What can a bookmarked course, a childhood drawing, or a single helpful question reveal during a difficult season? Read on to discover how professionals regain perspective when challenges arise.

Editor’s Note: This roundup contains brief references to child welfare challenges, workplace legal matters, and personal belief systems as part of contributors’ experiences. The views expressed are those of the individual contributors.

Education Puts Me Back in Control

When times are difficult, I turn to education. Throughout the year, I bookmark courses on things I want to learn, such as languages, permaculture design, and continuous education in computer science and fermentation practices. When life seems to be on hold, I have something to look forward to that puts me in charge. A great side effect of learning is that it occupies your mind. While life may be difficult at times, you can alleviate it by doing something from which you’ll benefit.

Melanie Marten, PR Consultant and Business Developer, The Coup

——————————————-

Humor and Friends Lift My Spirits

I find that humor and friends brighten my perspective when times are difficult, for two reasons:  Laughter boosts endorphins and reduces cortisol, so it makes you feel better. And friends can help you see things more clearly when you get too far inside your head. So, to me, both enhance your well-being because they help you realize that you’re not alone and you’re not the only one going through difficult times. That’s why I gravitate to watching a comedy series or movie or stand-up special, and texting with friends far away and meeting up with friends close by.

Michelle Robbins, Licensed Insurance Agent, USInsuranceAgents.com

——————————————-

Past Wins Remind Me I Endure

It’s easy to get caught in a negative spiral when it feels like nothing is going your way. One thing that helps brighten my perspective when times are difficult is reminding myself all the previous times in my life where I have done hard things, and come through it on the other side. It helps me remember that while right now it might be difficult, the only way out is through the muck. And at every other point in my life, I have come out the other side stronger, more resilient, and with more growth and knowledge of myself.

Aarani Montanari, Founder, R&R Motherhood

——————————————-

Prepare for Lows; Leverage Honest Negativity

The thing nobody wants to tell you is that negativity is actually a powerful tool. You don’t need to be positive every second of the day. Before I’m even hit with difficult moments, I plan ahead of time for them. This is life, and they will definitely come at one point or another. If you fight to stay positive all the time it will actually end up draining you. I accept that hard times are mandatory, but staying one step ahead of them with backup plans will soften the lows.

Kimberley Tyler-Smith, VP, Strategy and Growth, Coached (previously, Resume Worded)

——————————————-

Pressure Exposes Weakness, Catalyzes Real Growth

Most of my biggest growth has come during difficult periods, not easy ones.

When things are going well, you do not always stop and analyze your systems, leadership, culture, or the people around you. Difficult situations force you to do that.

As the Managing Partner of a plaintiff-side employment law firm handling workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation matters, I have learned that pressure exposes everything very quickly. It exposes weak systems, weak communication, weak leadership, and sometimes weak alignment within a team.

But it also creates opportunities to grow if you face the situation head on instead of avoiding it.

One experience that stands out involved one of our highest-performing partners. A co-counsel firm approached her with a compensation package I realistically could not match at the time. She had resolved a tremendous number of cases for the firm, and internally there was real concern. I was devastated by it initially.

But instead of panicking, we regrouped.

Our leadership team sat down, analyzed the situation honestly, reassessed how we operated, tightened accountability, improved collaboration, and built a plan to move forward together. Everyone stepped up.

What happened afterward changed my perspective on leadership.

We ended up having one of the strongest years in firm history. Our settlements increased substantially. Our team became closer. Other attorneys developed faster. The culture became stronger because people stopped thinking individually and started thinking collectively.

Looking back now, what felt like a major loss at the time was probably one of the best things that could have happened to our firm both financially and culturally.

That experience reinforced something I believe strongly now:

Real growth often comes from disruption, pressure, uncertainty, and being forced to adapt.

Those moments are painful while you are in them. But they are also the moments that show you who is truly aligned with the mission, who can lead under pressure, and what your organization is actually made of.

K. William Phillips, Founder, Phillips & Associates | Sexual Harassment, Discrimination & Employment Lawyers

——————————————-

Kids, Faith, and Small Wins Restore Hope

What brightens my perspective when times are difficult? Honestly, it’s the kids. I work at Sunny Glen Children’s Home in San Benito, Texas, and when you spend your days around children who’ve been through abuse, neglect, or abandonment and still find ways to laugh, hope, and trust again, your own problems shrink fast. Their resilience is contagious.

