Feeling Overwhelmed? Take Back Control with this 6-Step Process

2021-05-26 ~ adminlife

Oh, how trying the stresses of life can be! Having situations that affect your peace of mind can be challenging. And sometimes you feel like you’ve gotten way more than you can handle. Yet still, you find a way to keep going.

It’s great when you can find the determination to keep going. But are you doing so to your own detriment? Perhaps the way you’re responding isn’t always the best.

Coping mechanisms help to keep you in the game. But after a while, you may end up crashing. The most beneficial approach involves using well thought-out strategies to keep you in control.

Try this process to respond to an especially challenging situation:

Stop in your tracks. If you feel overwhelmed now, it’s likely to get even worse if you keep going the way you are now! Stop right where you are and accept the situation for what it is.

- Look back at what has happened up until this point in time. Can you identify the reasons behind your downfall? Make a note of them.

Embrace your shortcomings. Do you have shortcomings that prevented you from staying on top of things? Be honest with yourself when trying to identify them. It’s the only way you’ll be able to move on to resolving the situation.

- Whatever you’ve identified as your shortcomings, accept and embrace them. It’s pointless allowing them to bring your mood down. You’re already overwhelmed. The last thing you need to do is put yourself down.

Avoid excuses. Even though you feel overwhelmed, the last thing you want to do is blame it on something or somebody else. Avoid overlooking yourself as the main factor behind your current situation.

- It’s easy in stressful situations to refuse accountability. Just the tension alone is enough to drive your mind in crazy directions. Just accept it for what it is, even if it means coming face to face with your shortcomings.

Open up to others. Share your feelings with someone you can confide in. Simply sharing can often help to ease some of the stress off your shoulders.

- Tell the whole story. Allow the person to understand your highs and lows. Let them see how your strengths got you this far. But also share what you think you could have done differently.

Organize an approach. Now that you’ve offloaded, you’ll have a clearer mind to organize an approach. You’ve stopped at this point for a reason. Now’s your chance to change direction and pull yourself out of this rut.

- Now that you’ve figured out what went wrong, try to tackle those things first. You’ll want to prevent those things from happening again.

Surround yourself with positive people. It’s sometimes difficult to take on challenges on your own. As much as you hate to admit it, there are others better at some things than you are! Embrace them and get the support you need to manage stressful situations.

- Use the strengths of trustworthy people to get you over the hump. Be clear about the role you want them to play. Handing over responsibility can be tough. But be mature enough to understand that it doesn’t take away from your own abilities.

Being in over your head isn’t a death sentence. In fact, it’s a perfect opportunity to be creative in your approach. Once you identify an effective approach, you can expect to handle situations more confidently.

Give yourself the chance to be in control. With positive strategies, you’ll be able to take matters into your own hands and turn them around in no time!

Feeling overwhelmed is not our normal state so you need to have strategies in place to help you overcome this feeling when it occurs.

When you put these strategies in place in your life you will begin to get control over yourself when you feel overwhelmed.

Book a 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button below

and we can start the discussion on how we can work together to defeat your sense of overwhelm and move your life forward.

To your success

Michael

Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay

12 Signs That You’re Doing Better Than You Think

2021-04-11 ~ adminlife

It’s not unusual for a person to think they’re doing worse than they actually are. Some of us are just pessimistic. Progress can also be hard to see sometimes unless you’re looking in the right places for it.

If you feel like you’re working hard with little to show for it, you’re probably mistaken. It’s likely that you’re doing a lot better than you think!

Consider these positive signs:

You learn the lesson that each mistake and failure provide. If you can learn something from every failure and mistake, it won’t take long before you’re incredibly successful.
- Most people repeat their errors over and over, whether it’s overspending or choosing a partner. People have a strong tendency to repeat their behaviours. But you can choose to act differently than you did the last time you were in a similar situation!
You’re clear on what you want. This can be half the battle. You have a huge advantage over the competition if you know what you want. Most people are aimlessly floating through life.
You spend your time wisely. Spend your time well and good things happen. Spend your time poorly and your life will be a train wreck.
- When deciding what you’re going to do next, ask yourself what the best use of your time would be. Then, do it.
You’re making regular progress. Consistent progress is a great sign. Even if you feel like you’re lightyears from your goal, all you need is regular progress. Many people have been dieting for years and haven’t lost a single pound. Even a pound of weight loss each month is meaningful over a period of time.
You’re consistent in your efforts. Successful people put in some work on a daily basis. Success isn’t about working really hard for a day here and there.
- Being consistent in your efforts also means that you’re sticking to your goals. Working for a week on one goal and then changing your mind and working on something else is a path to nowhere.
You’re not alone. There are people that are alone in the world. If you’re not alone, you’re doing better than many others.
You’re optimistic. When you’re optimistic, there’s hope. When you’re optimistic, you’ll take action.
- Conversely, when your expectations are low, you quickly become stuck, because you believe your efforts will be a waste of time.
You’re determined. Commitment is a great sign that you’re going places. Good things happen when you’re determined.
You’re not worried about the opinions of others. If you care too much about what others think, you’ll prefer to play it safe, and you won’t do anything significant. You can leave them and their opinions in the dust behind you!
You have a dry, warm place to sleep. If you’ve ever had to go without this, you know how nice this is. If you don’t have to deal with this situation, then you’re doing better than you think.
You have a job. A steady income is a great thing. Many people either can’t find work or are unable to maintain employment. Even if you’re earning less than you’d like, it’s a lot better than earning nothing at all.
You’re healthy. If you’re basically healthy, you have a huge leg up on a lot of people. Good health is a huge blessing.

