Turn Those Breakdowns Into Breakthroughs in 2023
Article Summary
Do you ever feel lost and completely want to give up? Is everything chaotic in your world? Well you could be on the brink of a breakthrough.
In today’s article, podcast, and video Kathie gives the 7 steps to turning those breakdowns into breakthroughs. Learn these steps today and turn your life around!
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Thank you, Kathie Owen
Chaos?
Today we are going to discuss the reason your breakdowns are not turning into breakthroughs. We will discuss 7 very important steps to turning those breakdowns into breakthroughs and how you can shift today!
I once had a mentor tell me, “Chaos proceeds the breakthrough.” I was in the middle of a huge crisis. I had been through many crisis situations before. In fact, I had spent 8 years in therapy and had a diagnosis of Complex PTSD.
But I graduated from therapy. I knew very deeply how to handle crises, in fact, as a life coach I teach others how to handle crisis situations and turn those breakdowns into breakthroughs. Yet here I was caught in the middle of this serious situation in 2018. My world was turning upside down.
But I turned that situation around. I followed these 7 steps and broke free from the mind screw. Because that is all a breakdown is a mind screw. Chaos does not have to proceed the breakthrough. In fact, today’s article is all about how to have clarity in your breakthrough. Let’s discuss this.
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Where’s your energy?
We spend our lives giving our power away 24 hours a day. Whenever life throws us a curve ball. We take things personally. That is ego.
Make the choice to keep the power. Empower yourself - you are titanium. And that is what we are going to discuss today.
It is your choice to give your power away. The key word here is CHOICE. Choice is going to come up a lot today.
You know life is energy. When you have no energy you look dead. You give your energy away when you get upset. Your buttons get pushed - traffic, weather, you don’t control your thoughts and emotions. Take charge of your emotions.
Step #1. What is your purpose?
If there’s a W-H-Y you can handle anything. One of the greatest teachers of purpose is Victor Frankl. Frankl was an Austrian psychologist who was caught up in the concentration camps in Germany. He lost his family. Yet he coined the quote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” Frankl founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force.
Think about the breakdowns you’ve been through in the past. Purpose is what will get you through. What is the environment you want? What was the environment you wanted during your breakdown? Peace? Then let peace be your purpose.
Step #2. Responsibility.
Responsibility gets a bad rap. But responsibility is where your power lies. Responsibility is a perspective. or an interpretation. It is your choice though.
Let’s take a break up for example. “My girlfriend broke up with me.” That is a fact. How you choose to interpret it is your responsibility. You could say, “this is an opportunity. This is a gift.
Every crisis is a creative opportunity. Someone has said that the greatest cause of ulcers is mountain climbing over molehills. Ulcers are caused by climbing molehills mountains.
When climbing those molehills like mountains you are in reactivity. You are nervous, shakey, unsure, doubtful, fearful. Then your body responds. Fear can and does take its toll on your body. But so can a smile. Science has proven it that when you smile your body feels better.
Take traffic for example. Some people I know change personalities in traffic. But you choose, there’s that word again. You choose something different. Traffic is neutral.
Someone close to me dies. You can moan and cry on what you are going to miss out on or you can choose to see that you now have an angel with you.
Bankruptcy, you can cry and moan about the loss of all your money and assets or you can see it as an opportunity to start over again fresh!
Interpret the opportunity. At the end of the day you are responsible for your interpretations. You are not of victim to the reaction you may have. You give your power away.
Think of the things you have to do in life. Take a moment and think about it. You have to go to work. You have to clean the house or your house will get dirty. You have to pay more for groceries and gas today than you did last week.
Now change your interpretation of those “have to” statements to what you are “blessed to” and how that blessing serves my purpose. I am blessed to go to work today, which means I have a job. I am blessed to clean my house, which means I have a home to live in. I am blessed that I can even afford these groceries and gas and I trust that I will always be blessed to because that is my purpose. We’ll get to trust in just a moment.
Bottom line you are not a victim of whatever reaction you have. You give your power away.
Step #3. Trust the process.
Process the emotion, and transform fear into faith. What’s permanent is your attitude. You can still be happy, and you can still be blessed. You have more of a probability of it shifting when you trust. Because when you don’t trust you resist it. And we all know what we resist persists. You give the situation your power when you resist it.
Have you ever been on a flight that gets bumpy? Your mind starts going 90-to-nothing, next thing you know you picture the flight careening into the mountains. Death and destruction are everywhere. Surrender to that fear and trust the process. Transform that fear into faith.
Faith is that feeling that everything is going to work out. Give the process a chance. Quit mind-screwing yourself out of your power. It goes back to purpose. Is that purpose love, peace, and joy? Is your purpose to make a difference?
When you do this the quality of your life completely shifts. The plane is not going to crash. You can even trust the process of your own death.
Look at traffic, challenges, in your relationship, and health challenges with faith. When life throws a curve ball I can trust that this process is an opportunity or a breakdown. I can give my power away or I can embrace it and trust the process.
When you panic you get out of the zone, you get out flow. There is no power there. Relax and trust the process. There is a reason they say do not panic in an emergency situation. Trust the process.
Step #4. Confront the situation.
When I say confront the situation I especially mean confront it with yourself. Have the conversation you need to have. Be willing to tell yourself the truth. Be willing to be held accountable.
I see this so often with fitness. We need to confront our excuses, embrace it and the gift of opportunity. Look at your results this is where optimatizion data comes in handy. Take inventory of your wins and losses.
Ask yourself on a scale of 1-10 where am I? Health is both mental and physical. Relationships, where am I? And confront it, head on! If on that scale it is only a 1, ask yourself, what is the blessing here?
Step #5 Integrity.
What is integrity to you? To me, it is becoming one with what I communicate, what I do, and what I create.
Think of your word. You can keep it, break it, or negotiate it. When you break your word, your self-worth goes down. Your credibility goes down. Honor your word, honor your agreements.
Dream it, declare it, deliver it. Weight loss? It could be as simple as a new commitment with yourself.
Step #6 Expand your comfort zone.
Think about this new action expands your comfort zone. Challenge your limiting beliefs.
Expect more and get more. Expect little and get little. I love this! What is your vision? Get very clear on this. I did an article on this last week. I will have the link here.
I love Artist Dates for this very thing! An Artist Date is from the book The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. It is something as simple as taking yourself on a date once a week to expand your comfort zone. If your hobby is photography, you might take a weekly photo trip to pick up new creative ideas. Get out of your comfort zone.
You gain confidence by going into uncomfortable places to grow.
Step #7. Enthusiasm!!
The word enthusiasm comes from enthous meaning “God within or inspired. But you choose it! Fear will kick in and the darkness will set in. Enthusiasm is a choice. You don’t fake it when you choose it.
Vince Lombardi once said, “If you are not fired up with enthusiasm you will be fired with enthusiasm. If your not all in you’re all out. Celebrate those wins become enthusiastic. Add some pep to your step. Watch your world change.
Conclusion
So in review, the reasons your breakdowns are not turning into breakthroughs are simple.
Know your purpose
Responsibility
Trust the process
Confront the situation
Live from Integrity
Expand your comfort zone
Live enthusiastically
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