19 The Power of Viewing Your Challenges as Opportunities

challenges as opportunities, obstacles, fear, overcoming fear, challenges

Do you see problems and challenges in your life as opportunities to improve? Or do you see them as signs that “this is not for you”?

If you see them as the latter, do not worry, it is not your entirely your fault.

Society has conditioned you to believe if it is meant to be, then it will happen. As a result, whenever most people find themselves facing obstacles and opposition, they tend to believe it is a sign they should run the other way.

However, you will find that those who are successfully conquering their fears and self-doubt do not share this belief.

We have all experienced the gap between where we are now and where we want to be. It is important to understand that a straight line may not always be the quickest way to the other side.

Have you ever driven down the Interstate and your GPS was telling you take an alternate route? This route is usually telling you to drive around something. Even though the straight-line is mathematically the quickest route, there is an obstacle you should avoid.

I want to help you avoid the slow-downs, while understanding the challenges you are bound to face.

In this episode, we discuss three strategies to help you shift the way you look at challenges so you can change your life.

  • Challenges and Setbacks are a part of the process.
  • Focus on the improvement.
  • Stay In the Here and Now

Free Mindset Changing Resources:

U. Forecast Hope Is A Free Learning Platform Featuring Live Group Coaching Q&A Calls · Live Book-Club Strategy Seminars · Live “Hot-Seat” Masterminds · Audios · Videos · Articles · Private Community · And Tons Of Free Resources.

1. Challenges and Setbacks are a part of the process.

When dealing with the fear of failure, you must frequently remind yourself that failure is normal. It is a sign that you are stretching beyond your comfort zone. I frequently talk about the need to have an inventor’s mindset. Inventors understand that failure is tied to success.

.

In life, there is a balance. There is light and darkness, the sun and the moon, and there is life and death. They are inseparable and to have one is to accept the other.

By accepting the relationship between success and failure, you will quickly realize there is no need to fear failure. Failure is not a sign that something was not meant for you, nor is it a sign that you are inadequate in some way. Failure is a sign that you are on a journey to change your life.

2. Focus on the improvement.

When something unexpected happens, your initial reaction may be a negative one. You may be thinking, “this is the worst possible time“ or “I have another challenge to resolve.“ It is easy to become discouraged when you view challenges this way.

Instead, think solely about what you are going to do next.

I talk about this in my book Champion of Change, The 7 Instrumental Laws of Change. In the Law of Catalyst, I talk about “positive event stacking.”

The way it works is you focus on making the next best decision. Even if the last decision did not turn out quite the way you had hoped, you are going to make the next best decision available.

Think of your journey to change your life as if you were traveling to a new city (at least for you). Somewhere along the way, you started driving in the wrong direction and now you have no idea where you are at. You could think to yourself, “I am lost and I have no idea where I am going.”

Unfortunately, this is what most people think and it causes a lot of fear and self-doubt.

Instead, if you choose to focus on the improvement, you will instead say to yourself – “I can use Google Maps to figure out where I am and how to get where I need to be. I can also use Google Maps next time to ensure this does not happen again.”

What you will discover is you are training yourself to see challenges as potential opportunities, which will further develop your growth mindset.

3. Stay In the Here and Now

When grappling with self-doubt, the fear of something bad happening, or the fear of inadequacy, you are worried about the past or the future. This tends to create your feelings of anxiety, discomfort, and stress.

You will find that challenges and failures do not create any of these feelings. Your fears and self-doubt are linked to past events or future concern.

That is why I am always telling you to act. Action is the cure to your fears and self-doubt.

When you stay focused on the here and now, you understand challenges take place in your present environment. As a result, you see the challenge, address the challenge, learn from the challenge, and move on.

Life is a lesson in which you can learn first-hand or through the experiences of others. Do not allow your past failures or the challenges others have faced to cause you to doubt your own abilities.

Conclusion

Remember, failures and challenges are par for the course of growth. In fact, I can confidently say you are not doing something right if you not facing challenges. That is why I want you to see challenges as the opportunities that they are. Endure, learn, and grow with each lesson.

  • […] original plan (based on the best information you had at time) fell short of where you wanted to be. It got you exactly where you needed to be, and now you have additional information to make […]

  • […] grappling with self-doubt, the fear of something bad happening, or the fear of inadequacy, you are worried about the past or the future. In the case of valuing the outcome over the process, your anxiety, and stress is tied to the […]

  • >
    %d bloggers like this: