How to Handle a Crisis

How to Handle a Crisis

Crises are a part of our lives. Not a single person is free of facing them occasionally. Some of the crisis are of smaller nature, like not being able to find your glasses when you are already late. Or your laptop that quits service when you need it the most.

Some other crises can be lifechanging like the death of a close person, a massive financial loss, a disease, a major accident, or the unexpected loss of a job.

None of us can escape a crisis. But we can learn how to handle crises, strengthen our resilience, and improve our ability to cope with difficulties.

Build resilience by overcoming crisis

Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. As with all skills, this ability can be developed over time. Being resilient means that you are faster to bounce back when things go wrong.

You develop resilience when you face challenges and overcome them. Each time you solve a difficult problem, you become more confident and have more faith in your own abilities. That’s why it is important to embrace change – especially as an entrepreneur.

Still, it can be difficult when you are in the middle of crisis. Even knowing it will be good for you at the end, it is not easy.

Tips to handle a crisis

So, how to handle a crisis?

1) Take a deep breath

First, start out with taking a deep breath. Sounds simple, and yet it is. But many people forget about breathing when they are stressed. Our body automatically switches into panic mode when we are stressed. In this mode, our ability to think is reduced and we breathe shallowly. Therefore, focus on taking a deep breath to slow down your panic reactions and get a clear head.

2) Think positive

I highly recommend thinking positive. No matter how difficult the situation ahead of you is: believe in yourself! Assume that you will find a way to overcome this. Know in your heart that there is always a solution for every problem. This mindset allows you to start looking for possible solutions. When you go into a challenge with a positive mindset, you are more open to see solutions where other people are stuck at the problem itself.

3) Relax

Get clear that this is not the end of the world. No matter how massive your problem feels right now, other people have been there and overcame the same problem already. Also be clear that there are other people out there that face much worse challenges than you. Put your problem into relation. What seems to be a catastrophe to you may be for other people just another day in their life. There are people struggling for their survival every day. That is a problem! Most problems we deal with every day are either self-made or really not that tragic. Nobody will die if you don’t solve it today. And when you look back at this issue in 10 years, will you even still remember it? In most cases not. So, don’t freak out about it.

xxx

4) Look at it as opportunity

And the final tip for today: Consider your challenge as an opportunity. Every crisis holds the opportunity to grow and learn from it. You find out new things about yourself and you see the world in a new light. Being comfortable being uncomfortable is a blessing. It may not feel like this in the moment. But being able to lean into challenges and draw new strength out of it, is truly powerful.

The issue with comfort zones and why handling a crisis can grow it

Most people are not willing to embrace challenges because it is uncomfortable. It throws us out of our comfort zone – and we humans love our comfort zone! It feels good knowing what you are able to do and feeling in flow.

But crises regularly push us to our limits. They show us where we are not that good yet, which skillset requires development and which weaknesses we need to improve. And that is a great thing. Because if everything always works out, then there is no incentive to develop as a person.

Only when we grow as a person, we can achieve more in life. To handle a crisis and overcome it, develops us as a person. We become better, faster, and more efficient. Also, be stay humble and grounded, knowing that crises can hit every day. You stay on your toes and become a better person.

Embrace the challenge

As humans, we are meant to grow and develop. And a crisis is a great teacher. Embrace it!

And if you feel like you cannot do it yourself, then get yourself help. This is also a part of development, to admit that you are better with others. That you don’t need to do everything by yourself. This is also a part of growth. Personal and in business.