Life is not an arithmetic issue with a final solution nor a line drawn by connecting numbered points to reach one correct answer. Instead, it is more like an epic novel or a complex adventure in which you are the hero, but there are only two ways to end the story, and they are either suffering or growth. With the right skills, you can learn how to get through the tough times and reach a high end.
How do you get through tough times?
Here are 6 tips to help you:
1. Express your feelings
Imagine a teapot in which tea is boiling, and the pressure is increased until, at last the steam is released, or the teapot explodes. As human feelings are similar to the steam emanating from the teapot, they will come out one way or another, and avoiding expressing them will lead to their accumulation, turning them into anxiety and depression. You may resort to expressing your feelings by following bad habits that harm your health.
So don't hide your feelings, talk about them, write about them, cry, draw, or listen to music. It is enough to allow yourself to feel. Expressing your feelings and allowing them to be released reduces their strength and impact, clears your mind, and makes room for learning the lesson that you will receive from them, and then you will be able to overcome difficult times.
2. Change your physical condition
We smile when we're happy, cry when we're going through hard times, and shiver when we're stressed. It is clear that our emotions affect the functions of our organs but otherwise is also true. Our physiology can dictate our feelings and change our minds.
Smiling can make us happier because our brains secrete the feel-good hormone when we smile, even if we do not mean it. As for taking the position of strength, it is another strategy to change the work of the body and mind. Taking some confident poses by placing your hands on your hips or arms in a form that expresses victory gives you more strength and confidence, and in difficult times any stimulus that helps you realize how strong you are and take action is welcome.
3. Focus on what you can control
Everyone going through difficult times has the opportunity to choose what to focus on more. There may be many things that you cannot control, but no one has reached any result by focusing on all of these things, so you are setting yourself up for frustration and anxiety. You must decide to focus on only things you can control.
So, take a sheet of paper, divide it into two columns, and write in the first column all the things you can't control, and in the other write what you can control. Then cross out everything from the first column and choose to focus on the second. When you change your focus, hard times become more opportunities than setbacks.
4. Change your point of view
Just as we choose what we can focus on, we can choose the meaning we give to our experiences. It is up to you in difficult times to decide what that means. You can think of your difficulties as an end or a beginning, and you can see these times as a curse or a blessing. As the American writer Tony Robbins says, “Every experience in your life offers you different gifts.” Believe in that, then going through tough times will get a little easier.
Being grateful is a proven way to stop negative thinking and start seeing the positive. When you look for what is right instead of wrong, you are forced to take a step back and see the bigger picture. Everyone goes through hard times and feels like life is out of control. Sometimes, however, someone else may be happy with less than you have, which means you can be satisfied, too.
5. Prioritize self-care
It's easy to get overwhelmed in tough times. Maybe you are unemployed and spend days sending your CV to companies without a response, or your partner lost his job. You are now dealing with extra stress in addition to other family responsibilities. You don't even need to go through a particular event to go through hard times. Humans experience collective emotions, which means you can be affected by the mood of society in general.
Therefore, taking care of yourself and your loved ones is essential, especially during difficult times. A mindfulness practice like meditation or conditioning can clear your mind and adjust your mood. Exercise relieves stress and increases energy. Dancing to your favorite song or watching a funny video reduces thinking, so you can come back strong.
6. Find support
Your support group is also a form of self-care. The people around you have a tangible impact on your mood and mindset. Friends who are there for you in difficult times provide a shoulder to lean on and reliable advice, so make sure that you do not always focus on the negative side, and best friends will help you create a vision for your life after the difficult times.
Coaching can be a powerful tool for getting through tough times. The opinion of an impartial and honest professional coach can make you see things as they are and also help you set goals and move forward no matter what happens. Success breeds success, and once you start to see growth, you will want to achieve more, come out of difficult times in a better position, and be able to outperform your colleagues.
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