+1

+1 #190: Approach vs. Avoidance
What Do You Do When You Feel Challenged?
(Inspired by Mark Williams and Danny Penman)

https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/appr...

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What do you do when you feel challenged?

Do you APPROACH the challenge? Or, do you AVOID it?

Psychologists tell us that this is one of the distinguishing variables between the healthiest and least healthy among us (and, of course, between our healthiest and least healthy moments!).

Healthy people APPROACH their challenges. (Yay!)

Less-than-healthy people AVOID them. (Eek.)

It’s kinda like the distinction we made when talking about Kelly McGonigal’s work on stress.

If you think you have what it takes to meet a given situation, you perceive it as a CHALLENGE to approach and to overcome. If you think you don’t have what it takes to deal with a given situation, you will perceive it as a THREAT and you’ll try to avoid it.

What’s fascinating is that our physiology will change depending on how we interpret the situation. When we APPROACH it as a challenge, we get the necessary energy to rock it and feel good. When we try to AVOID it as a threat, we get a concoction of stress hormones we don’t want and feel enervated, putting our health in jeopardy.

And, of course, this is the whole point of our “Bring it on!” mantra a la The Tools guys. We want to KNOW that our infinite potential (always) exists on the other side of our comfort zone. We need to remember that, by definition, we will feel uncomfortable when we leave our comfort zone—that pain is not a threat to our well-being but a challenge and a call to action!

So, Today’s +1.

Are you avoiding anything?

Here are three ways to help you approach it:

1. Bring it on!! Remember that pain sets you free. Step into your infinite potential.
2. Get excited! Rather than try to calm yourself by pulling away from the challenge, know that you’ve got what it takes to handle it and have fun with your “I’m excited!” mantra as you step forward into growth.
3. Make it about something bigger than you. As Kelly says: “If you struggle with avoidance, self-doubt, or feeling overwhelmed, helping others is one of the most powerful motivation boosters that you can find.”

At those micro-moments of decision that determine our destiny, let’s step forward into growth today.

+1. +1. +1.


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