How to overcome anything (especially if you are a high achiever)…

So today’s post will be about finding the strength to move on… to find the strength to overcome anything that might come along… even when least expected…

Unlike other posts, today you will allow me to talk about… life! I hope today’s content will give you some food for thought, it might inspire you and motivate you to see things in a different light… wherever you might be, whatever you might be facing, no matter what are your personal circumstances…

If you haven’t noticed, life happens. No matter how perfectly prepared and planned your life is set up to be- life – it happens. No matter how secure you believe yourself and your life to be, you just never know what and when a change will come – a change that might seem sudden and quite terrifying.

Life and loss go hand in hand… therefore unexpected life and loss happens in many forms: loss of finances, loss of security, loss of partnership and loss of life itself. It is really easy to sink into these losses.  It is really easy to believe that it is happening TO you.

So today I would like to propose some helpful coping strategies you could try out next time you find yourself struggling to overcome anything…

I really hope this content might provide you with the answers you were looking for….

Point no.1: Look within for strength  

I’m sure that whatever it is that you are going though, (especially if you are a high achiever and you feel that you should be able to handle pretty much anything) it does not feel great right now; it might feel unfair, unjustified or even unbearable. I have often heard my clients realize that they haven’t really been taught how to be strong or how to stay confident or how to survive when the going gets tough, because they were overprotected by family.  Well… trust me when I tell you that it is your duty to look for your inner strength.  Fortunately there is no timeline, no set period for finding your own strength, no perfect timing to pick up resilient behaviours and coping skills

Remember that the ability to turn around is always there.  Besides if you don’t appreciate your own strength, I’m afraid  that you are selling yourself too short… and maybe it is time to appreciate your true value, even during those difficult times!

Just try to go back and think of a challenging moment that you had managed to overcome successfully in the past; and then do this again and again until you can convince yourself that it is no accident that you are still standing strong and capable of dealing with pretty much everything!

Point no. 2: Don’t create more damage in the process…

I know that it is very common for people to try to distract themselves, or even numb themselves in an attempt to deal with the pain, with uncertainty, with fear.  However I would strongly encourage you to try to stay in the moment, instead of overeating, over drinking, shutting down in various ways, not taking care of yourself, taking unnecessary medication, making rushed decisions, etc.

Have faith in yourself that you have all the knowledge and all the power to go through what it is that you are currently going through.

And if you haven’t been able to realise this so far, use this challenging opportunity to explore something new about yourself.  Wait to see what else is there for you which you might have not been aware of before.

You are allowed to have sleepless nights, but there is no need to create any additional damage…

 Point no. 3) choose wisely how you would like to spend your time in the meantime…

There are various productive ways on how you might decide to spend your time.

One example could be to get inspiration from what other people have managed to do in a similar situation and equally imagine yourself maintaining the same result.

For example while you are going through a relationship breakup you might get strength and inspiration from the wonderful relationship your friend has built. Of course I’m not talking spending time thinking negatively or feeling jealous of your friend’s success, but rather ask, observe and think about it in a way that you could achieve it in the future.

Another way could be to explore something new to work on, something different to focus on.  No better time to prepare yourself for that one thing that you truly desire!

Another great alternative would be to spend some time engaging in activities that you have never done before, such as volunteering an hour of your time to offer your services to the nearest charity, or reading a book on a new subject, or listening to a podcast that you have never heard before; anything that will enable you to change your state of mind and appreciate things in a different way.

Point no. 4: try to think of something positive that might come out because of all of this…

I know that when you are going through the mess, the heartbreak, the shock of a sudden uncontrollable situation, it is difficult to acknowledge if there is anything good coming out of it… however a different mindset that you can adopt whenever you are going through a difficult time would be to embrace the idea that life is happening for you, not to you, as Tony Robbins very often says!

Once you adopt this mindset you will get to realise that yes, you might have been conditioned to react a certain way, but it is no longer necessary to do so… what is necessary for you to do, is to keep your eyes and heart open towards whatever it is that you desire.

Another way you could try to change your mindset would be to distance yourself from the current situation. A great way to achieve this would be to either pretend to see yourself from a distance, as if this was happening to someone else instead of you. What would you say to them? What could they do differently?

Finally there are two very helpful questions you could ask yourself: “Which ability or talent of mine do I need to cultivate even more in order to deal with this situation?  What can I learn from all of this?”