Discouragement is Good

So lets face it, you are NOT going to get everything you want, when you want it and how you want it. Just not going to happen. You are going to face discouragement throughout your entire life. If you have lived for more than a decade then you are very aware of this. When precisely does discouragement start to happen? Exactly at the point your emotions turn negative. There are lots of negative consequences do this. Your productivity as a person jus collapses. You retreat, withdraw, even run away. You tend to just give up on what you are working on. This impacts all areas. It can hurt your health, your livelihood, your relationships. You cannot avoid discouragement, it will happen.

The point is that you need to have a strategy to deal with it when it does happen. Sometimes it is easy. Just get a night sleep, or get hydrated or take a break for the weekend. However, when that does not work then you need to take it seriously. Treat it the same way you would if you started coughing up blood. If you coughed up some blood one morning, what would you do?

1. You would ask why is this happening. What is really causing me to have this issue, why is it happening? What are the root causes? The same thing with discouragement – you need to really ask why. If you went to to a doctor, she would make a list of possible causes. You should do the same, what are the possible causes.
2. After making the initial list you would then diagnose if these are truly a root cause. Just like a doctor would do if they were trying to figure out what was going on with your coughing up blood problem. They certainly would not ignore it. They would immediately start looking at various core areas to determine if they are the root cause. Discouragement requires the same inspection. Are your expectations too high? Have you let yourself down in some way?
3. Ask for opinions, gain perspective. If you cannot figure out your problem immediately with a health issue, you seek a specialists advice. You should do the same here, talk to people and gain perspective. Fresh perspective can really be enlightening.
4. Create a plan. Almost always when you are facing discouragement you need to grow. Change your perspective. Change your expectations. Discouragement is actually a good thing. It forces the issue. Time to grow as a person! What is your plan?

Guy Reams