How do we take back control, quiet the voices of fear and focus on our future hopes?
I have never been in this situation before but I have faced many challenges from intensive care to divorce, miscarriage to infidelity, life has presented me with many storylines.
Throughout them, all the thorough feedback I get from people who meet me is, why are you so bubbly. How do you stay positive and strong?
Do not take it wrong; these things take their toll; You have to acknowledge uncertainty, fear, and hurt.
You can’t ignore it; You have to recognize it and accept it before you can move on and focus on our expectations.
My Top Tips for dealing with being overwhelmed:
1. Acknowledge what happened and how you feel
Take time to think about the situation and try to look at it from every angle.
2. Understand the parts you can’t change or control
Identify which bits are out of your control. For example, in the current situation, getting the rest of the world to follow guidelines to keep us all safe, that’s beyond your control.
Getting angry, anxious, or frustrated by it will only irritate you, it won’t make any material change other than your anxiety.
3. Identify the things you can change and control
You can make sure you follow the guidelines, and so can your immediate family. You can also use this forced break to develop yourself, learn a new skill, pick up a hobby, or do things you’ve never done before.
4. Decide on the action you will take
Identify the things you want to do and commit to them. I used the forced break to further develop my coaching skills and launched an online group to share the knowledge I had learned to help others.
I also ended up working out and joining an online fitness group my best friend formed to stay connected and stay fit.
5. Take the next step
To quote Frozen 2 “Just do the next right thing.” that’s the problem with being overwhelmed we can lose ourselves having to solve the whole problem. The reality is that we need to take the next step.
With every step, we change our position, and we change our views. The result is that what was previously hidden for us becomes visible.
6. Choose Your Mindset
Perhaps the most important thing is to choose your mindset, what we focus on, we get, so focus on what you want to happen and take steps in that direction. I love quotes and use them every day to help me choose my mindset for the day.
My current favorite is “On this day I believe”, which means I believe that each day will bring me something positive, even if it also presents me with challenges.
7. Don’t do it yourself
As with all things in life, be it love, life or business, we are stronger together, so don’t face this alone. Find a support group whether it’s family members, partners, friends or online groups, make sure you have other people around you to share your thoughts, hopes, dreams and fears with.
Be there to pick you up when you fall and celebrate when you fly.
Right now, we need to physically distance ourselves while taking advantage of advances in technology to ensure we stay socially connected.
So Stay In Touch, Stay Connected, Stay Safe.
