From Your Lowest Point The Only Way Is Up!

It wasn’t that long ago that, I found myself at a point I never thought I’d reach—rock bottom.

I’ll bet you’ve been there at some point in your life as well. Those times when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse. You may have believed you had exhausted all your options and there was nothing left in your mental tank to lift you from the bottom of the proverberial well. Maybe you feel that way now.

Let me show you how getting to that state of despair can actually prepare you to reach your highest heights.

Eighteen months earlier, I had left my job with a severance package, confident that it would be the springboard I needed to launch my consulting business. I believed I had the skills, the drive, and the time to make it happen. I saw the leap as a calculated risk, and for a while, that belief kept me going.

But as the months passed, the numbers told a different story. My income was far below my expenses. My side work writing on-line lessons and teaching business English helped a little, but that wasn’t enough to keep up with my monthly expenses. I was draining my severance pool and watching my credit card balances creep upward. I woke up each day with a gnawing sense of uncertainty, wondering what I would do, and how to get back on my financial feet.

Looking back now, this experience coming out of COVID, was similar for many people. However, when it’s happening to you, you don’t need comfort in knowing your not alone. You need a resolution.

I’d been listening to many podcast where the host said that their biggest successes began when they were at their lowest point. I remember laying in bed one night and thinking, I don’t know how to turn this around. And yet, through that nocturnal fog of fear and doubt, a thought kept surfacing:
“Success finds us at our lowest points.”

And as I woke up each morning, I prayed that this might be the day that turns everything around.

The Turning Point

I reached the moment where pride and determination gave way to surrender. I prayed, “Okay, God. I AM at the bottom. What comes next?”

It wasn’t a dramatic movie moment—no flash of lightning or booming voice—but something shifted, I felt that. Just a few weeks later, I got an unexpected call from a recruiter and they had a position open that felt like it was tailor-made for me…

By the end of the month, I was reviewing an offer and setting a start date. The job gave me not only financial stability but also room to grow, learn, and expand my mission to spread positivity and help others rediscover their self-worth. Looking back, the tasks I was working on through the struggles added beneficial skills I could apply to my new work. I participated in creating new courses, taught business English to our non-native English speaking staff, and used my coaching skills in running a portion of my new company’s on-boarding program.

What I discovered was that everything I was doing while I worked my way out of that low place was something I needed to learn for the opportunity that presented itself.

Lessons From the Bottom

Looking back, I realize the value of that low point. Without it, I might have stayed stuck in the belief that I could do it all alone. Instead, it pushed me to develop four life-changing habits.

1. Never Give Up on Yourself

You are the miracle of birth

JB Glossinger

When you’re at rock bottom, it’s tempting to believe you’re out of options. But your worth isn’t tied to your current circumstances. You were created with a purpose, and even if you can’t see the next step, you have the capacity to find it.

Coaching takeaway:
• Keep a “win list.” Write down your achievements regularly, no matter how small. When doubt creeps in, revisit the list.
• Avoid isolation. Share your challenges with trusted friends, mentors, or a coach. Talking with them can provide fresh perspective.

Mindset shift:
Your current situation is a chapter, not your whole story.

2. Trust the Process

You don’t always need to know where you’re going as long as you trust the one who’s leading.

Bob Goff

I didn’t know how the bills would get paid. I didn’t know when—or if—my business would stabilize. Yet, once I decided to stop trying to control every outcome and started trusting that God and the universe had a plan, things began to move.

Since that time, I have worked with people all around the world, developed training programs, traveled to India, Australia, Canada and Malaysia, with even more business and leisure trips planned in the future.

Now I look down the road at what I want to achieve and BELIEVE it into existance. I don’t know when or how I will get there, but with belief, everything is possible.

Coaching takeaway:

Focus on the inputs, not just the outcomes. Do the daily work that aligns with your goals and let the results unfold in their time.
Practice patience as an active choice, not passive waiting.
The journey is more important than the destination. What you learn along the way gives you the keys to your future.

Mindset shift:
Even setbacks are part of the setup for what’s next. Worry less, analyze more and have gratitude for what happens along the way.

3. Get Perspective

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Dr. Wayne Dyer Tweet

When you’re in survival mode, your vision narrows. You see only the immediate problem. Sometimes the fastest way forward is to invite in another viewpoint.

Coaching takeaway:

Seek out people who have navigated similar challenges.
Ask open-ended questions to help you gain perspective.
Be willing to be vulnerable, it is only when we are open to new possiblities that new directions are revealed to us.

Mindset shift:
You’re not meant to solve every problem with the same thinking that created it.

4. Take Action

An inch of movement will bring you closer to your goals than a mile of intention.

Dr. Steve Maraboli

When fear and anxiety take over, it’s easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis. But movement—any movement—creates momentum. If you misstep, change course. When you do something right, document it so that it can be repeated. Success leaves clues.

Coaching takeaway:
• Break your next step into something you can do in 15 minutes or less.
• Commit to one small action every day, no matter what.
• Celebrate progress, not perfection.
• Take some time to reflect on what went well and where changes are needed. Document these in a place that is easy to reference.

Mindset shift:
Action is the antidote to fear.

Why Rock Bottom Can Be a Gift

It’s hard to see it while you’re there, but rock bottom strips away the illusions and forces clarity. You stop chasing what doesn’t matter. You focus on what truly moves you forward. If we have breakthroughs mid-path we may not recognize their brilliance, discredit their value or even take action on those ideas. However, starting from the bottom every step is crucial, there is a connection from where we were to where we are and where we intend to go.
Clearing the field allows God to do his greates work. Believe and take action.

If you’re in that place right now, I want you to know:
• You’re not broken.
• You’re not out of options.
• This can be the start of something extraordinary if you trust what is inside of you.