How To Recover Quickly After Your Laptop Crashes (and Deletes Your Hard Work!)

Do you know that 'punched in the gut' feeling when an assignment you've been working your butt off on shuts down suddenly and all progress you've made gets deleted?

Or perhaps you accidentally spill coffee over part of your project for Art you’ve just finished?

Or in my case, spent all afternoon filming for a presentation, only to discover that the microphone hadn't been turned on?

Yep, the same 4 letter word came to mind for me too!

3 hours of work had 'gone down the drain' - and my brain instantly wanted to freak out big time. It wanted to tell me how stupid I am for not double checking the mic; how far behind I'm now going to be with my schedule; how maybe I shouldn't even bother because it's all just 'too hard'.

So you know what I did?

I gave myself 60 seconds to have my little tantrum, and then instantly redirected my mind to

'It's always better the second time around'.

See when sucker punches like that come along, as much as I want to indulge in the hysteria of why this 'shouldn't be happening!!!!',
I know there's no upside to that way of thinking.

So the most powerful question you can ask yourself in those moments is,

'Is this way of thinking about the situation going to help me move forward?'

Most often my initial answer to that is a big fat no.

So then I ask myself,

'How can I think about this in a way that serves me?'

It is always going to be tempting to argue with reality,
but you're always going to lose.

That's why I chose to stay focused on the belief that next time, my recordings are going to be better.
That the first round was just a 'warm up'.
That recording wasn't a waste of time because it helped me practice and get my thoughts clearer in my mind.
That this wasn't a setback, but a step forward to helping me create even more quality content.

And guess what?

The same thoughts are all available for you to redirect to the next you face a similar kick in the guts.

When that project accidentally gets deleted after hours of work,
don't allow yourself to dig yourself deeper into the ditch with your sob story about how 'unfair' it is.
You'll waste even more time, find even more reasons why it's unfair, and completely disempower yourself.

Instead, choose to believe 'It is always better the second time around!'

Because that's the belief that's going to get your productivity and creative juices flowing again!

Now I'm actually inspired to get back in front of the camera because I'm thinking "ohhh I'm pumped to make this time even more awesome!"

And you've gotta laugh at the irony of creating a presentation that's all about building resilience - and then have that happen!

I literally do practice what I preach.

I literally do make the effort of training my brain for confidence, and not letting it run on default thoughts that hold me back.

Remember, nothing in life happens 'to you';
life just happens.
The impact it has is up to YOU.