A few things I lean on when the weight gets heavy:

First, I zoom out on the timeline. Sunny Glen has been doing this work since 1936. We’ve served more than 25,000 children across nearly 90 years. That kind of history reminds me that hard seasons pass, and the work continues because people kept showing up. I’m just the latest link in a long chain. That perspective is grounding.

Second, I look for one small win. On a rough day, I don’t try to fix everything. I ask, “What’s one thing I can do right now that helps one kid, one coworker, or one donor?” Maybe it’s a thank-you call, maybe it’s helping prep a room at the Allen House for a youth aging out of build care, maybe it’s just listening. Small wins stack up, and they pull you out of the spiral.

Third, faith and community. We’re a Christian-based ministry, and prayer is part of how a lot of us reset. But even setting belief aside, leaning on the people around you matters. Our staff carries each other. I’ve never had a hard day where a coworker didn’t notice and check in.

Finally, I remember the why. Every child we walk alongside is a story being rewritten. When you see a kid who came in withdrawn start laughing at the dinner table months later, you stop asking whether the work is worth it.

Difficult times are real. But hope is a discipline, not a feeling. You practice it by showing up, doing the next right thing, and trusting that small, faithful steps add up to something that matters.

Wayne Lowry, Executive Director / CEO, Sunny Glen Children’s Home

——————————————-

One Small Action Reclaims My Agency

I only have one question for myself: What is one tiny thing I can do right now that my future self will be really happy about? This question is upstream, it is a thought that will change the effect of bad times on me. It shifts my attention from unmanageable aspects to manageable ones. When I do my first (small) useful action, I stop seeing myself as a victim. I am somebody who acts.

Besides, the short mental list of past hard moments is always in my mind. Every single time, I survived. And, in fact, a better changed usually happened after that. That’s not a blind optimism. That’s solely the data of my own life. So, in times of hardship, I do not wait to be in a better mood. I find one small step. That one small thing never fails to raise my spirits.

Blake DeWitt, CEO, Investorade

——————————————-

Fatherhood Resets Priorities and Calms Crises

For me, watching my children play or have experiences where whatever problem I’m working on solving means absolutely nothing to them reminds me of what’s important quickly. Business challenges can feel all-consuming until you’re having dinner and your son wants to show you his favorite picture he drew in school and doesn’t care about your client upset at all. Stressful as it may be, that reset button will be pushed with or without you asking it to. Things that seem career ending at 3pm on a Tuesday will look very different after spending an hour being “just a dad. “The other great thing for me to remember is to look back through notes of other challenging times. “This is the worst…” has been said during every tricky time period in our business’s history and always become just another chapter in our story. Reminding myself we’ve been through challenging times before helps the hard times we are in feel less permanent.

Matt Bowman, Founder, Thrive Local

——————————————-

Unplug and Let Kids Shift Perspective

The best way I know to gain perspective is to unplug for a few hours. I work in marketing so I’m married to performance dashboards 24/7 – campaigns, numbers, results. When you’re having a down day or week, checking those dashboards can be magnifying because there will ALWAYS be something not meeting your expectations. Walking away from all of it for a few hours interrupts that cycle of obsessing over the negative.

My children do this for me without even trying. When I’m really having a tough day at work, spending time with my kids forces me to switch context in a way that I can’t force on myself. It’s hard to dwell on a work issue when your daughter needs help with her math homework or your son wants to show you his toy helicopter.

Brandon George, Director of Demand Generation & Content, Thrive Internet Marketing Agency

Share Your Insights

We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments below:

• What other ideas or perspectives would you add to the discussion?
• What are your thoughts or experiences on this topic?
• Have you encountered something similar or different?

---

DISCLAIMER: Spotlyts Magazine does not provide any form of professional advice. All content is for informational purposes only, and the views expressed are those of individual contributors and may not reflect the official position of Spotlyts Magazine. While we strive for accuracy and follow editorial standards, we make no guarantees regarding the completeness or reliability of the content. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and seek professional assistance tailored to their specific needs. Any links included are for reference only, and Spotlyts Magazine is not responsible for the content or availability of external sites. For more details, please visit our full Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Highlight of the Day

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

— Uncle Ben, Spider-Man

More Stories for You

More Highlights