Episode #36: Lights…Camera…Action! of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the last of four in which I will wrap up my podcast by exploring how to take everything you’ve learned in this podcast and prepare you to take action that will help you positively confront and, hopefully, overcome the crisis you are faced with.

Everything I’ve discussed in Crisis to Opportunity prepares you to tackle the crisis you face head on and to replace a crisis mentality with an opportunity mindset. You have made a decision on what road you should take in response to the crisis and are committed to the road you’ve chosen. Now it’s time to take action! This can be scary because often there is no going back. What can make it even more scary is that there is no certainty that the road you choose will take you out of the crisis that has arisen. At the end of the day, you must take action because doing nothing guarantees that you will fail.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #36: Lights…Camera…Action! of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #35: Madness to Method of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the third of four in which I will wrap up my podcast by exploring how to take everything you’ve learned in this podcast and prepare you to take action that will help you positively confront and, hopefully, overcome the crisis you are faced with.

Quite simply, a crisis causes a sort of madness in people by taking everything that was normal and throwing it for a loop. Not surprisingly then, madness is a recipe for disaster in response to a crisis. The only solution for this crisis-induced madness is creating a method of action that is imbued with clarity of purpose and direction. This framework provides clearly identified roles and responsibilities, articulated goals, and processes to address the challenges of the crisis.

To that end, goal setting is a simple and practical tool you can use to create a method for meeting the challenges of a crisis. For some very elemental reason, people respond to goals in a very deep and personal way. The experience of setting a goal, working toward a goal, and achieving a goal has a powerful emotional resonance that causes us to continue to strive even farther. Pride and inspiration play a central role in how goal setting impacts your ability to overcome a crisis. Pride leads you to put forth the effort in pursuit of your goals while inspiration follows achievement of a goal and encourages you to set your sights on the next goal.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #35: Madness to Method of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #34: Uncertain to Decisive of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the second of four in which I will wrap up my podcast by exploring how to take everything you’ve learned in this podcast and prepare you to take action that will help you positively confront and, hopefully, overcome the crisis you are faced with.

Uncertainty is an absolute kiss of death in a crisis. It causes hesitation at a time when action may be the best course to follow and it interferes with full commitment to whichever road you choose. At the same time, kneejerk decisiveness can be worse than uncertainty because ill-conceived decisions usually escalate today’s complex crises. Uncertain or poorly thought-out decisions increase the crisis mentality that is waiting on the edge of your psyche when an opportunity mindset is needed most.

There’s nothing more important to the successful resolution of a crisis than decision-making because your decisions dictate the direction that you go at every stage of a crisis. Yet, decision-making can end up being impacted by the frantic and chaotic nature of the crisis itself, which is no way to make decisions. Instead, the process should be structured and deliberate to arrive at the best possible decisions as you traverse a crisis. Without a clear and effective process, you may make some horrendous and potentially catastrophic decisions which may only deepen the severity of the crisis.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #34: Uncertain to Decisive of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #33: Blurry to 20/20 of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the first of four in which I will wrap up my podcast by exploring how to take everything you’ve learned in this podcast and prepare you to take action that will help you positively confront and, hopefully, overcome the crisis you are faced with.

Of course, action in and of itself isn’t enough. Instead, you need to take intentional action that you see clearly will lead to an acceptable resolution. Yet, “clear” is not a word typically associated with a crisis. Rather, it’s more often associated with something like driving in a heavy fog with many aspects of a crisis making the road ahead difficult to see. In fact, you can only see a short way ahead of you into obscure fog with frequent unforeseeable potholes. Navigating a road, or crisis, in these circumstances is even more difficulty when it’s unfamiliar to you, which tends to be the case with crises. The result is that you must drive very cautiously and are at constant risk of crashing. Such a hesitant approach is no way to make it through a crisis intact.

Instead, you must see clearly every cause and effect, influence, and possible outcome for you to successfully navigate your way through a crisis. With this clarity, you will have the best possible understanding of the situation which allows you to take appropriate action based on a clear vision of  the crisis and determine the quickest way to get through it with the greatest success.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #33: Blurry to 20/20 of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #32: Distracted to Focused of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the fourth of four episodes in which I explore the importance of what I call mental muscles in how you respond to a crisis.

