How to thrive in the midst of chaos and crap
The secret to leading a thriving life has little to do with how you handle things when everything is smooth sailing. Anyone can thrive when life is going their way.
What separates people who merely survive from people who truly thrive is how they handle the challenges and chaos and crap that comes into their life. Here are four simple tips that will help you spend more time thriving and less time surviving:
1 - Be grateful
Gratitude is the best predictor of a flourishing life so tap into its power with the daily practice of making a list of what you’re grateful for. In the midst of a challenging life circumstance, this can be very difficult but it is still possible to find “the good” in the world around if you look. Examples of gratitudes that have helped me in trying times include - a loving and support spouse, my many freedoms, the roof over my head, the food in the refrigerator and everyone involved in bringing it to my table, my health. Good still there. It’s just hard to see.
2 - Talk about it
Share your challenge with a trusted friend or colleague. Let them know what you’re going through. Don’t look for special attention and don’t complain. You want to make this a growth session. Ask them about challenges they’ve been through and what they did to overcome them. Beyond the ideas you will get to help you deal with your challenge, you’ll find that it lessons the load on you.
3 - Transform it
Mom always said, “Everything happens for a reason.” When I’m faced with a challenge, I try to make sense of them in the context of my purpose - 1 billion happier people. When you’re confronted with chaos or crap, ask yourself, “Why might this be happening to me?” Don’t ask the question to deflect the challenge - even though it would be nice if it would simply go away. Find an answer that helps you learn from the challenge or better still, find the answer that gives greater meaning to your struggle, which transforms it into something much more powerful.
4 - Keep going
Don’t stop. Challenges will aggravate the temptation to stop or delay or avoid unpleasant tasks. I’ve found whenever I do the tasks that I’d rather avoid, I always feel better. Because it keeps me moving towards where I want to go, which is in the direction of my purpose. So keep going. You may move slower, but that is ok because you’re making progress. I remember reading advice about running a marathon when you get the inevitable urge to stop.
“When you feel like stopping, say “Keep running” and if you happen to stop running, change your mantra to “Keep walking.””
How do you keep thriving when times are tough?
Special Announcement [January 2019]
Join me on the journey to the launch of my new book this. It’s called “Surviving to Thriving: The 10 Laws of Grateful Leadership” This book is the ultimate guide on gratitude and its importance for spending more time thriving and less time surviving. Through reading the book, you’ll deeply understand how to implement gratitude in all aspects of your life.
Sign up below for email updates about the book and get key gratitude nuggets between now and the book launch in early 2019 - just weeks away!