Our society is easy in many ways and quite challenging in others. A high priority is placed on success, but there are other things that are also important. Friends, a warm bed, and a job are pretty relevant, too.

If you’re clear on what you’re trying to accomplish, and you’re spending your time wisely, you’re doing quite well. This is true even if the results haven’t revealed themselves yet. Have faith!

Most people are actually doing quite well in their lives but we are surrounded by so many negative things. people and news that we don’t see the positives in the world and in ourselves.

If you can start to put some of the advice in this article into practice, you will be surprised at how well you really are doing in your life.

If you want to take your life to an even higher level, book a “Get to know you” call with me at:

https://calendly.com/michael-coach/15-minute-get-to-know-you

We will talk about where you are now, where you want to be and how you can get there.

To your success

Michael

Photo by Hoang Le on Unsplash

Learning To Cope With Things Out of Our Control

2021-04-05 ~ adminlife

At some point in your life, you’ve no doubt had to deal with a situation that was out of your control. Whether it’s a car accident, financial difficulties, or other challenge, these events cause stress and frustration, which negatively impact your health and mental outlook on life.

Learning how to cope with events you can’t control will help keep you in a positive frame of mind and alleviate your stress.

Consider the Serenity Prayer, written by Reinhold Niebuhr:

“God grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.”

The words of this prayer exemplify the solution to a problem that plagues all of us. Once you’ve come to terms with the fact that you can control only your own actions (and reactions), you can begin to find peace of mind.

What Can You Control?

Worrying about the people or events in your life that you can’t control can cause all kinds of stress-related health problems, such as angina, high blood pressure, and sleeping difficulties.

If you need to feel more in control of your life, focus on those things that you can physically change.

Who you decide to accept as your friends and spend your time with is something you can definitely control. It may not be easy to meet new friends, but the opportunities are plentiful if you look for them.

Being around negative people can drag your attitude down, since you adopt the mood of people around you.
If you have people in your life who aren’t encouraging you to fulfill your potential, find other people to surround yourself with.
Having the support of people who believe in you will propel you toward reaching your lifelong goals.

Live One Day at a Time

When you intentionally consider each day a gift, your struggles don’t seem as dire. While life does deal some bad hands, such as death, divorce, and financial challenges, how you cope during these hardships can make you stronger or break you.

When you purposely feel gratitude for the good moments within each day, you can genuinely start to accept your struggles as a path to a new beginning.

Coping with Financial Difficulties

One of the most stressful situations is coping with financial difficulties. Loss of a job often means having to give up things you’ve worked hard to acquire.

If you’re having a difficult time accepting that you have to cut expenses and give up the comfortable things in life, even temporarily, it helps to remember that it could be worse.
Be grateful for having your home and your health because there are many people in the world who have neither.
Once you know you can be happy with less, you can focus again on achieving your goals.

By accepting that you can’t change some things, you’ll become more powerful in changing the things that you do have control over. You’ll free yourself from the negative thoughts and emotions that can stifle you into sad complacence.

Use these tips to help you cope with things out of your control, and you’ll find peace, joy, and the passion to persevere through all challenges.

Being able to accept that you cannot control everything and that those things out of your control just have to be accepted or ignored moves you one step closer to being in control and empowered.

Book a 45-minute call on my calendar at:

https://calendly.com/michael-coach/focused-program-45-minute

to learn more about building up your empowerment level and to live a better life.