Focus may be the most underappreciated and misunderstood mental aspect that contributes to how we respond in a crisis. There are two important things you need to know about focus. First, most people think of focus as concentrating on one thing for a long time. Yes, at times, you do need to zero in all your attention on one task. At the same time, focus involves the ability to adjust outward (e.g., looking at printed information and listening to experts) and inward (e.g., identifying and analyzing different investment strategies moving forward) as the demands of a crisis may require.

Second, focus is so important in a crisis because it’s the gateway to effectively using all higher-order thinking: perception, memory, language, learning, understanding, creativity, reasoning, synthesis, analysis, problem solving, and decision making. Without the ability to focus effectively, you are more likely to revert back to your primitive brain of instincts, emotions, and knee-jerk reactions.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #32: Distracted to Focused of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #31: Surrender to Determination of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the third of four episodes in which I explore the importance of what I call mental muscles in how you respond to a crisis.

A crisis is like a very high and treacherous mountain that confronts you on your road of life. Some parts of your route are easy, others are demanding, and still others can seem downright impassable. It is in the moments when you feel that the mountain of a crisis is just too high to climb that your determination is tested. When faced with the daunting challenges of a crisis, your drive, motivation, and perseverance lie on a continuum ranging from surrender to determination. Not only are crises difficult because their challenges can be severe, but they often last an appreciable amount of time which can wear you down, physically, psychologically, and emotionally. It is in moments of extreme difficulty that you will respond in one of three ways: by digging in and pushing forward even harder, continuing with minimal effort, or surrendering altogether. It’s important to know where you are along the continuum as it often dictates how you will respond throughout your journey from onset to resolution of a crisis.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #31: Surrender to Determination of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #30: Doubt to Confidence-Part II of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the second of four in which I explore the importance of what I call mental muscles in how you respond to a crisis.

Ultimately, the goal of having confidence is to develop a strong and resilient belief in your ability to overcome a crisis whenever one arises in your life. I have identified seven exercises that you can use to create a virtuous cycle that will strengthen your confidence even as you confront a crisis. Each exercise alone can enhance your confidence but using them all together allows your confidence to grow significantly stronger more quickly.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #30: Doubt to Confidence-Part II of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #29: Doubt to Confidence-Part I of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the first of four in which I explore the importance of what I call mental muscles in how you respond to a crisis.

I see the cerebral cortex as comprised of mental “muscles” that can be strong, weak, or injured. Like physical muscles, if your mental muscles are weak, then you won’t be able to use them to their fullest capabilities. And you won’t be able to exert maximum force against the substantial resistance that the crisis brings to the confrontation. Additionally, a crisis can cause your mental muscles to incur an “injury.” This happens when some aspect of your psychological or emotional musculature sustains damage that makes it even more difficult to push back against a crisis. For example, a crisis can cause your confidence muscle or determination muscle to become injured. Your best bet is to enter the fray of a crisis with your mental muscles as strong as possible, so you will have the best chance to flex those muscles to overcome the crisis.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #29: Doubt to Confidence-Part I of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #28: Comfort to Risk of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the third of four in which I explore the importance of mindset in how you respond to a crisis.

“Mindset,” is an essential and little addressed contributor to athletic success and a mental area that has only come to light in my work with elite athletes during the past few years. This topic is also where professional and Olympic athletes offer wonderful examples in which they use different mindsets to perform at their highest level consistently. When I talk about mindset, I don’t mean Carol Dweck’s notion of it as either growth or fixed (though I love her take on mindset). I mean what is going on in your mind in the one to three minutes before you begin a competition. What happens in your mind during that oh-so-important period sets the stage for whether or not you perform to the best of your ability.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #28: Comfort to Risk of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.

Episode #27: Disrupted to Stable of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast is the third of four in which I explore the importance of mindset in how you respond to a crisis.

One thing that a crisis does is cause a massive disruption in what had likely been a stable life. Think about everything in your life that makes it run so smoothly: sleep, meals, work, relationships, hobbies, and physical, cultural, or religious activities, the list goes on. Now, think about that stability disappearing. Whatever habits, routines, and patterns you have are thrown for a loop. The familiarity, predictability, and control that gives you confidence and comfort in your life are no longer there in the ways you rely on. Even before you actually have to address the challenges that a crisis presents to you, you are already at a disadvantage by having the crisis throw a wrench in the machinery of your life.

To learn more, please listen to Episode #27: Disrupted to Stable of my Crisis to Opportunity podcast.