One of the joys of fatherhood is discovering the insights and blunt wisdom of children’s books. My eleven-year-old daughter, Truitte Rose, used to have a favorite book titled “Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst. I couldn’t read it to her enough. It chronicles a day in a boy’s life where nothing goes right.
I too had a bad day last week at my company, Corporate Rain. I hit my chair dealing with client crises, fighting a cold, losing a valued associate, dealing with a minor credit card fraud, and reading a dense legal contract. On the side of my desk there was a Mt. Everest of overdue sales calls I needed to get to. And this was before noon. I was frustrated. I was angry. I was having a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.
As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned that a day like this can be dangerous, not because of the circumstantially difficult day, but because of my internal reaction to it. (more…)