10 Ways to Squash a Bad Mood in 17 Minutes or Less

Your boss walks by and you want to tell her where she can go. A client calls and you wish you could give them a good backslap. Even your friend’s calm demeanor isn’t settling your inflamed state.

You’re in a bad mood.

You know it and you also know that if you continue, you’re just going to spiral downward. You’ll make it worse if you don’t do something. But what?

Take a quick 17 minute break and run through these 10 remedies for a bad mood:

1. List why the bad cause of your mood is good for your life – “Bad” events happen. But they don’t have to always be negative. See if you can figure out the good in the situation. Example: A job hunter is turned down for a job. He thinks about how much he learned from the interview.

2. List your thanks – List 20 things your are thankful for. Do you have food to eat? Do you have a roof over your head? You can’t be genuinely thankful and grumpy at the same time. Try it and see!

3. Affirm your goals – Pick your top 3 goals and rephrase them as if they are already accomplished. This is as simple as rephrasing “Quit smoking” to “I have quit smoking.” Now close your eyes and repeat the new affirmations. Looking at a positive future sends a bad mood packing.

4. Rewrite your top 3 – A Brian Tracy tip. Pick your top 3 affirmations and write them 3 times each morning. This boosts your optimism and gets your mind set to working on them.

5. Smile practice – Feeling blue? It’s ok to feel down now and again. But if there’s no reason, then, a smile might just cheer you up. Put a smile on your face. Positive feelings follow positive actions.

6. Do a random kindness – It might feel strange to do something nice for someone else if you are fuming. But if you bring a coworker a surprise gourmet coffee or give a compliment on someone’s new shoes, their reaction will melt that crusty attitude – I promise.

7. Set Optimism reminders – If you have a system like Outlook, Google calendar, or a stopwatch timer, set some reminders for optimism time. Just a beep will do. You can use this time for rewriting your goals or honing your thank you list.

8. Take a positive action on your top goal today – Moving your body and mind in a positive direction moves your emotions in a positive direction too. If you are physically and mentally feeling exhilarated but emotionally, you are sad, You are trying too hard.

9. Forgive others – Other people can get under the skin. But to control your emotions and the situation, practice forgiving others. Someone makes you mad, think “I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you.” Others are in their own little worlds they often make mistakes, so do you, so try to give em a break.

10. Abolish blame – Your feelings are your own. It’s understandable that anger happens. But the difference between a pessimist and an optimist is the pessimist is content to blame and look on the negative side. An optimist knows he or she plays a role in every situation therefore looks for a solution. Blame stands in the way of solutions because it is the path of least resistance.