If you’re trudging along in the Tests and Trials stage, the most effective thing you can do is change your point-of-view (POV). Your POV is the one thing (maybe the only thing) you have full control over on your Hero’s Journey (HJ).

First, shift your attitude from “my life sucks” to remembering you’re in one of the many stages of your Hero’s Journey. This stage will end at some point. If you remember you are in a Journey stage you remember the roles of the people you encounter.

You have enemies (to your Journey), allies, and mentors. Your enemies are there to test your commitment to the Journey — it’s not personal. Allies want to help you in any way they can on your Journey. They want to see you succeed, even if they get nothing from it. Mentors teach you skills to get through the stage. The skills could be new or could be a skill you forgot you had. A mentor keeps the success of the Journey in mind.

Another way you have to shift your POV is to ASK FOR HELP. Too many of us on an HJ think we have to move the mountain on our own. Asking for help brings in new perspectives and positive attitude.

One more way to shake-up this stage is to change your approach. I mean turn it upside down and backwards. Give it a try. If you usually send emails to your Congressional Representative, try calling or schedule a live visit to her or his office. Better yet – create a team who will work with you and do the visits for you. Use those allies. If you usually exercise at lunch time, try breaking up your exercise into three ten minute sections during the day. If you are on the road to quitting smoking, replace the after-meal cigarette by standing up and do a few yoga stretches. Get your whole family to do the stretches with you.