Tap into Your Inner Strength

During these difficult times it can be hard to find the strength to keep going. It seems like every day brings new challenges and worries. Yet we don’t have the option to stop and do nothing, life is calling us. How do we keep going?

The key to making it work is to tap into your inner strength. It’s at the core of your being, it helps define who you are and where you will go. Often it sits there quietly, lending us the courage to move ahead without us even realizing it.

Some of you may be familiar with the movie Steel Magnolias, a comedy-drama focusing on the bonds of women in a small southern town. The name implies the women can be strong as steel and as delicate as flowers. Having a mother who was raised in the deep south, who the epitome of a steel magnolia. She faced some interesting challenges throughout her adult life, including becoming a widow at 55 with a kid (me) in college. Mom never went back to work, but she became a tutor for an adult who couldn’t read as she felt she had to do something useful with her time. No matter what was going on my mom kept her head up, looked for the good in life and reached out to help others. To me this has always been the image of inner strength.

When I’m struggling with what ever chaos is in my life, or my self-doubt I work on channeling my inner steel magnolia. If I can ground myself and find that inner strength, I know I can get through anything. Here are 5 tips for tapping into that core strength:

1. Tune out: Make time and space to tune out of what is going on around you. If inner peace is elusive, you need to pause and get away from the noise of life. Find a quiet place, close your office door, go for a walk, step outside, whatever you can do to block out life for a few minutes.
2. Breathe deep: Once you have a quiet place take several deep breathes. Inhale until you feel your stomach and then your chest rise a bit. Hold onto that breath for several counts. Then slowly release it until your chest and stomach sink back. Focus your mind on your breathing. As you let go of your breath, imagine the tension in your body leaving with the air. Repeat until you feel yourself relax.
3. Name your fear: Now that you have disconnected from the immediacy of the situation, reflect on what is really driving your worry or fear. What is the deep-rooted concern? Are you afraid of failing, letting down a loved one, being wrong, not being able to do what’s right, or don’t know what to do? These are all valid feelings. Find it, see it and accept that it is there.
4. Focus on a win: Now that you know what is worrying you, look for a time where you overcame a similar hurdle or had a major win. Where have you succeeded despite the odds? What have you done that people told you that you couldn’t do? When have you picked yourself up after a stumble? Really think through what it was like when you got past the challenge, succeeded at something big, had a victory. Pull those feelings down deep and hold them close. These are the basis of your strength.
5. Imagine a better outcome: Now that you know, really know, that you can succeed in tough times you will imagine what success looks like in your current situation. Lean on that strength you uncovered and picture how things will be better. First picture what you want to be in your world. Once you know what you want, you can start to plan to get there. Always remember you are here now, and you can move forward.

Tapping into those past successes lets you find the strength hidden within to take that next step. You may not have all the answers, and things may not change immediately, yet knowing that you can move forward makes that next step a bit easier to take. Once you take one step it’s easer to take the next one and before you know it you are on the other side of this rough situation.

Remember you have a core of steel inside you that will help you be strong no matter what lies ahead.

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