In this article we look at how successful people handle the ups and downs in their lives and follow up with 7 tips to help you succeed despite the pitfalls and perils.
Part 1 - How Successful People Deal with Adversity
Did you know that successful people deal with adversity? It’s true.
If you read the stories or profiles of most successful people, you will be surprised at just how adverse their situations were.
They often tell the stories for others to learn and use to overcome adversity.
So read the profiles of successful people. They contain gems of information and can act as a resource for everyone else.
The story is one aspect of reading about them. However, how they dealt with the situations is often a source of inspiration.
When you become inspired, you increase your chances of dealing with your problems.
Inspiration on it's own doesn’t last forever
You need to reinforce the message. If you can, try to set aside time to read one story of a successful person every month.
It will help you with your inspiration, and it will feed ideas on how to use their stories to make your life easier or better.
The stories of some people are dated. However, their techniques may be timeless.
A perfect example of this is Dale Carnegie’s "How to Win Friends and Influence People."
The stories themselves describe people and occupations of days long gone. But his techniques are as valid today as they were back then.
Take Action!
You can read all about the stories of successful people and get inspired.
But, if you don’t take action, it will be of little help to you. At that point, you become nothing more than a dreamer.
Having dreams is good, but you need to make sure you take action on those dreams.
After all, successful people are just like the rest of us. There isn’t anything superhuman about them that led them to their successes.
You will find a common theme among those facing adversity. They had persistence and kept a positive attitude.
Those two attributes will take you far when facing any situation.
You can choose to read stories online or find material in your local library.
You can also choose to find stories on the internet. Be careful of the resources you find online.
Anyone can publish whatever they like and sound convincing on their authority.
Make sure you check the resources and keep a critical eye out for people who don’t present qualified information.
When you get in the habit of reading material of successful people, you will shift to a successful mindset yourself.
You will have a memory bank of stories from which to draw inspiration.
Part 2: 7 Tips To Help You Succeed in Tough Times
No one escapes difficult times in their lives. Whether we like it or not, our life challenges teach us the most.
The ability to stay hopeful during those tough times though is a skill, and one that is well worth developing. Here’s how to go about honing it in your life.
1. Accept the challenge for what it is
If you’ve been hit broadside with a difficulty that’s left you negative, the worst thing you can do is try to ignore that it’s there.
By acknowledging the problem, you can deal with it head on and find a solution.
Start by asking yourself if the issue is something you can change. If so, then it’s time to make a game plan.
If not? Then learn how to live with the new status quo, rather than wasting time and energy fighting it.
2. Ask yourself what you can learn from this experience
By seeking out the lessons to be learned, you can calmly face the problem. Discover what you can about the situation, learn and then move on.
3. Revisit the past
You’ve been through tough times before. Think back to them to remind yourself that challenges don’t last forever.
Hope springs up from the knowledge that you’ve gotten through problems before.
4. Record the experience
Blogging, journaling, or recording what’s going on helps you to process the experience and find creative solutions.
When we get things out of our head, we’re able to deal with problems logically rather than emotionally.
Looking back at this record becomes a powerful experience of your progress, which offers hope.
5. Laugh
Even if you don’t feel like it initially, the act of laughing changes moods.
Hopelessness doesn’t stand a chance against a good belly laugh.
The fun thing about laughter is, once you start, it’s hard to stop. You can even fake it till you make it with laughter.
It will lighten your mood and help you see solutions that weren’t there before.
6. Choose Happiness
Much of our life can be performing ‘shoulds’ if we let it. In this case, ask yourself if doing the ‘right thing’ means doing the thing that’s best for you?
As long as it won’t hurt others, make the choice that will create happiness in your life.
7. Build a support group
Trying to manage tough times alone is a sure recipe for fostering hopelessness.
Gather people around you who make you feel hopeful just by being with them.
By spending time with positive people, their hopefulness will quickly become your own.
Summing Up
You can read all you like about successful people and adversity.
However, the key to overcoming adversity is to adopt what successful people think and believe about it - both in your mind and in your actions.