Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by challenges? Do you start thinking the challenge is just bigger than you are? It happens to most of us and it can bring your efforts to better yourself and your life to a grinding halt.

Life’s problems and challenges can absolutely be overwhelming and frustrating at times. They can even be terrifying. But in the end, it’s your perception of the problem or challenge that will ultimately determine the outcome of the battle. When you have the underlying belief that the problem or challenge is bigger than life you start to feel powerless to defeat it.

One way to overcome this is to start out realizing that every problem has a solution. I know it doesn’t always seem that way when you’re feeling overwhelmed, but deep down you know it’s true. I’m not saying that you always recognize the solution right away but I am saying that once you overcome your fear and start thinking rationally you’ll inevitably see that a solution does exist. You may have to do some digging and you may have to have some patience, but it will reveal itself eventually.

Another helpful exercise is to start right out as seeing your problem as a temporary stumbling block. Don’t look at it as an immovable roadblock standing in your way. This helps to diminish the power it can have over you. It becomes an annoyance rather than something you fear you’ll never be able to handle.

And it might be time to take a deeper look at yourself. Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli said, “where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.” This should serve to remind you that only one thing can stand out as “great” in your mind at a time.

When you see yourself as strong, confident, competent (i.e. “great”) your problems will have to be viewed as small in comparison.

Start looking at yourself as the powerful force who can handle anything that comes your way. Don’t let your problems and challenges take a more powerful position in your thinking. This is what will ultimately determine the scope of your issues. When you believe your problems are overwhelming, they will be. When you look at them as simply situations that you must deal with, you’ll find that solutions come more easily.

Now, of course, I’m not saying that every problem you face will suddenly become insignificant! Undoubtedly you will still face crises in your life that will push you to the limits and cause you to still feel overwhelmed.

But when you find a problem so huge you must let it go. When you stop struggling with it and start accepting it for what is it, you might be surprised. By not spending all of your time obsessing about it and thereby giving it more power over you, you just might find that it sometimes resolves itself. Try remaining open to creative inspiration. You might stumble upon a solution that may not otherwise have revealed itself to you because of your constant worry and stress.

Don’t let yourself get carried away by the overwhelming feeling you get. Instead, look inward and believe that you are in control!

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