The global pandemic brought involuntary changes to our lives. Regardless of who you are and the challenges you are facing, change can be overwhelming for anyone. Adapting to change can create stress, especially when changes can impact employment, income, or our health.
How can we adapt to challenges in our lives in a way that allows us to overcome them and grow as a result? The answer to five critical questions will provide you with the awareness you need to not only adapt to challenges, but to also use them to create growth and progress toward your goals.
5 Critical Questions for Overcoming Challenges
- Do you give certain things in your life more time, attention, energy and focus than necessary? When we become overwhelmed or stressed, we can put more importance or weight on our problems and the challenges we face. This occurs when the challenge is real. If you answered yes to this question, ask yourself if you are focusing on things that are within your control. It is important to focus on what you can control. By reassessing the situation, you will be able to put it in its proper perspective. When your outlook changes, you might find that your current obstacles are not as big as you initially thought, and you can redirect your attention and focus to things that will positively impact your future.
- Can this be overcome? An honest answer to this question will impact your actions. If challenges can be overcome, what steps do you need to take to make it happen? If obstacles cannot completely disappear, what actions can you take to minimize the effects or adapt to it? Focus on what you can do in order to create the best possible outcome.
- Do you anticipate change and give yourself permission to make it happen? Change is inevitable; it happens every day. Yet, change is oftentimes dreaded or feared. By anticipating potential changes, you are giving yourself permission to view adjustments in a positive light. Then, you are able to prepare for transformations and make necessary adjustments in a calm and focused manner.
- Do you assume the challenges you are facing are going to be difficult? Assumptions are not based on facts, and they can introduce unwarranted anxiety and cause you to perceive incorrect outcomes. You might be telling yourself that you won’t be able to work from home or believe that you are not capable of overcoming the challenges before you. Your internal belief system will influence your actions. If you don’t think you are capable, you won’t give it much effort. If you have a preconceived outcome, you will subconsciously strive to ensure that the actual outcome aligns with it. Your mindset plays a profound role in how effective you are in achieving your goals and creating your success. The simple act of changing your perceptions and beliefs is a powerful way to overcome challenges and remain accountable in our outcomes.
- Do you recognize that there is room for you to grow? While we all know change can cause stress, it is also true that it creates opportunities for growth. Every change has an underlying benefit: the potential to learn something new, pursue a different path, or even just to gain new experiences. Give yourself permission to grow, and the changes and/or challenges before you will turn from obstacles into opportunities.
Every day can hold uncertainty, yet reinforcement, repetition and self-discipline allow us to access what is important and further our success. We cannot always control the changes before us, but we always have a choice in how we address life and respond to those changes. When we redirect our focus and view change without fear and anxiety, we can see the possibilities that exist and can adapt with confidence to overcome them. Don’t take the simplicity of this shift in thinking for granted. How we perceive our current reality has a powerful influence on the outcomes we will experience. All things are possible when we fuel our mindset with confidence and navigate our reality in the right direction.