Prepare for Times When You Need to be Mentally Tough
Submitted by webadmin on December 15, 2009 - 9:50pm
Prepare for Times When You Need to Be Mentally Tough
We have just seen the devastation left by Gustav and Ike and have witnessed firsthand reports of the stress felt by the evacuees and the families who lost physical belongings to these storms. It is normal for individuals experiencing the hurricane destruction to have stress levels going off the charts.
In a like manner, you may have a high-stress "hurricane" career that forces you to make tough decisions or work with non-collaborative people. You might have recently experienced hurricane strength winds such as a job loss or layoff or have family issues such as caring for an aging parent.
People living in the path of the hurricane were encouraged to have a supply of water and food to sustain life for at least 72-hours, enabling them to stay alive until emergency response teams could reach them. Preparation was the key to their survival.
In a similar manner, tough mental preparation is the key to your survival when hurricane force winds hit your career. You as an individual need a "72-hour mental kit" or a psychological reservoir of strength to carry you emotionally through tough times.
These points will help you handle the 100-mile-per-hour winds of career and life stress:
1. Have a victory film cued in your mind. Keep visual images of your triumphs and successes in the forefront of your cerebral matter so at a moment's notice you can play your home movie and remember your greatness.
2. Believe in the "morning after." There are some things in life that you just have to endure. Knowing that the sun will come up in the morning gives you the inner courage to persevere through the dark moments of life.
3. Have confidence in your abilities. Deep inside you have incredible resources and resiliency. Trust your intuitions and gut feelings. Have belief in your own powers of self-reliance and in your creative powers to solve problems.
4. Don't exaggerate and over generalize. I recently observed a four-year old suffering from a cold. His entire little body looked depressed as he said, "I'm NEVER going to feel better." If you have the right belief system, you know that nothing lasts forever so don't create monsters in your mind by exaggerating your situation.
And remember - as Grandma always said, "This too shall pass."
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Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.
~Confucius
China's most famous teacher,
philosopher,
and political theorist
551-479 BC
