The last sevens days have been a rough week for me in many regards. And I admit, I lost it a few times and started to wallow in negativity. But, I am pushing through it all and determined to end the week on a high note.

After all, this IS my Year of Effort. This means doing more than I have in the past to reach those levels of success I want.

I can’t consider myself broken any longer. No, I need to view myself as working on being fixed.

Why the Rough Week?

The level of stress was pretty high this week. Although I doubt that this train wreck is far from over, I need to keep it together and keep my level of progress climbing.

So, what happened to put me in a negative headspace?

House Hunting at its Finest

In February, my roommate and I found out the landlord is planning on selling the house we’re renting. He offered to sell it to us, but the FHA loan we’re pre-qualified for won’t cover the amount of damage to the home.

For instance, we told the landlord back in October of 2018 the roof in the back was leaking. Nothing has been done about it…and that was two winters ago.

I’m fairly sure the carpet, ceiling and walls have mold now. That’s what happens when you rent from shady owners.

So, we’ve spent the last few weeks looking at many houses to fit our needs. And there is very little in our price range, especially since many sellers nowadays are selling as-is, damaged homes FHA won’t touch.

Adding More to My Plate

I’m trying to get more done with my own projects. For example, I would love to launch the podcast for WriterSanctuary. But at the moment, I don’t know if I can handle much more.

On top of all this, my client wants to start doing YouTube videos. Which means I need to find a better background to make them look more professional.

Since I don’t know how long I’ll be in this house, I don’t know if I should buy a green screen or wait until I have a room in a new house.

Hyper Stressed and Less Productive

Because of the home situation, I’ve been far more stressed lately. Which often means the productivity level sinks like a stone. Between the housing market, getting more added to my workload and trying to keep my own projects afloat, it’s quite stressful.

I used to thrive regardless of stressful situations. In fact, my family would tell me how well I can handle the things I’ve been through.

Today, though, it’s very difficult. While I’m not broken, I still have plenty of fixing to do.

How the Rough Week is Ending

It’s not all bad, though. Even though the week has been a rough one, its ending on a high note.

In fact, it’s ending with some of the best things to happen this year. While I am still south of being stressed, at least it looks like there is hope for the immediate future.

For instance:

Sponsor and Advertisers Approaching

This week, I had interest from advertisers for adding banners to the blogs. It seems WriterSanctuary is especially gaining some attention.

On the downside, though, I never really planned for this happening. This added a bit of stress as I now need to come up with fair pricing and practices for sponsored posts and ads.

Still, it’s definitely worth the effort and time I put in to hammer out the details.

Feeling Good About Prospective Homes

We looked at a couple of houses last night that definitely piqued our interest. One is a rental but fits our needs almost perfectly.

The problem with rentals, though, is that we want to be able to modify a home if needed. For instance, I want ethernet running throughout the house. Instead of just installing lines in the walls, I have to run cables all over in a rental.

But, I really liked both homes. So, let’s keep our fingers crossed that I have someplace to live in April.

Planning Out YouTube Videos for Clients

As I mentioned earlier, a client wants me to start making videos for the company’s YouTube channel. This is something I’ve been pushing for several months.

After coming up with data on how the competition was doing on YouTube, the client decided it was time to start pushing out regular content.

This is exciting as I’ll be a major part of something incredibly awesome. And I know we’ll do extremely well.

Working on VII Today and Tomorrow

I’ve been working on VII off and on for a couple of weeks now. And I am getting closer to finally finishing the rough draft. Currently, it’s on Wattpad. However, I am debating on turning it into a published paperback soon.

I am pretty excited about how the story is unfolding and can’t wait to publish the final chapter. Then comes the fun part of editing the entire thing for actual publishing.

I’ll blog about the entire experience of self-publishing. I just don’t know if it will be on this website or on WriterSanctuary.com.

Perseverance and Effort is Key

If there is one thing I want you to take away from this short tale of having a rough week is that perseverance and effort are keys to success.

No matter how hard you think things are, there is always room for improvement. Don’t wallow in the negative, which I know is easy to do. Instead, focus on improving your situation one day at a time.

Didn’t do enough yesterday? Make sure you do more today.

Forcing Yourself to Be More Productive

Even if it’s the last thing you want to do, force yourself into productivity mode. Nothing will change in your life if you just sit around and wait. And productivity doesn’t merely mean pushing out more work.

Be productive in your life. Whether it’s writing, painting, working, cleaning house or landscaping, make things happen. Take control and make each day better than the last.

Don’t Focus on the Negative

It’s important that you don’t focus on the negative of a situation. Sure, you might be homeless next month. But that just means you can’t waste the day worrying about it. Instead, you need to work every day to make sure your situation improves.

I know how it feels when life beats you down with a stick. However, there’s nothing stopping you from taking that stick and beating it back.

Focus on the positivity of the day and do what you can to keep moving forward.

Pushing Yourself to Be More than You Are

Don’t settle on what’s convenient. I’ve done this for a large portion of my adult life. Everyone has potential, and it’s up to you to unlock it and benefit from being the best version of yourself.

Talk and planning are good ways to start. But it means nothing unless you put in the effort to push yourself further.

Don’t Let a Rough Week Detract from Success

Not everyone will have perfect weeks all the time. Life is full of ups and downs. It’s how you adapt to those situations that defines who you are and what you’ll become.

Just because you have a rough week this time around doesn’t mean the next will be equally bad. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and push through it all.

You got this.