What to Do When Nothing Goes Right

He had started to realize that it wasn’t going to happen for him.

He was in his fifties. 

He was suffering from a disease that had led to muscle weakness and fatigue. 

Hepatitis B had already finished his liver by 75 percent. 

His new venture had collapsed. He had to mortgage his home to pay loans. 

After decades of unparalleled success, his fortune had changed and he became bankrupt.

That was Amitabh Bachchan before he began his second innings in Bollywood and bounced back to a stage all of us are aware of. Today, he has an international following and is worth more than ₹ 3,000 Crores ($400 million).

We all get bad days. It is one thing to have a bad experience, but occasionally life takes us through entire stretches of time when nothing goes right.

Like a row of dominoes, one thing after another comes crashing down.

Overcoming difficult situations certainly takes time, but it also requires grit, self-awareness, and recognizing the moment when to take a break.

That’s what this post is about – finding out ways to pause, recover and get going again.

First thing first, tell your heart this happens to everyone. Accept it, even if you don’t see others going through it right now. You don’t know what their past has been or can say anything about what they are going through just by looking at their faces.

When factors leading to a tough situation are out of your control, you may feel completely singled out, like a victim. Don’t fall in that zone. It drains too much energy, making you grumpy and sometimes hopeless.

Trust me when I say – each of us stumbles. Those success stories that you read on social media are only a crux of all the struggles a person has faced in two lines. Everyone falls. Even the world champions. But the grace, the real struggle is getting back up, faster, stronger, and unshakable.

That’s what Amitabh Bachchan did.

But easy for someone like him to bounce back, right? After all, many rich, influential people know him.

The truth is that for someone like him, the failures are more difficult to overcome. Because of the mammoth amount of visibility he gets, his every downfall is also magnified 10 times. Not to count the shame, trolling and fall from grace. If someone like me fails, only my family would know; but if a celebrity fails, the whole world is there to scrutinize, give unsolicited advice and make snide remarks.

Setbacks allow us to put a little perspective in order and reignite passion to succeed. Here are a few strategies to help you stay positive and get back on track, no matter what happens.

Be ready, adapt to change

When things don’t go according to the plan, change the way to plan.

As we set meaningful goals, we tend to push ourselves full throttle. When nothing goes right, it can disrupt our momentum and throw us off course. This feels extremely discouraging, especially when you’ve already worked so hard toward your goal. One of the ways to destress is to use positive affirmations. On the days your hard work isn’t paying off, be ready to adapt to newer ways.

Ways to Practice Inner Peace

I’ve never seen the man raise his voice in his entire life. His parents never had any complaints, neither ever his co-workers. They always saw him as a quiet, peaceful individual who loved the outdoors and always saw the best in others. That man, a close friend, has awesome control over himself.  He doesn’t raise his voice or argue to prove his point, and never utter words that leave the listener wounded. In other words, he radiates ‘inner peace’.

Is it easy for some to have that kind of control over themselves? Or to never react, no matter how worse are the situations/people around them?

Inner peace is that state of psychological or spiritual calm that defines a being. It is important to our existence. It exhibits itself despite the potential presence of stressors such as the display of anger and frustration by others. It is the unmistaken ability to enjoy every moment of time, disinterest in judgment or actions of others, and total loss of inclination in getting into conflict.

Inner peace allows the mind to function at its optimal level and see the path clearly. Working on the principles of positive thinking, it helps in staying focused on the goals and reduces the chances of losing sight of what is important. Having inner peace is like having a compass; you know how would you react to a situation and trust your instincts to clear obstacles. A person with an intimate sense of inner peace sees difficulties as the way of becoming worthy of living life instead of getting threatened by them.