Tom Peters, author of “In Search of Excellence” and other popular books about workplace culture, has some advice for us about keeping your chin up when times are tough.

Most of the advice won’t make you slap your forehead and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” But the reminders can’t hurt:

1. You may well work for less; if so, you adapt to the untoward circumstances with a smile – even if it kills you inside.
2. You try to forget about the “good old days” – nostalgia is self-destructive.
3. You buck yourself up with the thought that “this too shall pass” – but then remind yourself that it might not pass anytime soon, and so you rededicate yourself to making the absolute best of what you have now.
4. You raise to the sky and maintain at all costs the Standards of Excellence by which you unfailingly evaluate your own performance.
5. You find ways to be around young people and to keep young people around. They are less likely to be of the “sky is falling” school.
6. You network like a demon (inside and outside the company).
7. You avoid negative people to the extent you can. Pollution kills.
8. You don’t put limits on the flowers budget -”bright and colorful” works marvels.
9. You mind your manners – and accept others’ lack of manners in the face of their strains.
10. You become a paragon of personal accountability.

Tags: In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters