How To Navigate Life’s Winding Roads

Problem-solving for particular issues is a great skill to develop. Yet, life has its ups and downs, its twists and turns, that must be faced everyday.

While there will always be practical things you can do to navigate these, perhaps the biggest strength you can draw on is your inner resources. Chief among these is resilience, the ability to bounce back after minor (or not so minor) setbacks, and to carry on with determination and enthusiasm.

Build your resilience

Problem-solving and building your external resources in the form of support networks are practical, action-based ways to respond to adversity. However, possibly the most important thing you can do to help overcome life’s road blocks is to build your inner resilience.

This may also be part of the previous point, about finding a support network. Finding someone to help you build your resilience can really help move you towards your goals.

Whether you plan to build resilience on your own or with help, what aspects help you develop the inner strength required to overcome obstacles?

Increase your self-confidence

If you can look at problems as something manageable, as opportunities rather than challenges, then you are more likely to come up with solutions.

For instance, remember problems you have faced before, and how you overcame them. Think about the skills and capacities you have.

Stay flexible

As the brainstorming exercise for Disney’s creative problem-solving shows, you need to stay capable of seeing different options. Getting locked into rigid ideas will box you in. So, think about how to stay adaptable. A playful attitude helps with this 🙂

If you are stuck with a problem, take a time out to get your body moving, or to do something fun. Many successful people build in ‘breaks’ on purpose throughout the day, to freshen their minds and approaches.

Get clear on your goals

It’s easier to find a way forward when you know what really matters to you. Sometimes, you find yourself fighting through road blocks, and then realise you have let these divert you from your actual course. Or else, you may find that if you focus on the big picture, rather than your next step, you can get to your goal a different, less blocked way.

What is it that you are really trying to achieve? For example, if you want to get a new job, what is the end goal? Do you want to be earning more money, or doing something more stimulating? Are you hoping for a better set of colleagues, or a more pleasant work environment? It may be that getting a new job isn’t actually the best way for you to achieve your goal right now. Perhaps you really just need to ask for a raise, or suggest the company hires a new catering firm…

Be organised

If your energy is dispersed in many different directions, it is very hard to move beyond obstacles. When things get tough is precisely when you need to focus your energy most specifically. A big push can get you over the hump, whereas if you fritter your strength away doing a bit of this and a bit of that, you may not have what you need to deal with the adversities you are facing. So, get clear, and then be organised and focused on what is most important.

To-do lists can help with this, or a clear timeline of when things need to be done by. Get clear on your priorities, too.

Let go of negativity

If you focus on what you can’t do, or on how big those rocks are, it saps your vitality. Releasing fears and worries, doubts and concerns, can help you get clear and focused, as well as increasing your feeling of self-confidence.

One way to up your positivity is some kind of gratitude practice of exercise. Think about the good things in your life, what truly makes you smile. Of course, this won’t in itself solve your problems. However, when you feel more positive you are also more creative and energised. That way, you are better able to solve your problems yourself.

How hypnotherapy and coaching can help

Coaching is a great tool for helping you get clear on what your real goal is, and the coaching session can be the perfect time to work on problem solving, goal setting, and being organised. Talking over what has worked in the past can also help focus you on the positives, and build your self-confidence.

Hypnotherapy is also perfect for all aspects of resilience building.

When you are in a light trance state, you are more in touch with your subconscious, which is the creative, imaginative, playful part of yourself. You are also more clear and focused, and can bring to mind aspects of the past that can help you now. And you can find and build other inner resources, to increase your self-confidence further.

Hypnotherapy has some wonderful tools to help you visualise your future as you want it, too. That way, your subconscious can provide answers about how to achieve it.

And hypnotherapy or hypnorelaxation can also be used to release negativity. For instance, try this brief meditation to release blocks:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfQxjKRtcVs&w=560&h=315]