I learned one of the most moving lessons in my life while I was training to be a tactical explosive detection dog handler and it has pushed me into an amazing direction ever since. I was starting my second week of training at the Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Indiana. It was an extremely cold and rain morning and tempers were high.

I was one of the guys who was having a very hard time reading the body language and noticing the change of behavior from the dogs. Was the dog hunting? Was he playing? Was he just going through the motions? I had not the slightest idea. I caught myself making a lot of mistakes which of course led to failures that if made in the field would be a matter of life and death.

I beat myself up for missing one of the explosives and three of my instructors pulled me to the side and we had a long discussion on the matter and what I could have done to prevent it next time. Gary, Heath and Lucian said something to me that changed my entire life.

“A bad day at work is still a great day of training.”, and that was the moment my entire perspective of life changed. That simple but deep quote changed my entire life and I learned shortly after that I could use those words in every aspect of life. Ever since then I didn’t cringe when I had a bad day at work. Of course I still felt the frustrations and stresses of the bad day but now I was able to consciously learn why my day was going in the wrong direction so that I could avoid that feeling in the future.

Now lets use that same quote in a relationship. You are currently with your significant other and you two are going through a rough time. Of course the feelings are there but why? What happened for those feelings to be so intense? Now instead of complaining about your day and your spouse, understand what happened so that you can fix it and have a great rest of the day and know what to or not to do in the next time.

Horrible boss? GREAT. This is actually my favorite. Horrible bosses is what got me wanting to write this post because I have had some terrible bosses in my day. At first I just complained about them but I realized that, just like great leaders, horrible leaders can teach you what not to be. I feel that horrible bosses is why I have been told that I was a great manager because from my experiences with the horrible boss, I knew how to react to certain scenarios. I was able to be empathetic to my employees wants and needs. I knew how to lead by example rather than do like my horrible bosses and mush me like a sled dog. I was able to train and teach people in multiple ways than just one. They felt comfortable to talk to me about problems and I always knew that if they were not happy, they would not make me happy.

So here is some homework. The next time you are having a bad day at work, a bad day with your spouse, car problems, stuck in line or just not feeling up to anything. Instead of just having a bad day, turn it into something productive. Turn that bad day into something great. Write it down. Talk it out. Understand what is going on what how you can fix it for the better and do it. If this has helped you, feel free to like and share this with friends and family and I would love to hear how these three men’s words of wisdom have changed your aspect on life as it has done mine.

I dedicate this post directly to Gary, Lucian and Heath because without their knowledge and training, I can honestly say that I would not be the man that I am today. That simple quote “A bad day at work is a great day of training.” has done more for me in my adult life than most of the other advice that I have ever gotten. Countless times I have voiced that quote to people I have had the pleasure of being around in their great days of training and it has been on my heart strings to tell them world. So remember, unless it involves a near death experience, a bad day at work is ALWAYS a great day of training.