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Everyone has experienced one of these days when you don’t sell anything, don’t manage to engage with your clients, don’t produce any creative output. How do you keep going after a day of disappointments and low productivity?

My answer is: Always finish on a good note.

I’ve learned this tip from my very wise and ever patient horse riding instructor. It takes years of practice to master the trickiest, most finicky and at the same time most rewarding of all sports (and in my case, not possessing much natural talent, plus riding an explosive horse). Dressage moves take a while to learn, both for the rider and the horse, so the most important advice is to finish on a good note, with an exercise you can do well, and one that may even be a little boring, but boosts your confidence because you (and the horse!) can execute it successfully. Then, the next day, you are eager to practice again, and may even step out of your comfort zone and do better.

The same goes for your work. What sales person hasn’t had stretches of time not selling anything? The most helpful task I used to do in my times as a wine sales person: take some great samples to a customer who may not buy anything, but is kind and gives you good feedback. You may even hear: “This is sooooo good, you made my day!”. OK, that did not result in any commission, but gave me enough of a boost to do it all over again the next day.

Engage with positive people. Talk with a nice colleague about the next step on a project that looks successful. Approach a small potential customer if the large one didn’t work. Show your greatest product to a client who will give you good feedback. In short, end your day with a small success over no success.

So today, being tired from a long work week and also my arms nearly falling off from yesterday’s heavy-duty, tough gardening (yup, the soil needs to be built back up in the fall!), all I can muster are some illustrations of critters for my garden notebook. Nothing truly creative, but a nice exercise and cool to look at. And enough to carry me over to next weekend, when I am planning to keep going with my more challenging painting.

Finish on a good note – whether it’s your day, your hobby, your work. And, enjoy your day.

Read here about how to get started in the first place :-)   https://www.susannekuehnepositiveart.com/blog/161435/the-art-of-the-red-canvas-or-how-to-start-a-project-when-you-dont-know-how-to-get-started