How to Get Through a Rough Patch in Life (7 Ways)

If only life was smooth sailing, but instead, life is a turbulent ocean, and your little boat is often out of control, leaving you fearful and uncertain. Knowing how to row in the storm can help you navigate your rough patches, and find your feet, no matter what. 

Sadly, getting through life’s rough patches isn’t easy and we don’t always see our way through the storm. It sometimes feels like the storm is never-ending, and it is so easy to give up hope and feel lost. 

What do you do when you get through a rough patch in your relationship, a friendship, or at work?  

7 Ways to Get Through a Rough Patch 

Follow these tips to help you get through any rough patch in life: 

1. Stick to Your Routine 

There is great comfort in the familiar, and nothing is more familiar than following a routine. The best minds and business leaders, who face rough patches daily, tend to follow a simple routine. 

Eating the same breakfast and getting up at the same time in the morning may sound boring, but it helps you know the road ahead. When your life is off the rails in a rough patch, it is very easy to forget to follow routines. 

2. Stop and Breathe 

Stress is a natural result of having hit a rough patch, and when you are stressed, it can affect your ability to breathe correctly. To help cancel out some of the damage that a rough patch can do to you, be sure to stop, sit, breathe in, and breathe out as you let your body quiet down and slow into a familiar rhythm.  

3. Prioritize Self-Care and Be Kind to Yourself 

Rough patches rarely happen when everything else is running smoothly in your life. This is when you need to take care of yourself every day. Getting a few self-care routines going will help you to focus on what really matters. 

It’s about so much more than just having your hair heat styled—it’s about saying to yourself that if you can handle a few ladies straightening your hair, then you can handle this rough patch. 

4. Reach out to Loved Ones 

You may feel like you are alone when a rough patch hits. This is exactly the time when you should be reaching out and connecting with those you love. Call your best friend or mom and share what’s happening in your life.  

Your loved ones don’t need to give you advice on how to navigate the rough patch. They can just sit with you, hold your hand, and listen. Support is about more than trying to fix things. You aren’t broken, but you need to be held and supported by someone you love. 

5. Do What You Can 

When a crisis hits, it is so easy to believe that you can’t do anything. Your brain may think up any number of potentially dangerous reasons why you are going to fail and slide deeper into the rough patch. Don’t listen to your brain. Your heart knows the answer—keep going, one foot at a time.

Instead of worrying about the work that comes your way, you can make your own tasks, get up on your own, and stand stronger again. 

6. Set a Goal

Setting goals motivates you, gives you a sense of direction and focus, and lets you measure progress. During rough patches in life, it’s essential to find motivation to go on and have something else to focus on other than the storm in your life. 

The goal you set doesn’t have to be something huge, and it doesn’t have to have a two-year timeline. Instead, focus on the now and set small goals that are easy to achieve. 

Everytime you meet a goal, your brain is stimulated to produce more serotonin, which makes you feel good. This means that each small goal helps you feel better, so it becomes easier to get through the rough patch.  

7. Essential Things to Remember 

When you are blinded by a rough patch, try to keep the following in mind to help you weather the storm:

• Life is good and bad because you need the bad to really value the good, and the good helps you respect the bad. This is known as the duality of life, and it is one of the basic tenets of Stoic philosophy. 
• Don’t let a bad patch remove hope and courage; even a rain cloud has a silver lining. 
• Experience is the mother of all teachers. If you are struggling now, it is probably to prepare you and help you grow. 
• By weathering a rough patch, it can change your perspective, and you will know with certainty what you want.
• To succeed in life, you need resilience, but this is a personality trait that is only built in the face of hardship and experience. 
• Remember that whatever you are going through, it will pass. The sun will shine again, and you will be okay again, even if you aren’t okay right now. 

Final Thoughts on Surviving a Rough Patch

In life, we try to avoid drama and heartache, but it is unrealistic to think we will never hit a bad patch on the journey. To survive a bad patch when it hits, be sure to follow the seven tips and get back on your feet as soon as possible.

You can step beyond the agony of a bad experience and succeed more than you could ever have imagined.