Meeting Challenge Before Challenge Meets You

As we grow and move through life we quickly learn it's not without challenge. The good & "bad" times ebb and flow.

There's no telling what life will throw at us next. When we get dealt a bogus hand it can quickly derail us if we're not prepared for the challenge it presents.

Surely I'm not the only one this has happened to, yeah? I think we can all relate to that at some level.

The question becomes...

How can we meet the challenge before it meets us?

Is there a way to somehow prepare for challenges that arise, especially the ones we weren't expecting? To some degree I'd suggest yes, we can.

I'll share how with you now!

When I was in school I was the guy who would pretend he left his gym gear at home to try and skip gym class.

Athletics and being active weren't really my jam when I was younger. I dreaded most physical activity, especially when we were doing "conventional gym days."

What I know now, that I wish I knew back then, was physical training is a great way to condition ourselves in all levels, not just physically.

Mentally, emotionally, intuitionally, some people even find spiritual connection in physical activities.

How does it work?

Most of us don't enjoy working out, daily movement activities often get removed from the priority list. However, when we schedule in demanding training sessions, it passes on valuable skills we can use elsewhere.

Negative self talk.... Are you talking down on yourself? Complaining about the activity, set, or rep you're on? Or the one that's coming next? PT is a great way to catch yourself in those ruts and practice reframing to more positive self-talk.

Positivity is the first step.

A positive mindset will take us far in life, so long as we're not embracing toxic positivity. The world isn't all sunshine and rainbows all the time.

It's important to be real with ourselves and those around us, and not lie about what's happening.

However, even in the darkest of times we can still use positive language (something I need to work on, too, with non-aggressive communication).

Need examples? Pick up some biographies of historical individuals. Often you'll find they were laughing, positive and cracking jokes even through the greatest troughs of adversity.

They were the light in the dark that made everyone around them feel better. Feel alive.

Breath control.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, breath is life.

Our breath can control our mental state, change our emotional state, and even give us a much needed pause.

It's kinda awkward, but try it some time. Something simple, like taking a 3-5 second pause to catch a breath and collect your thoughts before responding someone.

If you're the type to make an audible inhale it sometimes makes people uncomfortable, thinking maybe they upset you. However, once they understand the purpose behind it they may adopt the practice as well.

You can also try box breathing (5 second breath in, 5 second hold, 5 seconds out, 5 second hold, repeat) which can be a great way to access flow state.

Visualization.

Yes, it can be a challenge to visualize things if we've convinced ourselves we don't have an imagination. However, skills are like muscles, the more we use them the more they grow.

We as human beings are often great at this one, however we focus on the wrong things.

When we visualize, fixate, or otherwise focus on what we don't want we end up attracting more of it into our lives.

Instead, couple the first 2 skills with this one and visualize more of what you want, or where you're planning to go in life. Manifest the good, add more of the good into your life, and the negative will slowly weed itself out!

Micro goal setting.

How many times have we committed to big, lofty goals or intensive projects only to burn out or fade away? I know I've overcommitted plenty times more than I care to admit. Maybe you're like me.

This is what makes micro goal setting so powerful. You don't eat a whole elephant in one bite, you eat it one bite at a time, right? Our goals are no different.

Perhaps a brighter analogy: dominoes. We're all familiar with that game, yeah? Think of micro goals like setting up a string of dominoes.

Small steps lead to bigger and bigger wins, while consistency ties it all together.

When in doubt, refer back to step one and keep drilling in the practice until it becomes habit.

If you enjoyed this don't forget to smash that like button and subscribe to updates! Cheers.