When sometimes it does get to you

One of my Powerhouse students asked me a question the other day that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.

She was feeling frustrated with the state of the market—overwhelmed by how hard it feels right now to get people's attention, to build trust, to cut through all the noise.

And she asked, "Ruth, how do you keep going and stay so positive? How do you not feel depressed about it? How do you not let it get to you?"

And I had to pause for a second, because honestly?

I do let it get to me sometimes.

There are days when I feel all of it—the frustration, the fear, the anger, the disappointment.

Days when I just want to crawl into bed, watch Netflix, and doom-scroll for hours. Days when I give myself permission to wallow hard and feel every bit of the crappy feelings without trying to fix them or hide from them.

But I have a rule about wallowing

I never let myself stay there for more than a day.

At the end of my wallow-fest, I tell myself, “tomorrow will be a better day.”

And then I get a good night’s sleep, wake up in the morning, and start again.

Because the answer I gave her—the one I keep coming back to again and again—is something I learned from one of my favorite business books, Good to Great by Jim Collins. In it, he talks about something called the “Stockdale Paradox.”

It's named after Admiral James Stockdale, who survived seven years as a POW during the Vietnam War—seven years of torture, starvation, and uncertainty, never knowing if he'd be rescued.

When he was asked later how he survived, he said this:

"You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties… And at the same time… Confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

In other words? You can't fake your way through the hard parts. You have to look at them. You have to name them. You have to own them.

But you also have to hold on to the hope that you're going to make it through.

And that's the attitude I try to bring to everything—my business, my life, my relationships, all of it.

I confront the brutal facts. And I never lose hope that I'll prevail in the end.

Right now, the brutal facts in my business are that the online world has shifted, which is something I’ve been talking about on my podcast and with my business audience.

It's harder to reach people. Harder to earn their trust. Harder to stand out. And instead of pretending everything is fine, I've been choosing to face that reality head-on—to listen to my customers, pay attention to what's actually working, and build something better.

That's what my new business program, the Daily Sales Incubator, is all about. It's a more human, more personal, more real way of doing business in a world that's becoming increasingly automated and disconnected.

And even though it's been a ton of work pulling it all together, I'm more excited about it than I've been about anything in a long time.

But this whole confronting-the-brutal-facts thing?

It's not just for business.

And I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately too.

You see, two years ago, my husband Chuck and I bought what we thought was our dream property. We'd talked about it for ten years—a place with space to breathe, to gather, to create something meaningful and lasting for our family.

And the thing is, we do love it here.

Every morning I walk the whole property with my two dogs and look around and think, wow, I can’t believe I get to live here.

But the brutal facts of our current reality is that a six-acre property that wasn’t in the best condition when we bought it is a lot of work. And we knew it would be work, but it’s way more work than we ever anticipated. It's more complicated. More expensive. More… everything.

Even if I had 100% of my time available to devote to my farmhouse dream, it would be a lot.

But I’ve also got a business to run. Multiple businesses, in fact. I have kids who need me. A mom who’s 3,000 miles away. Bills that still need to be paid.

And I’m starting to wonder if something has to give.

It's not that I’ve lost hope. I still believe—deep in my bones—that we'll prevail in the end. But I also realize we can’t keep pretending everything is fine. There are hard conversations coming. Decisions to make. Questions to ask.

And we've got to be honest about where we're at.

Because I know that’s the only way to move forward.

Luckily that’s exactly what I’ll be doing during our Ignite Your Best Year Yet event, which is happening the first week of December. Because I’m not just teaching the framework, I’m working through it in my own life, in real time.

So that's where I'm at right now—in my business, in my home, in my heart.

I don’t feel lost or defeated. But I do know it’s time to ask myself some hard questions about what I want for the future.

And maybe, just maybe, that's where you are too.

So here's my challenge for you this week:

Grab a notebook, find 15 quiet minutes, and write down the answer to this question: What are the brutal facts of my reality right now?

Not the Instagram version. Not the "everything's fine" version. The real version.

What's actually working? What's not? What needs to shift?

And then—just as importantly—write this at the bottom: "I am still going to make it."

Because you will.

Live with purpose, friend, and have an amazing week!

xoxo, Ruth

P.S. If you want some help working through those hard questions—and honestly, who doesn't need a little backup?—I'd love to have you join me at Ignite Your Best Year Yet in December. It's my absolute favorite thing I do all year, and it's all about pressing pause, taking stock, and creating a clear vision for the year ahead. You can learn more HERE. I'd love to see you there.

P.P.S. If you’re a business and want to hear more about the Daily Sales Incubator and the new trust-based business model I’m not only installing in my own businesses, but helping my clients install in their businesses, I’m hosting a free live masterclass tomorrow at noon. You can get signed up HERE.

This week’s podcast episodes…

What’s cooking in my kitchen…

The latest from my Instagram…

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