Hey it’s Bob Negen. And in this episode of Real Retail TV, you’re going to learn and on-the-floor, on-the-fly stress reduction technique that I think you’re going to find really, really helpful.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a post from The Trail where I talked about how to feel better and get more done. And it was really a big, higher level look at using stress reduction, as in taking time off, to become more productive. And I still believe that taking enough time off– recharging your batteries is one of the best ways to be creative, to be focused, to be productive.

But let’s face it– you live on the floor. You live in a world of day-to-day. You live in a world of retail, for crying out loud. And there are always things that are annoying. There are always things that, frankly, are going to piss you off. There are always things that can throw you off your game.

You know what I’m talking about. You get a bad social media review. You have an employee that, even though you love them, and you don’t want to get rid of them, you can’t quite figure out how to get them to come on time– ever. You get an order that comes in that’s all screwed up. And it takes an hour of your time to get it worked out with the vendors.

You get a cranky customer that’s totally unreasonable. But you have to deal with them, right? All of these things happen regularly when you own or manage a retail business. And so you can’t go to the spa when any of those things happen. You have to learn to deal with them right away.

So the technique that I’m going to share with you is called BAM– breathe, acknowledge, and move on. So whenever any of those things happen, here’s what you do– first of all, you take a deep breath. The physiology of it all is scientifically proven. You take a deep breath. It calms your heart. It calms yourself. It calms you for a moment. Breathe.

Acknowledge how you feel. It’s OK. Your feelings are real. You can’t deny your feelings. Acknowledge how you feel. Acknowledge that that customer is wrong. Acknowledge that that vendor is driving you crazy. Acknowledge how you feel. Be truthful– be real– acknowledge your feelings. But then move on. It’s time to move on. Don’t pay rent on those problems. Don’t let those problems hold you back.

Breathe, acknowledge, and move on. But there’s a real subtle way to improve this process. And that is breathe, acknowledge, and make a decision about what’s happened before you move on. Let me give you an example. So let’s say we’re talking about you get a bad social media review. So instead of breathe, acknowledge, and move on, you breathe, acknowledge, and figure out what really happened and what you’re going to do about something like this happening in the future.

So was that person correct? Did that person have a terrible experience? Is there something that you need to correct in your store? Was that person all wrong? Do you need to reply to that person? So make a decision. The point here is that just breathe, acknowledging, and moving on is a great way to emotionally deal with the problem. But I’m suggesting that you also use it as an opportunity to learn how to be a better business person.

Breathe, acknowledge– decide what you’re going to do about that thing and then move on. And so in our communities– in our Platinum Mastermind Group and our Business Breakthrough Accelerator Program in WhizBang retailers, there’s always these conversations. There’s these this is driving me crazy. This is driving me crazy. This is frustrating me. This is annoying me. And we always come back to breathe, acknowledge, move on.

Take what’s happened, learn your lessons, and move on. So I would love to hear your techniques for dealing with stress in the moment. I’d love to hear what you think of the BAM technique. And, of course, I love your comments, your questions, your thoughts. Put them down below. And we’ll see you next week.