A step-by-step guide to moving through crisis...

A simple, step-by-step guide to walking through crisis...

Be Mindful.

• Be present, in your body.  Be aware of what is happening, in the moment.
• This will draw your energy away from undesired thoughts & feelings, and into the reality of the conditions of the present moment.

Accept what is happening to you.

• Whatever conditions have triggered your undesired feelings, it is happening now.  Accept it.
• By accepting the conditions of the present moment, you can work with them, rather than against them.

Accept how you feel about what is happening to you.

• You didn’t choose to have these feelings.  They are involuntary & compulsory.  Accept that they are there.
• Undesired feelings diminish as you take action to cultivate Agency.

Attend to your Basic Survival Needs.

• Do you have food?  Water?  Shelter?  The ability to make fire?  First aid?
• If you have these 5 things, you can and will survive this!

Values Clarification Exercise.

• List your Core Values, and arrange them in Order of Importance.
• This will allow you to clarify what you believe is being threatened by external events or conditions.

Examine your Beliefs.

• Your Emotional State is not the result of what is happening to you; Your State is the result of your beliefs about what is happening to you.
• Becoming consciously aware of your beliefs about your situation will allow you to test their efficacy.  Are my beliefs congruent with the reality of the present moment, or are they left-over from a life I am no longer living?

Identify what you don’t want.

• Become clear about what situational and mental factors are generating undesired feelings.
• Write it down.  Make a list.  This is your “Do Not Want List.”

Identify what you do want.

• Once you have a “Do Not Want List,” turn it around.
• Write it down.  Make a list of what you DO want.  These are your Goals.

Identify what Resources are required.

• Whatever your current challenge, you are NOT the first person to have this problem.  Identify what you need, to move in the direction of your Goals.
• Write it down.  Make a list.  This is your “Resources Needed List.

Identify what Resources are available.

• From the “Resources Needed List,” become clear about the ones you currently have access to.  This is your “Resources Available List.”
• Remember this N.L.P. Presupposition: “There are always more choices.”

Clarify your Resource Gap.

• Identify the gaps between what Resources you have, and the Resources you need.
• This will help you clarify your Strategy.

Call someone for support & guidance.

• Have someone you feel safe with.  Call or Text them.  Tell them where you are, how you feel, the Resources you have, and what you need.  Be specific.
• They will have insights and solutions to your present challenge, that you don’t currently have access to.

Design a Strategy.

• You have Resources needed and available.  Generate a Strategy to either close the Resource Gap, or move you into action in the direction of your “Goals List.”
• Use the “Eisenhower Scale” to clarify what is most important, and what is most urgent.  On a Scale of 1-4, how important is it?  On a Scale of 1-4, how urgent is it?

Set your Intention

• Intention is different than “Liking,” “Wanting,” or “Wishing.”
• Intention is having a Strategy, AND the willingness to take action.

Take Action.

• Make the phone call.  Schedule the appointment.
• Get dressed & go where you need to go to take the “Next Indicted Step.”

Review the Learnings.

• At the end of your day, review what steps you HAVE taken.
• Write it down.  Make a list.  This is your “To-Done List.”

Anchor the Successes.

• Review your “To-Done List.”  Get into the feeling place of your day’s accomplishments, whatever they were.
• Use this to help you to cultivate Agency for the next thing.

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Turn it off for the day.

• Your day is done.
• Whatever you have or have not accomplished, you have done enough.

My intention is to provide a simple method, to moving through crisis, and managing undesired feelings in the process.  Some of these concepts, I've introduced previously.  Others will be covered in more detail in later posts.

I value your input, and I’d love to hear from you.  What additional steps do you take, to move through crisis?
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If what you’ve read helps you, or can help someone you love, please “Like,” “Share,” and “Subscribe,” so that others can benefit as well.
 
~ Daniel W. Finney, CHt