“Let me see how my day goes” was the quote in a text that I had received for the 8th time in a 2-week period that set me off.
This person was supposed to do a job for us, and we had given a deposit, but the job was never done. We followed up and there was always an excuse of some kind or the blame game of saying it couldn’t be done yet because of someone else.
After 6 months of this we asked for our deposit back. The person said yes and then whenever we asked what time we were meeting to get it we would get “let me see how my day goes” followed by no response until we checked back in a day or 2 later.
This manner of customer service is never the way to go. Your business relies on your reputation and when you tarnish that, it is hard to get it back again.
Do you ever find yourself blaming someone else for something not getting accomplished? Or do you acknowledge your part in it?
We all fall into the blame game from time to time, no matter how good we are at rising above it. It is just human nature. The key is to get past it quickly.
Instead of blaming someone else for what did or did not happen, acknowledge your own part in it.
Were you not clear about your expectations? Were you being nice because they are a friend? Did you put your faith in their knowledge and expertise even though you had a gut feeling not to? Did you lack communication?
3 ways you can start getting better at acknowledging and not blaming are to:
Reflect on your day. What situations occurred and how did you handle them? Were you easily angered? Did you lash out at someone even though they were not the person you were mad at? How can you rectify those situations?
Meditate. This helped me tremendously when I really started to practice it. I had tried it in the past and given up easily, but about a year ago I started to really give it my all. I set up an area in my home where I could go and be comfortable and alone. I signed up for guided meditations and monthly lessons. I invested in a pretty notebook that I would use solely for reflecting on my meditations and I started to practice daily. What I found was that my anxiety levels lowered, my stress levels lowered, my happiness increased, my peace of mind increased and I was clearer around decisions I needed to make.
Give it up. You may find you are holding onto things that you can’t change. You are not in control of the situation and it may anger you or upset you. In these cases, give it up. Turn it over to a higher power to guide you. Stop holding on and have faith that something greater has your back.
There are many factors that go into our everyday relationships, both personal and business, and so many opportunities to take the easy way out and blame someone else for things not going as we planned. The better option though, for strengthening your relationships and rebuilding them stronger, is to acknowledge your part.
Apologize if you messed up. Ask what you can do to right the situation. Be honest. Talk things out with the person. Be aware of how you talk/text and the words you use. Also, be sure that you are not letting people take advantage of you because of your relationship with them, and that you are not doing that to someone else either.
Respect is built around honesty and integrity. No matter what relationship you are working with, be sure that both of those are in play.
Sometimes you may need to just move on to feel better. Move on from the client or customer that didn’t pay you, move on from the contractor that didn’t do the job and hire someone new. Learn from the mistakes you made so you can avoid making them again. Leave the situation stronger than you entered it because now you know how to release the feelings around it and move to a better place.