We have all experienced a number of challenges in our professional
lives, some of which you may have handled exceptionally well, others you may
have wished you ‘knew then what you know now.’ However, all in all wherever you are in the world and whichever stage
you are at in your career, challenges are an everyday part of the corporate
world. Today’s blog post sets out to create a sense of awareness and how you
can let challenges be your biggest strength, not your worst enemy.
The ideas in this article relate to people, circumstances,
sales and even transcend to our personal lives – there is no right or wrong situation
for using this advice, just take what you feel is right for you.
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| Face challenges at home and work |
Challenges are not
going away – ever
A great place to start is by understanding that challenges
are not going to go away. It it true
that the individual challenges we face will eventually subside, especially if
you work to overcome them, but challenges as a whole are
here to stay.
When we take time out to appreciate that there is no finish
line and when you complete one challenge another will soon come along, only
then can you choose to ask the question that very few people actually ask
themselves:
“How good am I at
facing and finding solutions to challenges?”
Then you can follow up by asking:
“How do I become even
better at facing and overcoming challenges?”
By asking the above two questions you are actually accessing
the resourceful part of your brain and empowering yourself to come up with
better ways to deal with a whole host of challenges you may come across.
The problem is not
the problem, but the way you think about it
Unfortunately, many people instead of asking resourceful
questions when faced with a real challenge ask; ‘why this challenge/problem is
happening to them,’ and if you really dwell on this ‘why’ question it will do
the opposite of accessing the resourceful part of your brain and can keep you
stuck in the same problem for much longer.
It is really important to remember that ‘no challenge or
problem ever has any emotion,’ it’s you who adds that part. Should you feel bad about challenges or
problems then the chances are the challenge will feel more like a major
problem. However, should you choose a
feeling of inspiration and confidence, this could in fact turn the challenge
into your biggest strength!
Pain is a far greater
motivation than pleasure
Understandably, it is not always easy to immediately feel
good about a challenge you have to face in the workplace or to switch on your
resourceful state of mind. Yet, consider
that pain is a far greater motivation than pleasure, especially if we channel
that motivation in the right direction.
Think about this for a moment: have you ever said to somebody that if
they just focused their energy on what’s good in their life instead of putting
so much into what’s bad they could in fact be very successful? It’s exactly the same when it comes to your
individual challenges too. Next time
you are faced with a challenge that makes you feel a little ‘ouch, this hurts,’
remember to ask yourself how you can turn that ‘ouch,’ into inspiration and
action.
Written by Pete Scott, a learning consultant at Capita Learning & Development.
