We have a process for getting ready for work, getting ready for dinner, setting the table, and shopping for groceries. However, most of us don’t have a process for dealing with challenges. This is a shame because challenges are a constant in life.

Besides resolving the issue at hand, overcoming a challenge also provides momentum – one solved challenge eventually leads to another.

A significant challenge can be quite stressful. A solid process can help to ease the anxiety that challenges often provide.

Use this process for facing the challenges in your life:

1. Identify the challenge. It’s not enough to know that you’re not happy. What is the real cause of your dissatisfaction? Is the problem that your transmission broke, or is it that you don’t have any savings?
2. Identify the desired outcome. You won’t know if you’ve resolved your challenge if you don’t define what success looks like. How will you know that you’ve been successful? What are the milestones that have to be reached to know that you’ve succeeded?
3. Identify your resources. You have more at your disposal than just your wits. Think about everything and everyone that you have in your life. How can you utilize them effectively? Trying to deal with challenges using only yourself and your grit is rarely the optimal solution.
4. Create a goal. Set a goal to resolve your challenge. Your goal might be to buy your daughter a prom dress by May 1st, or it might be to save $1,000 by June 15th. Set a goal that is specific and has a deadline.
5. Execute daily. Create a plan and work on achieving your goal each day. There’s a lot of progress to be made by simply moving forward a little each day. Avoid the urge to procrastinate. Get busy and work whenever you have the opportunity.
6. Visualize success. Be able to clearly see the outcome you desire in your mind’s eye. Create certainty in yourself that you can be successful. Imagine being the person you need to be to experience success. Do this at least once each day.
7. Review each day. How well did you do at resolving your challenge? What did you accomplish? What do you need to accomplish next? How can you improve on the effort you made today? What do you need to learn? Whom do you need to contact? Fine-tune your efforts to meet your needs.
8. Don’t give up. Most people are good at finding excuses to give up. This is the only way to fail. As long as you’re still fighting, you’re winning. Learn to persevere until your goal is achieved.
9. Avoid falling into the same situation. You may have resolved your challenge, but have you ensured that it won’t happen again? The key to making your life better and better is to avoid making the same mistakes over again. What can you do to prevent a future occurrence of the same challenge?

What do you do when faced with a challenge? Most people resort to some sort of distraction or avoidance. This is never effective.

Having a system in place for dealing with life when it gets hard can be a wonderful thing to have in your toolbox. A process eliminates much of the chaos that challenges can bring. Do yourself a favor and build a process that you can use to overcome the obstacles in your life.

You Can Do It!

By Dr. Jacqueline L. Knight

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