Finding Courage When Facing Challenges

“Courage is not the absence of fear.
It is feeling the fear and doing it anyway.”
― TJ Hoisington

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying – life happens while you’re busy planning. We can try to prepare for various eventualities but in truth, we can never be fully prepared because life constantly throws us curveballs.

We know what it’s like to have a plan and then face an obstacle that throws the plan out and requires us to readjust. This can cause a feeling of overwhelm, fear and loss of control. And it can also be seen as an opportunity to learn and perhaps develop a new skill, even if it’s the skill of how to adjust to setbacks.

Forbes asked their expert coaching panel, myself included, to share some advice on how to persevere when you’re feeling overwhelmed or uncertain.

My view is #14: The first step – PAUSE and remember to breathe.

In times of panic and fear, we operate in survival mode, triggering our fight, flight or freeze response. Our breathing contracts, our heart races and our thinking can get foggy.

By pausing for a moment and taking three to five deep breaths, we get more oxygen flowing into our brain and can begin to relax and think more clearly. We can move ourselves out of survival mode and into a productive, more effective state.

For more tips, read the full article here

What do you do when life throws you a curveball? Let me know, I’d love to know

This article was first published on Forbes.com on 27 May 2020

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