Entrepreneurship isn’t about running a successful business. It’s a never-ending journey of winding paths and the ability to be resilient enough to continue to climb and grow – no matter how great the challenge. While we all feel like we want to give up at times, the people that knock that feeling aside, are the difference between who reach their goals and who fall short.
Our biggest asset as humans is also our biggest weakness; our mind. We have a tenancy to make ourselves feel each situation is worse than it actually is, so when things do go south, overwhelm us and cloud our thinking. Which makes it even worse! The ability to take a step back is a very important attribute to have, however is not a strength for most of us. If you are one of these people (and the problem isn’t time sensitive), take some time out to read a book, listen to a podcast, meditate or hit the gym. This hardwires your brain to stop thinking about the challenge and shift your focus to something productive. When it comes time to revisit the issue, you will have a clear head to work it through.
When highly challenging situations arise, I deal with them by firstly trying to remain calm (a lot easier said than done – I know!). The next step is themost important. Do NOT start blaming yourself or anyone else for the situation. You need to go into PROBLEM SOVLER mode instead. Start thinking of solutions immediately to fix the issue. This will stop your mind from thinking how bad the problem is, and rather how to solve it. When you first try to use this technique, it will be a tuggawar between you thinking of a solution, and you feeling overwhelmed from the situation. If you are in a group of people and they start ganging up on the person that initiated the problem – stop them in their tracks. Keep the positive thoughts flowing with the people around you and lead the team to a solution. You’ll find very quickly, as soon as you find a solution, all your negative and stressful feelings vanish!
Let’s put this into a social scenario: Your partner leaves their wallet on a table in a restaurant while on a date and get all the way home before you realise it’s missing. While you may feel that someone has probably already cleared out the bank account, keep calm as to not cloud your thinking. Next, do NOT blame and start to rationally problem solve. Ring the restaurant, check the car, call and cancel your credit cards, maybe do all of these. The main thing is to not start blaming!
You call the restaurant and they haven’t had anything handed in. You ring the bank and find the accounts haven’t been touched and lock the accounts. While your partners driver’s license can’t be recovered (which is annoying) and you lost $20 in cash but look on the bright side – you had an amazing dinner and some after dinner entertainment! It’s never as bad as you think!