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The theme of the month of September is THRIVING THROUGH TOUGH TIMES was particularly relevant to everyone as all of us at some point or the other have been through difficult situations either in our personal or professional life. I wanted to share some of my learning's of this month by listing out the points below: This is written in no particular order just as things came to me and as I read material on this subject. I would love for you to add points, let’s make it a GCF GUIDE TO THRIVING IN TOUGH TIMES

• Keep EXTREME emotions out of the equation. Keep a calm and collected persona at all times. The moment people see your emotions, they consider it a weakness and situations get out of control.
• Be LOGICAL in dealing with situations, people and problems. Again don’t let emotions do the thinking and talking, think with a clear head.
• Don’t take things PERSONALLY; let some things “roll of your back”. Don’t take things to heart, LET GO.
• Some people thrive under pressure, it is in their personality, and there are others who just don’t know how. If you are one of those who are not equipped to handle tough situations ASK FOR HELP! A counselor, a friend or a family member….find somebody and confide and consult.
• Let go of EGO. Ego is the source of a lot of conflict, our need to be always right and proving the other person wrong. How much precious time and emotion is wasted in feeling bitter and angry. So let go of EGO, be free, don’t be a slave to your EGO, embrace and acknowledge the good in other people and build harmonious relationships.
• People seldom tap into their deepest strengths and abilities until forced to do so by a major adversity. So DIG DEEP into yourself and find the inner strength and operate at a higher level than ever before! The answers we are searching are not “out there” but are within you; in tough times cultivate the ability to LOOK WITHIN for answers.
• Most of us are in “constant mental chatter” (read this somewhere and liked it.). We talk to ourselves all day long and, unfortunately, this self talk is frequently negative. Especially in tough times, it is tainted by the guilt of our past or the anxiety over the future. Eliminate INTERNAL NEGATIVE CHATTER by creating self awareness and being sensitive to your internal thoughts and feelings, and the make the switch from negative to positive. Our actions are triggered by our thoughts so if we make a conscious effort to change the way we think then our actions will be changed accordingly.
• Learn to deal with what annoys us, aggravates us in a POSITIVE way. This keeps us from wasting our energies and squandering our precious time and emotions on negative thoughts. Surround yourself with positive thoughts, feelings, friends, books, people….and you will see a tough situation just kind of looking much easier to handle!
• Communicate with loved ones, colleagues and people connected to the issue at hand. Keep an open mind and open up the channels of communication. DO NOT SHUT PEOPLE OUT…….
• All of us have the ability to handle tough situations and disturbing experiences, but unfortunately we sometimes get discouraged in the face of difficulty. We need a change in ATTITUDE, a shift in gear towards “I can”, “I will”, “I want to” and smack the challenges in the face!
• SWITCH FOCUS an important tool to focus your energies from the negative to the POSITIVE. A mere shift in thought from all that is negative to all that is and can be positive will alter your mental status and your ability to handle your difficult time.
• The only way to Thrive at all times is by genuinely taking good care of relations all around... But more importantly nurturing the ones who happen to be below or under YOU in the "value chain assembly" or hierarchy. (Written by Ram)

Kavitha Garla - Reporter, Jayanagar