To your success

Michael

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Conquer Your Insecurities to Gain the Confidence and Success You Deserve

2021-03-22 ~ adminlife

Our insecurities often stem from a fear of failure. This could be a good thing if you’re weighing the risk versus reward of doing something that puts you in danger. But more often than not, insecurities just hold you back from having what you want in life.

Insecurities can prevent you from getting the job you want or the promotion you deserve. If you feel like you’re not good enough, you may stop trying. And if you do try, the person responsible for giving you the job or promotion may pick up on your insecurities and offer the position to someone else.

If you’re insecure, it can hurt your relationships as well. If you’re constantly worried that your significant other is cheating on you, or is planning to leave you for someone else, this can put a lot of strain on your relationship.

A lot of individuals have financial insecurities, too. Financial insecurities can prevent you from making an investment that could be worth a lot of money in the future.

Take these steps to gain confidence and conquer your insecurities:

Take an objective look at yourself. Pinpoint some of the things you’re insecure about and consider what you would tell someone else in the same position.

- If you’re insecure about an upcoming job interview or your romantic relationship, consider what advice you’d give to someone in the same situation.

Stop living in fear. Maybe someone else will get the position you want. Maybe that investment won’t work out and you might lose some money. Keep in mind that there’s no reward without risk.

- If you let fear hold you back from trying, you’ll continue to evade success.

Make a list of the things you’re afraid of. Write down the things that make you uncomfortable and why you think they cause you to worry. Review your list and think about whether these are legitimate, rational concerns.

- Most people have a fear of failure and that’s perfectly natural. However, it’s important to avoid letting that fear overwhelm you to the point where it prevents you from going after the things you want.

Focus on past successes. Many times, insecurities stem from a traumatic experience in the past. Find a way to remember the positive experiences you’ve had rather than the negative.

- Maybe your girlfriend cheated on you and you’re worried that it will happen again. Perhaps you had a job interview that went horribly and left you feeling defeated. Whatever the situation, it’s time to move past it.

- Instead of dwelling on the times you’ve failed, focus on instances where you’ve experienced success. This will help you gain confidence and get past your insecurities.

Realize that you’re unable to control others, but you can control yourself. It’s difficult to predict the behaviour of others. Your significant other may decide to break up with you and move onto another relationship. Your boss may decide that you don’t deserve the promotion. All of that isn’t within your control. You can only take ownership of your own actions.

- You can work hard to be the best boyfriend or girlfriend. You can do everything in your power to get that promotion. Focus on the things that you can control and let the cards fall where they may.

When you dwell on your insecurities, you create a self-fulfilling prophecy. You can drive people away in relationships. You could lose a job or promotion because you believe you’re unworthy. Try to implement these strategies to get past your insecurities. It will give you the best chance for success.

When you conquer your insecurities, you grow in your life and start to develop the inner confidence that will get move you forward towards your goals.

It is not easy to do this alone, that is why using a Life Coach can help.

Book a 15-minute call here “Get to know you call”, to talk with me about where you are now and where you want to be and we may be able to work together to help you achieve the best year of your life.

To your success

Michael

Image by John Hain from Pixabay

I control my destiny.

2021-03-16 ~ adminlife

I am in charge of my life.

I set specific and compelling goals. I challenge myself to achieve more. I give my life meaning and direction. My vision is clear, and my enthusiasm is high.

I build up my resources. I add to my knowledge and skills. I continue to grow and develop.

I cultivate mutually supportive relationships. I strengthen my personal and professional networks. I surround myself with family, friends, and colleagues who provide me with encouragement and practical assistance.

I take responsibility for my thoughts, feelings, and actions. I accept the consequences of my choices. I learn from each experience.

I manage my time. I set priorities and limit distractions. I am organized and efficient.

I persevere through obstacles. I am patient and flexible. I am willing to work hard for what I want. When I fall down, I pick myself up again. I evaluate my progress and create new strategies.

I live with integrity. I keep my word. I follow through on the commitments I make to myself and others.

I take action. I focus on results. I break big projects down into manageable steps. I start small and build momentum. Each victory inspires me to keep trying.

Today, I empower myself. I am confident and capable. I create my own reality.

Self-Reflection Questions:

How is being accountable different from blaming myself?
How many times did I complain or make excuses today?
What is the relationship between freedom and responsibility?

You can take control of your own life. It is not always easy; we have many blocks to being in control that we may not even know about.

You can do this all by yourself or you can use a Life Coach to guide you and make sure that you uncover the things that stop you from being in control.

You can find out more by contacting me at michael@coachmichaelw.com and we can arrange a conversation about where you are now, where you want to be and how you can get there.

To your success

Michael

Image by Céline Martin from Pixabay