Conquering Challenges in Uncertain Times
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Conquering Challenges In Uncertain Times
Challenges do not have to stop us, but they do test our commitment to what we said we wanted.
Part Three of Five Part Series: The 5C Solution
by Cindy Cipriani
Doesn’t it seem that just as you find clarity in something you want, and you commit to going for it, life throws you an unexpected challenge? These challenges test how committed you are. US Admiral William Frederick Hansley, Jr. said, “There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet.”
In the past few months, we have all faced the great challenge of a pandemic. This crisis is unlike anything most generations living have ever seen and has affected the entire global population. While trying to protect ourselves by social distancing and staying at home, the uncertainty of our health and economy has shaken many to their core.
Every member of the family is now faced with how to conquer these external challenges while navigating their internal emotions of anxiety, fear and loss. As adults we like to feel in control. We plan how to take care of ourselves, our elderly parents and our children. But when those who depend on us see uncertainty in our eyes, what can we do to reassure them? What do we do with our plans when the rug gets pulled out from under us? Do we throw all our hopes and dreams out the window? Or do we recalculate our path? Challenges do not have to stop us, but they do test our commitment to what we said we wanted.
Here are three ways to conquer the challenges in these uncertain times:
1. Quiet the inner enemy.
Our minds are internal computers that are constantly attempting to make sense of our lives. It takes external stimuli, pairs it with past emotional responses and attempts to figure out what we should do now. It is trying to find a place of logic amongst the chaos. Most of the messages from our internal voice are negative which feed our sense of doubt and fear. Perhaps this protects us from harm, but it can also skew our ability to confidently face a challenge. Literally turning down the volume of this doubtful voice can free you to look at the facts and think more logically to find answers. How?
2. Acknowledge the emotions.
Turn your internal enemy into a friend by acknowledging what it is telling you. Yes, listen to all the statements of confusion, anxiety, fear and doubt. Write them down. This defuses the emotion and turns them into pieces of a puzzle that your mind will automatically want to solve as logic kicks in.
3. Look at the larger picture.
One of the activities that a lot of families have been doing during this lockdown is putting together puzzles. It is a common strategy to put the edge pieces together first because this gives a good reference where the other middle pieces will go in relation to the border of the puzzle. This same strategy can be used to look at your current challenges if you take the view that life is like a giant puzzle. Get all the members of your family involved as you turn problems into positive challenges to be solved. After all, if people did not like challenges, there would be no sporting games. It is all in the way we look at what we are facing. You can become paralyzed by uncertain change or you can take it on being determined to become a champion at your own life.
Take a few minutes to do these first three power steps. Watch how your action shifts your attitude from trepidation to triumph.
Clarity keeps you grounded.
Commitment is the fuel that moves you forward.
Challenges test your commitment.
If you have been following this series, you are learning ‘The 5Cs’™. They can be remembered on the fingers of your left hand. Here are the first three: clarity (pinky finger), commitment (ring finger) and, appropriately, challenges (middle finger).
Coming Soon: Part Four of this series, which will focus on Creation of a step-by-step plan to move past your challenges to celebration.
Clarity Coach, Cindy Cipriani, is the author of The 5C Solution: Discover Clarity & Confidence in Times of Change. https://amazon.com/author/cindycipriani.
For more information visit Cindy’s website at www.the5csolution.com/
You can also find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ClearPathByCindy/