europe got the final payment fax..." I decided to pick up the phone and call.
"No Ms. Feinholz, we didn't get that fax. Let's look at the reservation. That's the one departing on June 14 for Paris?"
"That's right." I said.
"And returning June 22nd."
"No, July 22nd."
"No we show June 22nd"
"Well that's wrong. I was on the phone for over an hour and we talked about all the stops I'm making in Europe, priced out trains versus planes and so on and we said repeatedly July."
Can I cut the story short, please? I don't want to relive it.
Suffice it to say, the return flight is booked on the wrong date, the flights are all booked at that price point. But, gosh, I could pay $1,400 more for the 2 of us to come back within 24 hours either side of that date... You get the picture.
Days that go to Hell In A Hand-basket days offer us 2 choices:
Choice Number 1 - Loose our heads and run around like...a chicken without a head.
What I wanted to do at that moment was go into a complete rant. I wanted to slam the phone down, pick it back up again, tell her what a hell of a day I'd been having, that this was the crowning moment and on and on and on.
But if we live long enough, we actually gain perspective.
Yes, I've spent weeks working on the itinerary for the trip I'm taking my niece on to celebrate her graduation.
Yes, I'd finally notified everyone of the itinerary including friends who are now making plans to join up with us on those last days.
Yes, it's such a mega trip that I'm watching the costs.
But really, my reaction had two sources: aggravation about the costs, but also embarrassment that I'd have to tell people that my plans went awry and I'm not as competent as I like to think of myself every moment on every matter.
And no. It was not the end of the world. It was friggin inconvenient, bloody aggravating, outright pissing me off that I wasn't 'done' with all the arrangements I thought were buttoned down...but it was NOT the end of the world and I knew it.
No calls in the middle of the night about dire events are involved, no hospital visits required, no health, safety or funerals involved. I know it because I've lived all of those repeatedly in this lifetime and this event didn't come 1/1000th of the way along that road.
So I could live in reaction, protecting myself against embarrassment or move on to...
Choice Number 2 - Step back and sort it out.
I stewed under my breath for 4 hours while waiting to hear back from the agency. That's pretty short considering that in my 20s I would have spent days in a tizzy, telling the tale to anyone who would listen, working my way into a rant over and over again.
In the meanwhile, I focused on getting the technology glitches solved and prevented from occurring again in the future. Got documents prepared for a conference presentation, etc.
No, I didn't know what the resolution will be, but I did know that I was doing everything I could think of systematically, so that the best possible resolution could be found. The agency supervisor, who was the only one who can waive their policies, worked on it personally, I granted them some flexibility about the departure and return city and the exact times for the flights, and I got my attention back on what I can personally affect.
And, if the nearly six-week long trip lost or gained an extra day it would be part of the adventure.
Frankly, I really like living with Choice Number 2 a lot better than Number 1. So I picked up my hand basket to bring in some roses to enjoy while I waited for a call back from the travel agency!
Copyright (c) 2008 Linda Feinholz
As you investigate the subject of self improvement you will learn much about setting and working towards meaningful life goals. They are essential as a means to developing as a person in whichever way you desire and in providing a clear focus for all that you want to achieve in your life. You will see the need to examine exactly what it is you wish to achieve and will learn all about the necessity of analyzing those needs and coming up with concise goals and a workable plan to ensure you achieve them. You will write them down and begin the journey to their attainment.
But you must also know that it will not be easy and there will be times when you find it difficult to reach your goals and you will find that you can easily become frustrated and discouraged. There will be many obstacles along the way that may prevent you from achieving what you set out to do and you need to find a way of overcoming them.
But it is also likely that your frustrations will probably be the result of not meeting one of your own expectations. However it may be that the expectation was simply not realistic in the first place and by remembering that all your goals should allow a level of flexibility you will be able to get back on track. Simply amend the goal to a more realistic level, perhaps creating smaller tasks to help achieve it, and keep going. You should not be discouraged though.
But if you believe your expectations are realistic but you are simply not getting anywhere with them then you need a way of finding out why. You should review your goal and the plan you have in place to achieve it. Here are 7 steps to getting yourself back on track and heading in the right direction:
Step 1
Review the required outcome of the goal and ensure that it is clear, concise and definite. Sometimes your aims may alter and the things you really want have changed. If that has happened you must re-define the goal so that it reflects your new needs.
Step 2
Identify what obstacles are preventing you from making progress. Your circumstances may have changed since you set the goal and so are affecting what you are able to achieve. Compare your life now with where it was when you originally set the goal. You will most probably be pleasantly surprised at the progress you have actually made.
Step 3
Be honest with yourself and make sure you are not just creating excuses for not doing what is necessary to achieve the goal. Sometimes you may create a goal that leaves too much room for you to be able to ignore it when the mood takes you. Have a realistic plan and avoid procrastination!
Step 4
List all the obstacles you have now identified and begin to examine how real they are and what you can do about them.
Step 5
Review the resources you have available to you and ensure that you are utilizing them fully. This may be material things but could also include how well you manage your time or how you enlist the help of others.
Step 6
Define precisely the tasks necessary to overcome the obstacles and what actions they will involve. It may be that you need to learn a new skill or find a way to create more time.
Step 7
Write down the tasks and create a schedule for their completion. Set realistic timescales for accomplishing them being careful to ensure that you take one step at a time and that their completion is achievable. It is vital to do so in order that you do not feel under unnecessary pressure.
By having meaningful goals you can accomplish all you want in life and be a successful person. You will meet challenges along the way but as long as you know how to deal with them they can be overcome. If frustration creeps in simply follow these steps and take action and you will be back on track towards your goal.
Both Linda Feinholz & Tony Hall are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Linda Feinholz has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education Toys, Small Business and Your Online Business. Management expert, consultant, and coach Linda Feinholz is "Your High payoff Catalyst." Linda publishes the free weekly newsletter The Spark! to subscribers wo. Linda Feinholz's top article generates over 14800 views. Bookmark Linda Feinholz to your Favourites.
Tony Hall has sinced written about articles on various topics from self improvement and motivation, Public Speaking and self improvement and motivation. This article was written by Tony Hall who runs his own business dedicated to helping individuals develop their personal and business skills. You can learn more about how to develop your own life skills and get your complimentary copy of "The Process of Su. Tony Hall's top article generates over 14800 views. Bookmark Tony Hall to your Favourites.